Following the lead of historic women who challenged the traditions of the day, blazing trails into a man’s world on horseback in the Canadian Rockies, modern generations of women face their own challenges to travel these same trails.
Traveling as horseback people was a way of life for Native and Métis women living nomadically with their families in the Rocky Mountains. Later, and prior to World War I, a small number of affluent women afforded the services of packhorse outfitters to guide them into unexplored areas of the Canadian Rockies. With the advent of the Second World War, there was a birth of feminism, and women began participating in non-traditional roles, including careers in the mountain wilderness. Many were trying to survive the post depression era, etching a living off the land; while others were adventurers seeking a sense of freedom. Most of these women lived “outside the box” and were visionaries of their time. These explorers shed society’s expectations and followed their dreams, becoming more of “who they were” in a landscape they loved.
Women of Willmore Wilderness shares the stories of women past and present as they reveal how their experiences in mountain culture deeply inspired them. Meet free thinking individuals who blazed trails into a man’s rugged world. Share the humour and deep emotion of these souls who find the essence of their lives’ work on trails rarely traveled.