Reasons behind women’s growing interest in outdoor sports like hiking/mountaineering

January 30, 2023

Hiking and mountaineering are one of the most challenging yet thrilling activities one can ever experience. Set in the heart of nature, both lead to exploring the immense depths of nature and bring one closer to the mesmerising creations on the planet. Although hiking is a more common activity and can be done by everyone, mountaineering requires professional training and an understanding of how to deal with multiple challenges.

Hiking and mountaineering have been popular niches for many nature lovers, explorers and travellers. People from different walks of life have participated in these activities in an attempt to get closer to themselves and be one with nature. A major reason for this is that nature has the capacity to be an extremely powerful healer. The time spent in nature and in the solace of nature has a deep impact on our senses and emotions. This helps calm our energy and reconnect with the inner soul.

Hiking trends in India

When we talk about India and the Indian hiking and mountaineering scene, up until the 1990s or early 2000s, most locations including the outskirts of urban cities, tier-2 and tier-3 cities along with rural areas had a lot of greenery and trails. Moreover, pollution was relatively less thus making hiking and mountaineering more accessible. However, with the rise in urban population, migration and other contemporary developments, we are now left with fewer spots for these natural activities.

Despite these changes, India is now witnessing more and more people who want to indulge in a hiking experience or participate in mountaineering summits. A big number of these include Indian women across age groups.

The rise of participation from Indian women

For the longest time, women were subjected to being homemakers and staying confined within family responsibilities, especially in a country like India. As so much of their time went into ensuring the families are well taken care of, women would barely be able to take some time for themselves – independently.

With changing times and the younger generation of women being more financially independent, liberal and opinionated, women are now able to do things that truly matter to them. Although hiking and mountaineering are niched experiences, it has grown to see more active participation from women, especially in the past decade.

Re-connecting with oneself

The hustle-bustle and fierce competition of the contemporary world leave women exhausted and wanting to spend some time only for themselves. Even as the world has changed drastically, women still have added responsibilities as compared to men and thus hiking/mountaineering acts as an experience to drop that load off their shoulders, at least for a while. Being amidst the unexplored areas of nature makes them reconnect with their purpose, and their desires in life and helps heal their wounds and emotional turmoil.

Passion for nature

As more women are now independent in every aspect of life, they are able to take the responsibility to do things that make them happy. There are many women who have a deep passion for nature, hiking and other adventure activities. These women love participating in them and have built a strong community of like-minded adventurous people.

Stronger mental and physical health

Hiking and mountaineering are extremely challenging activities. One needs to have or if nothing consistently build very strong physical health to be able to complete the trials or summits. In fact, each trial will push you to be mentally strong. One has to have immense capacity to get through the adventure successfully and a lot of that experience translates into everyday life while further enabling women to excel in both their personal and professional lives.

All of these and the accessibility to get to know about different hiking/mountaineering experiences across the country through the internet have encouraged women to grow a keen interest in outdoor activities especially hiking and mountaineering.

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