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Passages Magazine | EXTRAORDINARY AFTER FIFTY
How a National Network is Finding Confidence and Community in the Outdoors
By Audra Labert (she/her) CDTC Communications Manager
Each year, 150 women from across the United States are invited to join the Over 50 Outside program (O50O). Participants are from various backgrounds, life experiences, interests, and abilities. Still, this program has created a platform for shared experiences and provided a springboard for accessing outdoor activities.
Katherine Henckler only applied for the O50O program at the urging of her friend and neighbor. Since moving to Tucson from the East Coast in 2015, she has volunteered as a docent at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum as well as helping with the summer camps, and she has a background in early childhood education. Getting outside and walking is a habit she brought to the Southwest. Henckler particularly appreciates the accommodating weather of the “most beautiful” Tucson area. She loves the opportunity to get outside most days of the year, especially if she is willing to get up early some days to avoid the heat.
After applying to the program in August of 2021, Henckler was selected to participate in the 2022 cohort of O50O. She said, chuckling, that although the friend who initially introduced her to the program was not accepted, they still spoke and hiked together.
Over the next year, Henckler would connect with other women and build a supportive network to explore, be challenged physically and mentally, and have a place to feel like she belonged. Before the program, when she looked around in the outdoor industry, Henckler wasn’t exactly sure where she fit in. She shared, “I look at outdoor ads and see these young gals in short shorts and tank tops, and that’s not me.” Thankfully, Henckler wasn’t alone.
Over 50 Outside originates from Teresa Baker of the In Solidarity Project. Baker brought what she thought was a problem to Liz Wilson (formally Outdoor Research) and Amy Beck (Oboz Footwear): Why aren’t women over fifty represented in outdoor brand marketing?
In response, the O50O group and idea formed as a partnership between Oboz, Osprey, Outdoor Research, and the 52 Hike Challenge to grow the representation of women over fifty in the outdoor industry. The year-long program begins with a one-year membership for the 52 Hike Challenge, monthly touch-bases over Zoom with the cohort, brand support and product discounts, and communication with the group members through the active Facebook group. The 52 Hike Challenge commitment is to complete fifty-two hikes in a year— one for each week of the year—of a mile or greater in distance. Additionally, the brand partners host a retreat to celebrate a year of hiking each August, where the women can come together in person.
During the program, Henckler got outside more and felt more capable with her gear and attitude and understanding her limits. She also gained the confidence to look forward to solo hiking, when before, she would feel forced to hike alone when no one else was available. After meeting that initial 52 Hike Challenge, she continued with her own versions of the annual challenge, and now– at 66 years old–Henckler feels stronger than ever and relishes the newfound confidence to go out on her own.
Over 3,000 applications to O50O were received in the first year, thanks to a growing interest in getting outdoors and the desire to feel supported. However, there’s more to the O50O collective than the confidence-building challenge. The sense of community created in the program has had a powerful impact on these women’s lives.
Each participant was paired with an accountability partner. For Rachel Capoccia, that accountability helped provide the motivation to get outside every week. Like Henckler, Capoccia wasn’t seeking out the program. As a self-proclaimed hoarder of Osprey backpacks, she stumbled upon the application through an email sent from Osprey.
“I told my husband about it, and the first thing he said was, ‘How does Osprey know you’re over 50?’ And then he’s like, ‘You tell people too much,’” she added with a laugh.
If either of the women knew what was in store for them, they weren’t disappointed when the program started. Capoccia had already been an avid hiker and was getting more into backpacking when the program found her. The accountability to her partner and the 52 Hike Challenge motivated her out the door, and the community Capoccia found fueled her passion for the program and beyond.
“It’s been awesome,” Capoccia said. “I’ve met women from all over the country in my age range who I can go hiking and backpacking with and talk to now.”
After her term in the 2021-2022 O50O cohort, Capoccia became a leader and mentor in the program and is helping keep the connection among and between program cohorts alive. She also welcomes new faces to the hiking group near her home in Southern California and connects with other groups. Rather than focus on the speed or the distance, Capoccia reassures new and aspiring hikers that it’s okay to take it easy, with the motto, “We’ll get there when we get there.”
Since throwing herself into this new outlet, Capcoccia has gone from local hike leader to planning trips around the country, and she dreams next of Alaskan adventures. Her 2023 summer endeavor—planned to coordinate with the O50O retreat in Montana—was a backpacking trip in Yellowstone National Park with a group of women from O50O. Although she had never been on the planned route, the skills, experience, and confidence she had accumulated were vital in the planning. She also added that, sometimes, “You have to take a leap of faith.”
For some, that leap brought them to Camp Hyalite near Bozeman, Montana, in the summer of 2023. The gathering allowed the circle of O50O participants to meet in person, feel a more profound sense of community, and grow their circle of amazing people to call friends.
Continental Divide Trail Coalition (CDTC) Executive Director Teresa Martinez attended the Montana retreat at Camp Hyalite. She sees the potential to create more safe and brave spaces for people who don’t often see themselves represented in the outdoors. She described them as “places to not only see themselves represented but to experience them and become the leaders in the spaces they need.”
The program partners are also looking ahead to the future of the group and how it can continue to foster a love for hiking in women over 50. There is hope for it to expand and involve more women by adding resources, partners, and additional opportunities to get outside- together.
Although Martinez did not participate in the full program, she believes in supporting programs and initiatives that improve access and equity. Martinez added, “Because of [CDTC’s] unique role, we can create more of these kinds of opportunities and engage our entire team in helping do the work: Whether it’s me showing up here, or leading Pride hikes, or women-focused volunteer projects.”
From the participants, there is hope that the program can and will continue. Still, the seed has clearly been planted, and more women are answering the call to become leaders in their communities and families. Most importantly, these women are not creating a one-size-fits-all approach to getting outside but an open space for others to cultivate their own goals and interests and find the support to grow them.
“There are people who don’t have a community like this,” Henckler said, “and when you have one, you need to share it.”
