Two weeks after the first-ever Girls on Rock expedition in Colorado's wild Gore Range we take a look back: It was inspiring to watch our team of nine young women fully embrace science and the wild outdoors. In just 12 days, they learned how to climb, belay, set up tents, pack and hike with fully loaded 70-liter backpacks, navigate backcountry terrain… AND they designed, conducted and presented their very own science projects. We couldn't be more inspired by these amazing young women.

For many of the girls, it was the first camping experience, let alone backpacking adventure.

Text: Evelyn Cheng (Instructor), Mylène Jacquemart (Onsite Coordinator)
Photos: Helen Richardson, Christy Wall-Kuhlman, Mylène Jacquemart

The sun shone brightly on the morning of July 24th, when nine young women shouldered their enormous, 70-liter packs and set off on a steep uphill mountain trail. Miauaxochitl (Mia), Guadalupe (Lupita), Yareli, Molly, Jessica, Naima, Taliyah, Aiyana, and Chloe were on their way to set up base camp at 11,500 feet above sea level, where they would be spending a whole week climbing, exploring, and doing science under the guidance of four female instructors. They had already spent three days tackling new challenges head on: deciphering topographic maps, picking their way through loose Rocky Mountain dirt and rocks, belaying and being belayed by new friends on technical rock climbs, setting up and staking down tents, learning how to be field scientists, and learning to work with the people who would be their adopted family for the rest of the expedition. For many of the girls, it was the first camping experience, let alone backpacking adventure. Yet on this day they would all hike several miles and gain a few thousand feet before setting up camp and resting for the night. The campground which had provided a temporary home would soon resemble the lap of luxury, as the new basecamp would lack a pit toilet, running water, electricity, and contact with the outside world.

These young women were the participants of the first-ever Girls on Rock expedition, one of several programs included in the U.S.-based organization called «Inspiring Girls Expeditions». Each year, the programs select 9 young women aged 16-17 who have had minimal opportunities in the past. For those selected, the experience is completely free, funded by generous grants and donations.

As an Inspiring Girls Expedition, we seek to increase the diversity and presence of women in science and outdoor leadership. Our all female instructor team,made up of professional field scientists and a mountain guide, strives to bring out girls’ natural curiosity, inspire and connect their interests in science and art, and empower and encourage trust in their physical, intellectual, and leadership abilities in an inclusive and welcoming environment. This summer, thanks to the incredibly generous support of REI’s Force of Nature grant, Mammut, Gregory Packs, as well as several other gear companies, private donors, and committed volunteers, we launched the first Girls on Rock expedition, bringing the last four years of preparation to perfect realization.

"I learned that science isn’t only in labs, labs can be anywhere you want them to be, the sky is not the limit, there is no limit to curiosity" - Guadalupe "Lupita" Ramirez, Girls on Rock 2018

As we hiked up the rocky trail, filtering water to fuel our strenuous ascent, we encountered wildlife, waded through meadows of blooming alpine flowers, and crossed rushing streams. At higher elevations, sporadic afternoon thunderstorms became our daily companions. We saw flies that mimic bees, flowers that look like the heads of elephants, and rocks that had tumbled down from the steep cliffs above. We remain overwhelmed with admiration and respect for how these young women handled long days, heavy packs, wrestled with blisters and the thinning mountain air, but never stopped taking in their surroundings, asking questions, and pausing to practice their alpine plant identification skills! "What kind of tree is this? Is this flower edible? Is that a metamorphic rock? What do those clouds mean?"

One of the highlights of our expedition came on day nine - it was time to strive for a local summit. We left camp before daylight in order to celebrate the sunrise atop the small peak adjacent to our camp. The past few weeks had been brutally warm in this part of Colorado, so we were delighted to find a tiny little patch of snow that had survived the heat. The entire team summited the peak - and it promptly got named Burrito Mountain. Rest assured, the choice of name had nothing at all to do with the many tortillas we consumed on this trip! On our way back to camp we were accompanied by the squeaky yet demanding calls of pikas peeking at us from the many rocks that blanketed the expansive slopes.

"I learned that science isn’t only in labs, labs can be anywhere you want them to be."

One of the core practices of any Inspiring Girls expedition is to encourage participants to pick a topic in which they are interested and then work with other people, who share the same interests, to design and implement a scientific study in the backcountry. Each expedition then culminates with a public event during which the teams present the results of their studies. For Girls on Rock 2018, the girls presented their data on weather, water, plants, and insects to a room packed full of engaged and supportive people at the University of Colorado’s Mountain Research Station. At the end of the night, we opened the room up to questions from the audience to the girls about their recent backcountry experiences. And as they attempted to convey some of the highlights from the last couple of weeks (visits from two amazing guest instructors, a close encounter with a galloping moose, pooping in bags), we realized that though our expedition was coming to a close, these inspiring girls were just getting started.

We here at Mammut are happy to support this Inspiring Girls Expeditions adventure to the alpine. The idea is to offer tuition-free wilderness expeditions for young women. Make sure to follow them on Instagram to stay up to date on all their expeditions!