Two women are keen on helping female climbers, skiers, snowboarders and mountain bikers in the Sea to Sky area find mentors.
Thea Zerbe and Brett Trainor wanted to see more women competing at the elite levels of those sports, so they put their heads together and figured out a solution 鈥� a matchmaking program for female mentors and mentees.
鈥淪ince women are underrepresented in most of the sports that we鈥檙e offering, it鈥檚 quite inspirational and motivating to see a woman excelling in climbing, biking, skiing, and then kind of using that as a model of where you鈥檇 like to be and realizing that鈥檚 something you, too, can achieve,鈥� said Trainor.
It all began when the pair was reflecting about their experiences in those sports with friends. After some discussion, they realized many people found it hard to find female role models.
鈥淚t was based on a general consensus and discussion with a lot of our friends kind of wishing they had a mentor,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been lucky to learn and grow with a lot of women... but not everyone has that opportunity.鈥�
So this past September, Zerbe and Trainor started up Mountain Mentors to help fill that gap.
The program isn鈥檛 meant to take the place of professional guides or instruction, but rather be a way to build connections between women.
It鈥檚 hoped that these relationships will help empower women not just in sport, but in their day-to-day lives.
To start it off, women apply to the program and are then matched based on their interests.
Afterwards, an agreement is made to meet at least once a month.
Zerbe and Trainor try to come up with pairings that fit well, and they don鈥檛 necessarily have to be student-teacher relationships.
In one case, an expert technical skier was matched with a skier who had expertise in terrain and avalanche safety. Both of them benefitted from each others鈥� skills and filled in their respective knowledge gaps.
Each session lasts for about a season, with sports such as climbing and mountain biking taking priority in the summer, while skiing and snowboarding takes the front seat in the winter.
The program is free, though there is a suggested donation of $30 to $40 to help cover operating costs.
All who are interested can apply at www.mountainmentors.org.
