Celebrate International Women's Day with us and join this inspiring online panel conversation with women from across the UK climbing and mountaineering community. We’ll talk openly about periods, menopause, motherhood, training, recovery and confidence.
This talk will centre lived experience, practical advice, and honest discussion and there will be opportunities to share your own experiences, tips and ideas with the community on the day.
What we'll explore
Who's it for
You can ask your questions in advance, so we can shape the talk to your needs here.
The content of this event reflects personal experiences and perspectives only. It is not intended as professional health, medical, or therapeutic advice. Attendees should seek qualified professional guidance for health-related questions.
All genders welcome.
The proceedings from the event will be donated to support a crowdfunder for a collaborative project to bring the Bolivian Cholita climbers in Scotland - read more further down.
Keri Wallace is a hill runner, Mountain Leader, qualified Rock Climbing Instructor (RCI), and a UESCA-certified running coach. She combines extensive practical experience with a strong scientific background, holding a PhD in neurobiology with a focus on proprioception. Keri is also the author of two guidebooks, Running Challenges and Ben Nevis Mountain Walks.
Alongside her professional work, Keri is a mum to two girls and is most often found spinning plates—both figuratively and literally—on the hills around Glencoe. From here, she runs her women’s trail running company, Girls on Hills, inspiring and supporting women to explore the mountains with confidence.
Anna is a qualified summer & winter Mountain Leader and member of the Lochaber Mountain Rescue team. She is also an experienced rock climber, mountaineer and runner (recently completed the Montane Spine Race!)with a professional background in science education and leadership.
She has a particular interest in enabling exploration off the beaten path and helping people build skills and confidence for future independent adventures through her guiding company Wild Roots Guiding.
Anna Fleming is an award winning author, climber and mountaineer based in Scotland. Her first book Time on Rock (Canongate 2022) was short listed for the Wainwright Prize and Boardman-Tasker Award for Mountain Literature. Anna is an active alpinist and traveller, collecting stories from mountain women across the world.
She has recently undertaken high-altitude expeditions abroad, including in Bolivia, where she climbed with the Cholita Climbers—indigenous Aymara women who defy stereotypes by scaling 6,000-metre peaks in skirts and petticoats.
Louise is a climber from Edinburgh with over 13 years of experience, including seven years on the GB Climbing Team specialising in bouldering, earning 20+ national and international medals.
Now based in London, she balances full-time work with training while creating climbing content online and is passionate about sharing insights from competition climbing and female athlete health, informed by her background in physiology.
In 2024, Scottish mountaineers Anna Fleming and Shauna Clark travelled to Bolivia where they climbed with and interviewed the amazing Cholita climbers.
This collective of Aymara Indigenous women climb and guide the highest mountains in Bolivia, dressed in their signature pollera style: huge colourful skirts and petticoats. The Cholitas have overcome many barriers to reach this freedom and power. For generations, they were targets for discrimination. Their name comes from the Spanish word ‘chola’ – meaning mixed-race, ‘halfbreed’ or ‘civilised Indian’.
Mountains are part of their journey towards empowerment. In 2019, five Cholitas defied expectations and climbed Aconcagua (6,961m) the highest mountain in South America! They work as guides in the high mountains – and now they are training to climb Everest. Their aim is to be the first women to stand on top of the world wearing skirts!
You can read more about these amazing women in Anna's article for The Great Outdoors Magazine.
After meeting in 2024, Cholitas said it is their dream to visit Scotland. We are working to make that dream a reality with an exciting collaborative project for 2027.
Please help us make this cultural exchange happen by joining this talk or donating here.
With your support, Julia, Elena and Judith will visit Scotland in Feb/March 2027 for 2 weeks. They will take part in the International Scottish Winter Climbing Meet organised by Mountaineering Scotland. Here they will meet climbers from all around the world and develop their skills in technical winter climbing.
This will help the Cholitas to develop as climbers, giving them new skills as well as opportunities for international networking – as well as having fun and inspiring people across Scotland!
Non-members can join us from just £28 and take advantage of all the member benefits - click here for more details.
Please Note: Non-members will require to create a profile on our members portal JustGo to register.
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