FROM MOUNTAIN PEAKS TO LOCAL PARKS, GORPGIRLS IS HERE TO EMPOWER WOMEN OUTDOORS AND BEYOND

“I feel so empowered by the women around me and GorpGirls continues to remind me of the value of female energy and how important female friendships can be,” founder and creative director Hannah da Silva tells LN-CC. Since its inception in March 2021, GorpGirls has encouraged, empowered and enabled women to experience the outdoors in a comfortable and safe environment. Born out of trend research during the final year of her Creative Direction for Fashion BA course at UAL, multi-disciplinary creative Hannah Da Silva has quickly built a social-powered, community-driven and pursuit-expanding platform that has evolved from monthly hikes and collaborations with like-minded brands, to events that include climbing workshops, running clubs and hikes across the UK and beyond.

As it begins to mark two transformative years cultivating the go-to female-focused outdoor community, GorpGirls invited the LN-CC team on its second Hike in Yorkshire event. Led by local community members Leah De La Hunty and Anna Taylor, Carina Lammers’ lens documented the day spent in the Peak District with 50 other GorpGirls. “Even though it was quite cold and misty on the day, I wanted this shoot to be approachable and represent the warmth, supportive and open-minded community feel from the day,” Lammers explains over email. As this warmth washes over us and we hear from a few members dressed in Montreal-based high-performance technical outerwear brand Ostrya, Hannah da Silva talks us through the past, present and future of GorpGirls. 

“The outdoors is for everyone. You don’t have to have grown up in the country to ‘get it’, nor do you have to look a certain way or have the best gear. Make it your own and don’t be intimidated by dusty attitudes. If you identify as a woman and want to get out and explore on your own terms, this is your sign to go do it.” 

– Amber McKenzie 

WAS THIS EVOLUTION ORGANIC OR PLANNED?

I always wanted to, but it’s been a process of figuring out how to facilitate that. When I first started the research project, the Instagram mood board was the first thing that came to my mind because there were so many of them online, but none dedicated to women. Our growth has been driven by our audience’s needs and the community coming to me. 

WHILE WE’VE BEEN DISCUSSING THIS COLLABORATION FOR SOME TIME, IT’S FITTING THAT WE’RE LAUNCHING AHEAD OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY. THIS YEAR’S THEME OF #EMBRACINGEQUITY AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT YOU’RE DOING WITH GORPGIRLS. THIS IS AN EMPOWERING PLATFORM THAT CULTIVATES ALLYSHIP AND BUILDS INCLUSIVITY.

We try. It’s my full-time job and such a passion project, but so much has been enabled by the great community around me who continue to build and grow it. 

“It's fulfilling to be part of such a strong and powerful outdoor community with such purpose and impact. Being able to share a passion with others creates strong and meaningful bonds with other members. 

It's great to be a part of something that's evolving and growing into something big. I met so many amazing gals on this group hike from all across the UK, people I would have never met if it wasn't for Hannah and GorpGirls. It brings together so many interesting people from many different backgrounds together through one common interest.”

– Macy Kerrigan

WAS THIS EVOLUTION ORGANIC OR PLANNED?

I always wanted to, but it’s been a process of figuring out how to facilitate that. When I first started the research project, the Instagram mood board was the first thing that came to my mind because there were so many of them online, but none dedicated to women. Our growth has been driven by our audience’s needs and the community coming to me. 

WHILE WE’VE BEEN DISCUSSING THIS COLLABORATION FOR SOME TIME, IT’S FITTING THAT WE’RE LAUNCHING AHEAD OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY. THIS YEAR’S THEME OF #EMBRACINGEQUITY AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT YOU’RE DOING WITH GORPGIRLS. THIS IS AN EMPOWERING PLATFORM THAT CULTIVATES ALLYSHIP AND BUILDS INCLUSIVITY.

We try. It’s my full-time job and such a passion project, but so much has been enabled by the great community around me who continue to build and grow it. 

THE COMMUNITY IS INCREASINGLY INVOLVED TOO.

This platform is for them. I’ve been learning to delegate and we now have more of a team, which includes our production manager Joanna, and two interns that work alongside her. It doesn’t feel like I’ve hired them, it feels like they really want to be a part of it and GorpGirls is family-rooted. We have leaders based around the UK that can lead hikes, just like this one.

