Grounded Alison walks the talk
Alison Chadwick was approached by Danville Park Girls High School to help prepare girls for their trip to Nepal in June.
DURBAN North resident Alison Chadwick says hiking is not just a sport, but a good teacher of basic life skills such as humility. The hiker and nature enthusiast has embarked on a journey aimed at giving back to the community, by training young girls on how to endure mountaineering challenges.
She was approached by Danville Park Girl’s High School to help prepare girls for their trip to Nepal in June. They will be travelling as guests of World Challenge – an organisation aimed at raising rural living standards in Nepal by empowering women and children with a quality education.
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They will be doing a six day trek in the Annapurna foothills with an ascent of Poon Hill on their fourth day which stands at 3,240 metres high.Chadwick said she was honoured to be considered for such a task.
“When I was approached by a teacher at Danville Park Girl’s High School to help coach a team of girls heading to Nepal in June, I jumped at the opportunity. I am fondly referred to as “Trail Mom” among the trail running community and I love to encourage as many folk as possible to experience hiking and appreciate the outdoor lifestyle,” she said.
The ‘Trail Mom’ discovered her love for hiking two decades ago when she joined Mountain Backpackers club.
“Around the year 2000 I was introduced to cycling which was my main focus for about 10 years. I got bored with cycling so started running and quickly fell in love with trail running, mainly because of the beautiful places I got to see. On many of the trail runs you do in the mountains it is almost impossible to run (for me anyway) so I think trail running and hiking are a great combination,” she said, elaborating on how she moved from hiking to mountaineering.
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Chadwick went on to add that it was the ‘grounding’ experience of sleeping in the wild which hooked her to the sport.
“La Lucia resident Malcolm Millar who we refer to as ‘Mountain Man’ – took me on my first four day hike in the Drakensberg where we slept in caves and carried about 20kgs on our backs. From that hike onwards I was hooked. I refer to sleeping in a cave as a million star hotel – something very special which brings you down to earth and makes you appreciate the simple things in life,” added the Trail Mom.
In the past six months Chadwick has done the five day Giant’s Cup hike in the Drakensberg, a three day slackpacking hike in the Dargle in the KZN Midlands, the five day Whale Trail in the Western Cape, a two day hike at Giant’s Castle in the Drakensberg and most recently a three day slackpacking hike in the beautiful Karkloof in the KZN Midlands.
She trains Danville Park Girl’s High School every Thursday and Saturday at the Virginia Bush Nature Reserve. As a tester before their trip to Nepal, the girls and teachers did a hike up and down Sani Pass recently.
- To find out more about Riverside Trail and hiking in general you can contact Alison Chadwick on email address durbantrails@gmail.com
