Why the #SheisAbelChallenge?
Tasmania is a wild place. A brutal beauty. Australia’s most mountainous state. Tasmanian is the perfect choice for hiking, trekking and summiting accessible mountain ranges achievable in a day. Our island home is covered in so many networks of World Heritage Areas, protected Parks and wilderness reserves it’s almost impossible to avoid hiking and walking. However, getting started, hiking solo, finding like-minded friends and reaching your first few summits can feel a little intimidating, time consuming and a lot of hard work for most women.
#SheisAbelChallenge hopes to:
- Change perceptions that summiting mountains is predominantly a male pursuit and suitable only for the super fit;
- Encourage women to explore and feel confident exploring Tassie’s wild places;
- Celebrate and connect everyday women adventuring and living in Tasmania; and
- Attempt to Summit an Abel.
What is an Abel?
There are lots of mountains in Tasmania, ranging from gentle sloping hills to rugged cliffs and snow-capped peaks. An Abel is a Tasmanian mountain which has a minimum height of 1100m and has a summit or minimum drop of 150 m on all four sides. Bill Wilkinson coined the term for these mountains which meet the above criteria after Abel Tasman the first European to sight them. At last count there is 158 Abels in total scattered across the state which range from an accessible moderate hike to remote and extreme multi-day options.
What is an Abelist?
An ableist are hikers/bushwalkers who have completed all the Abel ascents. As at May 2016 only 15 men ‘bagged’ all 158 Abels and just one badass female.
How to get involved?
- A comprehensive list of all Abels can be found here.
- Join our Wild Island Community here and find a buddy
- Check out our blog on Tasmania’s six most accessible Abels.
- Join our closed Facebook community or Instagram page.
Featured image credit: carmelboyd_ Instagram