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Discarding the male

More focus being paid to teach women to take part in a sport on their own

Cindy Hirschfeld, Special to the News

Published August 12, 2006 at midnight

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Women's-specific outdoor adventure clinics are perennially popular, a fact recently embraced wholeheartedly by the outdoor industry as manufacturers devote more production and marketing resources to sports gear developed for women.

Perhaps a newer trend in women's clinics is that, while a nonintimidating learning environment and a supportive atmosphere still are important components, the potential rah-rah sisterhood, soul-baring aspect that has turned off some women largely is de-emphasized. The focus is on teaching skills that empower women to participate in a sport on their own.

And even "softer" trips, such as a women's writing and rafting workshop on the Colorado River that highlights literary rather than boating skills, inspires women to look outward, into nature, rather than engage in extensive navel-gazing.

"I was a little skeptical going in," said Julie Pickrell, whose husband gave her the gift of a three-day river writing retreat, sponsored by the Aspen Writers' Foundation, this past spring. "I wasn't necessarily looking to commune in nature with other women, and I wondered if there was going to be a lot of soul-searching and sharing around the campfire."

Pickrell ended up relishing the trip, which included a combination of writing exercises and journaling, due in large part to the women's-only format and the ensuing absence of gender dynamics. Of the group leaders, pioneering rafting guide Sheri Griffith and writer Page Lambert, she said, "They talked in a non-New Agey way about the power of the feminine and the river as it represents that, and how women are very powerful when they come together in noncompetitive ways."

Leslie Ross, owner of Colorado-based Babes in the Backcountry, which reintroduced its mountain biking and rock climbing sessions this summer, said her goal is "to get more women involved in the outdoors and get them more comfortable."

A Babes clinic provides peer support, not peer pressure, she notes, as well as the opportunity to really practice tackling a challenge, which is less apt to happen in mixed company. During a biking weekend, for example, "you're not just hammering it," Ross said. "We'll stop at switchbacks and work on skills."

In addition to boosting confidence, a women's clinic can foster participation in a sport by bringing together a group of like-minded enthusiasts. "It's not just, 'I'm going to learn to ride up a hill,' " Ross said. "It's also meeting other women to go do these things with."

Women's outdoor specialty retailers, which still are few and far between, realize that offering female-focused workshops is a smart business move as well as an invaluable component of customer service.

"We don't want to merely sell women the gear and apparel they need," said Kim Walker, owner of outdoor DIVAS in Boulder. "We also want to provide them with access to new sports or the opportunity to expand their skill set."

Walker's store, which also will open in Cherry Creek North this fall, offers various clinics throughout the year, including upcoming sessions on building climbing anchors and mastering the kayak roll.

The motivation of athletic female role models also can have a powerful influence (one that's noticeably absent when men lead women's clinics).

"We find that when women take our classes they are inspired by our instructors and the other women in their class," Walker said. "And they tend to stick with a sport longer."

Within the framework of skills development, women's workshops tend to be more holistic than a standard class. When Christina McGrath was designing the new biking and climbing weekends that she leads through Colorado Bike and Ski in Breckenridge, "I started out with what I, and other women I talked to, would like in a program," she said. "So I incorporated stretching and talking about nutrition and clothing, things in addition to just the sport."

Ross emphasized that Babes in the Backcountry sessions appeal to body, mind and spirit, in ways that women can shift to other areas of their lives. "We show women how the skills learned in mountain biking, climbing and yoga translate into driving, typing at your computer and engaging with friends and family," she said.

Despite the proliferation of women's workshops, many women still are introduced to more gear-intensive sports, such as climbing or mountain biking, by boyfriends or husbands who take charge of the technical aspects. Learning to be self-sufficient instead can be quite liberating. Clinic leaders, therefore, concentrate on imparting the knowledge that will allow women to gain some independence in their chosen sport.

"So often I have women say, 'I have no idea how to fix a flat,' or 'I have no idea how to set up an anchor,' " McGrath said. "We can do that (in a clinic). Then you can go climbing with your friends - you don't have to just go with your partner."

"When I learned to fly fish, I learned from a group of men, and they were great," said Joey Wolte- math, who runs women's fishing and big-game-hunting clinics through her 2 1/2-year-old company, Mountain Women Adventures.

"A lot of women would really want to learn the sport, but they try to get their husbands or significant others to teach them, and it doesn't always turn out well."

Woltemath teaches all the basics, from casting to knots to reading the water, in three-day sessions along the Roaring Fork River near Carbondale.

"The goal is for them to be able to walk away and fish on their own," she said.

Confidence building and skill development aside, the opportunity to hang in the outdoors with a group of sporty women and to take time for yourself, away from the demands of work and family, can be powerfully inspiring in itself. Said Leslie Ross: "We offer women a place to tune in, to find new passions for themselves and to really engage in the outdoors."

Details

• A River Writing Journey for Women through the Aspen Writers' Foundation, with Sheri Griffith Expeditions and author/teacher Page Lambert, will take place Aug. 27-Sept. 2 in Utah's Cataract Canyon. $1,499 all-inclusive. Contact 1-970-925-3122, or .

• Babes in the Backcountry has two-day sessions for mountain biking (Aug. 26-27, $220) and rock climbing (Aug. 19-20 and Sept. 23-24, $350) in Summit County. Lodging packages are available. Also on tap are one-day bike clinics and a four-day trip along the White Rim in Canyonlands National Park, Sept. 9-12. Contact 970-453-4060, or .

• Outdoor DIVAS' many upcoming events include a daylong clinic on setting up climbing anchors (Aug. 26 in Boulder Canyon, $149) and a three-hour kayak rolling clinic (Monday, $59). Prices include gear rental. Contact 303-449-3482, or .

• The new Women's Summer Adventure Series, through Colorado Bike and Ski, offers a mountain biking weekend (Aug. 26-27, $220) and a rock climbing weekend (Sept. 23-24, $350), in and around Breckenridge. Contact 1-970-668-8900, or .

• Mountain Women Adventures runs three-day fly-fishing clinics on the Roaring Fork River for $400, which includes lodging and meals. New this summer is a guided hike from Aspen to Crested Butte, (Friday-Aug. 20, $350), which includes lodging and a shuttle back to Aspen. Contact 1-970-379-1091, or .

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