Cronin’s Yard, Co Kerry May 2022

After a two-year sabbatical, we took a chance, did something totally different, and it paid off! “Push Your Boundaries,” the Women With Altitude weekend event for 2022, saw over one hundred and ten women arrive at Cronin’s Yard at the foot of Carrauntoohil with their tents, campervans and the right attitude, despite the dubious weather forecast.

After the tents were pitched, everyone took to the marquee for registration and received a Women With Altitude gift, some delicious Oaties from Stable Diet and a beautifully crafted nametag created by a number of talented volunteers from Wexford.

Trisha Dean, Project Manager with the MacGillycuddy Reeks EIP Project, gave us a friendly welcome to the Reeks, providing us with lots of useful information about Kerry and helping us to settle in for a weekend of fun. Although there were a few familiar faces, the majority of attendees were experiencing Women With Altitude for the first time.

Female hillwalkers and rock climbers of all levels came from all over the country, even from as far as Donegal and Down. There was a huge mix of experience. Those who were just starting their outdoor adventures participated in activities such as introductions to the hills, navigation, environmentally-focused walks, scrambling and rock-climbing. The more experienced had the opportunity to develop their skills even further by taking part in improvers’ navigation and scrambling courses, Lowland Leader taster sessions, a Mountain Leader refresher course, environmentally-focused walks and learning to lead rock-climbing courses. The pure breadth of age, knowledge and experience on display throughout the weekend was amazing to see.

After a delightful curry and cakes provided by Esther Cronin and the team at Cronin’s Yard on Saturday evening in the marquee, we relaxed and enjoyed the keynote speaker’s talk. A big thank you to the remarkable Clare Sheridan for a truly inspirational and motivational talk. She not only delighted us with an insight into a variety of expeditions, first ascents and climbs she had accomplished, she also talked about confidence in the mountains from a female perspective, which, by all accounts, motivated all of her audience to go out and ‘walk, climb and lead like a woman’!

Prior to another day full of activities on the Sunday, all participants were put into groups based on their level of experience and activity of interest. This was to get some feedback from the participants, but predominantly to facilitate networking between participants and to encourage them to continue to work on developing the skills learnt over the weekend.

A special thank you to Colette Mahon, Ursula Timmins, Laura Griffin, Maike Jurgen and Rita Connelly(who, although she couldn’t be there in person, was there in spirit!) for their help in the lead-up to event and throughout the weekend. Thanks also to the inspiring role models who were our instructors andleaders: Michelle Casey, Askea Calnan, Brona Duddy, Trisha Dean, Maura Kennedy, Helen Lawless, Colette Lawlor, Colette Mahon, Ursula MacPherson, Clíodhna McArdle, Lisa Murdiff, Sinead Pollock, Orla Prendergast, Ann Murphy and Fiona English, and all the wonderful Mountain Leader and Rock Climbing Instructor trainees who came to observe and help out.

Thank you to the Great Outdoors for the great photo competition prizes and fun all weekend. A very special thank you to John and Esther Cronin and the team at Cronin’s Yard for looking after us so well over the entire weekend. Of course, the event would not have been the same without all the wonderful participants whose positivity and enthusiasm to push the boundaries all weekend was infectious. The atmosphere was electric from beginning to end, which was helped by the beautiful backdrop of the Kerry mountains.