Camaraderie, Growth, and Empowerment

We crunch along the towpath, the mist cloaking everything in an eerie silence. Gradually, as the sun begins to break through, we can see that the ground and the trees and the lochs and the boats are all encrusted with a very hard frost, glistening in the gloomy morning. Then we see that the Caledonian Canal is mostly covered in a thick layer of ice.

Verity and Lucy, assisted by Mike and Alice, take the canoes off the trailer, and being careful not to slide straight into the ice, manoeuvre the canoes down the ramp and place them in the icy water. Togged up in warm clothes and dry suits, buoyancy aids and with thermoses of hot tea, they each get into their boats, and attempt to paddle away. I say attempt, because in reality it’s a case of breaking the ice with the paddle enough to move a few metres.

I cross over at the loch and keep pace with them, watching as they take it in turns to be the “ice breaker”. By now, the sun has fully come out and the Canal is a winter wonderland, Scotland in its December finest.

I am here to spend the day with the participants of the 2023 Women’s Outdoor Leadership Course, or WOLC for short. Since 2019, Outward Bound has run this unique 10-week course once a year to a small number of women, trans and non-binary folk. With a focus on professional development and leadership practice, it is less about gaining qualifications and more about giving participants a chance to hone their leadership style and give them a taste of what working for Outward Bound is all about.

Later on, warming up over a brew at the Loch Eil Centre, I chat with the group about their experiences on the course. Having worked a lot in the women’s space in the outdoors, I was curious to find out what they thought about the industry and this course.

Apart from the practical reasons such as the financial viability of the course (you pay a £500 deposit which gets returned to you on completion in the form of further training, plus all food and accommodation is provided for the duration), it was "the focus on developing your personal leadership practice and what that looks like as a woman in the industry” that was the main draw. Widening experience of working in the outdoors industry whilst also giving space and time to gain log-book days, the course offers a unique and invaluable opportunity to reflect and make future plans, something that’s hard to do during full-time work.

For some, it being a women’s only course was a specific benefit. Muireann had experienced being a participant on a shorter women’s-led course before and felt she’d like more of that. Lærke had also worked on women’s-only courses before, but wanted to be on the other side, saying:

For others, it was an unexpected bonus. Lucy hadn’t worked with many other women in the industry before, nor had spent much time in her personal adventures with other outdoorsy women, and loves the community that’s developed. Every day of the course they’ve gone for a dip in the Loch, rain or shine, whatever the temperature, and they all agreed that that’s because of the camaraderie between them all.

As Verity said:

In the next instalment, Sarah explores the potential for competition between the women and discovers the role models that have shaped their interest in leadership and the outdoors.