IT’S AS MUCH A MOVEMENT AS IT IS A PLATFORM.

I've always wanted GorpGirls to be a platform for other women in the community to run their own things. My friend Georgia (Smith) just came to me one day and her thing is climbing, so we've given her the climbing workshops that she leads every month. And then we have recently launched the running club too, Nightcrawlers is a bi-weekly event led by Shelley and Rehan. I'm always open to hearing the other girls’ ideas. If they have a passion or need within the community. I'll use this platform to do it. They’re both avid runners and they finish work at 6pm so felt it was too dark to run alone. It’s all about force in numbers, women running together to feel safer outside.

“Since Anna and I are both from Yorkshire, we had the perfect chance to bridge this gap by bringing GorpGirls to girls in the north who were eager to get involved. The response was fantastic; all 50 spots were filled within 30 minutes of the event's official release. 

 

I want people to take away that no matter what your interest with the outdoors may be – whether it's to improve your mental health, meet new friends, improve your physical fitness, build confidence, feel a part of the community – that there are so many people out there that share these interests, passions and goals and that GorpGirls and other similar outdoor communities give you access to these people. Push yourself to attend events and meet some friends for life.” 

– Leah De La Hunty 

THIS HIKE IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS COMING TO YOU WITH AN OPPORTUNITY. 

Exactly. Leah and Anna live in North Yorkshire and they wanted to lead a Lake District hike because there were so many local girls that wanted to join. We can only lead so many hikes out of London, so this was a great opportunity to enable local leaders to put on their own hikes. This was the second one we’ve been able to put on and it’s great that LN-CC were able to join.

THANKS FOR HAVING US! TO WHAT EXTENT HAS THE GROWTH AND IMPACT OF GORPGIRLS SURPRISED YOU?

The demand for events demonstrates just how much we’ve grown in the last two years. If I opened the hike up to 200 people, we'd get 200 sign-ups and that's what makes me realize, 'oh, wow, this has grown exponentially'. There are so many people, and brands too, that are genuinely interested in what we do. For me, it’s easy to see when a brand just wants to collaborate but doesn’t care. I love it when a brand representative joins in, so it was great to see the LN-CC team join us.  

“Hiking is very male dominated, so it was refreshing to see a space dedicated to highlighting women in the outdoor world, it's inspiring. I led GorpGirl's Hike in Yorkshire in October last year, a route around Malham Cove and Gordale Scar. Despite the all-day rain, the group had the best time. Meeting strangers and becoming pals within a few hours, through a shared love of getting outside, is so wholesome! 

 

It can be pretty difficult meeting new people and community hikes are such a great opportunity to get to know like-minded folk. I've made some genuine friendships through community hiking and I wouldn't be without them for the world.” 

– Anna Taylor 

WE TRULY CARE AND WE’RE EXCITED TO SEE HOW GORPGIRLS CONTINUES TO GROW IN 2023 AND BEYOND, BUT WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT?

I’m excited to grow the events. We’re doing the climbing workshops more frequently and we’ll soon be facilitating larger, all-women exclusive nights in the climbing gyms. There's so much talent in the fashion side of Gorp tech wear too and we want to spotlight the girls in our community who are designers in this space.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE STRONGEST TRUTH ABOUT GORPGIRLS?

That it’s a community of friends and there’s a lot of love in GorpGirls. Everyone looks out for one another. In my experience, the vibe is different from co-ed or all-male hikes. No one is competing to get to the top, no one is left behind. It’s welcoming and friendly. People make friends every single hike, and then they also plan their own hikes or go climbing together, even outside of our events. I love going on Instagram and seeing two girls that met on a hike becoming friends.

CUTE. FINALLY, WHAT WOULD SAY TO ANY GIRL THAT’S READING THIS AND WANTS TO GO ON A HIKE BUT IS UNSURE?

We receive so many DMs from girls wanting to come but are nervous to do so alone. But we have so many girls that come by themselves and there’s not one girl who won’t talk to you, who won’t introduce themselves to you. So my advice is come, make friends and have fun. Also, for anyone that’s reading this and is nervous around not being able to keep up; we do everything at beginner and moderate levels. We walk at the pace of the slowest person.