Washington - Mount Washington, the highest peak in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, is famous for epically awful weather that includes a 1934 record-setting 372km/h wind gust. In winter, the mercury routinely plunges way below freezing, and punishing storms move in quickly.
Seems like a good place to avoid. But on a Friday afternoon in February, I arrived at the Joe Dodge Lodge, in the shadow of the snow-covered 1 920m peak, to attend a Women’s Winter Adventure Weekend organised by the Appalachian Mountain Club.
The next day we would ride a four-track all-wheel-drive vehicle up the steep and winding Mount Washington toll toad, then snowshoe down. To tell the truth, I was terrified – of the cold, of snowshoeing (which I had never done) and, mostly, at age 48, of spending the weekend with 13 strangers, two of whom would be my room-mates.
Kim, 54, another Women’s Weekend participant, didn’t seem daunted. Like other women in our group, Kim said she liked woman-only outings because they were safe, supportive and “you’re not always trying to compete with men”. She was planning to go on at least two other women-only adventures: a Yukon trip by canoe and bike, with WomanTours, and a Minnesota hiking and camping trip with Adventures in Good Company.
A year earlier, Kim, owner of an panel-beating shop in Cranston, Rhode Island, had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. On the advice of her doctor, she began lifting weights, then going on weekend hikes with an Appalachian Mountain Club group in Rhode Island. When nearby trails disappeared under snow, she decided to learn how to snowshoe with other women before heading out with her mixed-gender hiking group.
“I bought all the gear and I signed up for this weekend.”
Although woman-only outdoor travel is not new, it has taken off in recent years, said Marian Marbury, founder and guide of Adventures in Good Company, a Baltimore venture that promises “adventure travel for women”.
In 1999, the company’s first year, about 100 women signed up for 20 outdoor adventures. This year, more than 600 women have planned to test their mettle in 54 domestic and international offerings, including a Grand Canyon backpacking excursion and a safari and trip up Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
Most of Marbury’s clients are in their 40s and older.
“I think there’s a camaraderie – that’s probably the biggest thing,” Marbury said.
Her customers choose women-only travel, she said, because “in that sort of supportive atmosphere, you’re much more likely to try new things and much less worried about looking stupid. There’s a lot less fear of being the slowest or the least experienced.”
Sarah Delucia, adventure programme supervisor for the Appalachian Mountain Club, said the non-profit organisation, founded in 1876, began regular woman-only winter adventures in 2012, and they had been fully booked.
This year more than 12 such outings are being offered, including a rock climbing day next month and a fly-fishing weekend in June. For the snowshoeing, 14 participants and four woman guides were lucky to set out on a balmy, sunny day, with a blue sky and little wind.
One by one, we stumbled and slipped, but the supportive spirit was evident: no one was in a hurry.
The rustic and cosy Joe Dodge Lodge, with simply furnished bedrooms and wood-panelled walls, is a scenic three-hour drive from the Manchester Airport, through mountain notches and small towns.
The $297 (about R3 600) price tag for the Women’s Winter Weekend included two nights at the lodge, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing instruction, equipment rental, guided touring along the trails, a 90-minute yoga session, hearty buffet-style meals and a snow coach ride past the tree line on the Mount Washington toll road.
I could have paid more for a private room, but instead I had room-mates: Phyllis, 66, and Linda, 63, Connecticut friends, who told me about their marriages and, more gleefully, their divorces.
“It’s a pyjama party!” retired schoolteacher Phyllis announced. “I was just so excited when I saw it was a woman’s thing.”
Retired engineer Linda said: “I wouldn’t have come if it were mixed.”
After breakfast on the final day, I struck up a conversation with Sandra, 73, a tiny woman with grey hair and piercing blue eyes. In the 1990s, she was executive director of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
For her, the weekend was just a warm-up for a more ambitious May trip, a trek through the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Sandra, with children and grandchildren from a long-ago marriage, chose a woman-only adventure because “the camaraderie is different. I’m not opposed to men, but their presence changes the dynamic”.
Clearly, she embraces adventure, but that was not always the case. “My sister and I were taught that women, at least proper women, did not sweat. I didn’t break a sweat until 40.”
The Washington Post
IF YOU GO:
Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/bow/ Pages/default.aspx
A non-profit organisation founded in Wisconsin in 1991 that has chapters in nearly every state, including Maryland (dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/Education/bow/index.asp) and Virginia (dgif.virginia.gov/events/descriptions.pdf).
Offers a range of outdoor travel and instruction.
Adventures in Good Company
www.adventuresingoodcompany.com
Adventure travel for women of all ages, with destinations that include Africa, Europe and US national parks. Sign up early, the trips fill up fast.
Appalachian Mountain Club
www.outdoors.org
With chapters from Maine to the District, AMC offers outdoor activities for men, women and children. Click on the “Get Outdoors” tab, “Activities Search” and then type “women” in the keyword box for women’s outings.
WomanTours
www.womantours.com
Founded in 1995, this Rochester, New York, women-only bike-touring company offers supported inn-to-inn national and international tours.
Washington Women Outdoors
www.washingtonwomenoutdoors.org
A non-profit group that hosts bike rides, hikes and other activities.