Last week, you read our interview with the ladies from Rad Girls Collective. Now we are spotlighting Girls Gone Wilderness, a new non-profit intended for girls who are currently intimidated by or non-connected to the outdoor world. Like Rad Girls Collective, Girls Gone Wilderness is focused on developing original programs, partnering with existing organizations, and building outreach in the outdoor and adventure community.

With the help of MEC OUTDOOR NATION, Girls Gone Wilderness gives women the opportunity for social outdoor experiences, whether that is hiking up a mountain, climbing a tree, or crossing a stream with like-minded women.

One of the leading ladies of Girls Gone Wilderness is Joanie Maynard. Born and raised in Quebec, Joanie always loved playing outside and running around in the woods. Her love for the outdoors truly thrived in her early twenties when she moved to BC and discovered the therapeutic effects of getting lost in the mountains. A self-proclaimed Health Science geek by day/passionate mountain biker by night, she also enjoys slow-paced snowshoeing, camping and random outdoor shenanigans. We spoke to Joanie about the conception of Girls Gone Wilderness.

What did the initial idea spawn from? Was there a particular moment that it all came to you? Or was it more gradual?

It was a bit of both. It was during winter 2013. We can’t remember how the conversation came about, but we were in the living room sipping on wine and talking about how we wanted to see more young people outside. Not only that, but how people who never participate in outdoor activities are missing out on a lot of fun and on all the great benefits of spending time in nature. After another glass of wine and a dream of a school bus to take people on adventures, the vision for a playful adventure community for women was born.

Separately, Nancy and Alicia were celebrating after Alicia spoke at a local adventure talk night, and she secretly went home and bought the domain girlsgonewilderness.ca. Having ideas is one thing, but making them a reality is another. A few months later, Nancy heard about MEC Outdoor Nation, and we saw it as the perfect opportunity to get this whole thing started.

How did your squad of wilderness women come together? Did you know each other? Or seek out each other?

Alicia and Nancy played soccer together when they were teenagers, but that was the extent of their “friendship.” They ran into each other again years later while snowshoeing on Grouse Mountain and became friends instantly. That’s also when I met Nancy for the first time. As for Alicia and me – I’m a good friend of one of her roommates and I met her as she was coming back from running a whole weekend in the mountains (crazy, right?). I told myself I needed a “wild” friend like her.

Who are you trying to attract and how do you go about doing that?

We aim to get more young women outside. We especially target those young women who, for a number of reasons, never found the outdoors appealing. There are many “excuses” to not get outside; you may think you are not fit enough, or you don’t know anyone to go with, or you can’t easily find a way to get to the mountains, or maybe you simply think it’s not fun. We want to give women the opportunity to explore, grow and learn to adore our fantastic natural playground. We want to show them a good time!

We do this by organizing beginner-friendly events with a huge amount of social fun factors. As we are aware that lack of transportation is often a barrier to get to the mountains, we organize a school bus to take everyone to our event location. We sometimes use glow sticks as trail markers, have a limbo contest, or sometimes we simply hike and make sure we catch the sunset with a re-hydrating drink in hands. We give out goodie bags, just like kids at birthday parties. We make sure everyone is having a good time. It’s not about who is reaching the summit first, it’s all about having so much fun that you want to do it all over again the next day! We always welcome men on our adventures, as long as they bring a rad lady with them.

What kind of fun stuff do you have planned this summer?

We’re going to be partnering with Sea to Sky SUP, Yoga and Fitness to have a really cool event at the new Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish. We’ll have another big party at the end of summer. We’re also thinking about introducing a local Ambassador program, so we can scale and offer more events in local communities, to maximize the fun!

Why now, more than ever, is spending time in nature important?

The facts are there. Spending time in nature has been shown to be a mood enhancer and to reduce stress, boost your cognitive function, etc. But let’s put all those nerdy facts aside; spending time in nature is important because we need something to balance out our crazy daily life and spending time outside is probably the easiest way to do so. We live our lives at a much faster pace today than older generations did. We spend a lot of time on our phones, on computers, etc. Our brain is bombarded with tons of information all the time. Spending time in nature is a good way to relax and give our mind a little rest. You can enjoy the outdoors solo if you need a moment to reflect, or you can call your besties and catch up while biking up a hill. It’s a 3 for 1: you get your social time with your friends, you boost your mood with all the endorphins rushing into your system and you get a good workout! No matter what level of fitness or abilities you’re at, playing outside is the perfect occasion to challenge yourself, which can bring upon a sense of accomplishment. All in all, nature is a way to fuel both body and soul. We believe this is true for every outdoor enthusiast.

What happens to a woman when she becomes more confident in ‘the wild’?

For us, we’ve seen that through our passions – mountain biking, trail running, and rock climbing – we’ve become confident, unstoppable young women. It’s that process of trying new things, being uncomfortable and challenged that helps us explore our limits and coming out of that we gain huge self-esteem after seeing what we’re capable of. And in other cases, we learn where there is a gap and where we need to learn even more! We also learn to depend on others, and that’s where incredible friendships are born. All of these things come off the trail with us, serving a huge role in every aspect of our lives.

How did MEC help you?

MEC is extremely supportive. The MEC Outdoor Nation Weekend was really a kick-starter for us to get started, similar to an incubator for start-up businesses, only way more fun. It forced us to narrow our project down to a concise, actionable event that we could execute right away. It gave us momentum and the grant we received from MEC helped get our project started. MEC also supports us in many other ways. They help us with our social media and are always keen to give us guidance when needed. They also provide us with the coolest swag for our events.

MEC Outdoor Nation is all about celebrating a love for being outside while dreaming-up projects that can help other young people experience the outdoors in new ways. Bringing together hundreds of young Canadians in Vancouver, Montreal, and now Toronto, MEC Outdoor Nation gives young people the opportunity to develop new and unexpected projects that will get young adults outside on their own terms. MEC started MEC Outdoor Nation to support a movement of young adults sharing their love of being active outside.

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