This year, WHS chose SheJumps as the nonprofit we will be supporting in 2026. When we make that choice as a community, it means something. It reflects our values, and it reflects what we believe about women, about the outdoors, and about the kind of spaces we want to help create.
So, we reached out to SheJumps and asked them to tell us more about who they are and what drives their work. What we learned felt deeply aligned with who we are as a hiking community.
Making the Outdoors Accessible
SheJumps was founded in 2007 with a clear mission: to increase the participation of women and girls in outdoor activities. Their vision is to unearth the potential of all women and girls through outdoor play and connection to nature.
What began as a grassroots, all-volunteer effort has grown into a national nonprofit with a small staff and more than 135 regional volunteers across 17 states. Since its founding, SheJumps has served over 55,000 participants. In the past fiscal year alone, they reached 2,753 women and girls through 153 events!
But the heart of SheJumps isn’t in the numbers. It’s in the belief that growth is in our nature—and that fear, stereotypes, and lack of access shouldn’t be the things that hold women back.
“If She Can Do It, So Can I.”
SheJumps was founded around a simple and powerful idea: “if she can do it, so can I.”
From the beginning, SheJumps was about belonging and representation. It was about creating visible examples of women doing bold things in the outdoors so others could see themselves there too. That philosophy still shapes their programming today. Their first event in 2007 brought fourteen women together to climb the Grand Teton, the largest group of women to summit at that time!
SheJumps organizes its work into three core areas that meet women and girls wherever they are in their outdoor journey:
1) Through community-based outdoor education events and skill-building workshops, they provide welcoming entry points for women looking to try something new or deepen their abilities.
2) Their Wild Skills programs serve girls ages 6–17, helping build confidence and life skills through experiential outdoor learning.
3) Their Access Programs remove financial barriers through scholarships for avalanche education, Wilderness First Aid certification, ski passes, and more.
The goal is simple: make it easier for women and girls to take that first step — and the next one.
What Impact Looks Like
One story they shared captures that ripple effect beautifully.
A woman named Theresa first connected with SheJumps through a Snowpack Scholarship that allowed her to take an AIARE 1 avalanche course tuition-free. That opportunity expanded her backcountry skill set and opened new possibilities. She later returned for additional training through another scholarship, deepening her expertise as she worked toward becoming a mountain guide.
Today, Theresa is a full-time mountain guide serving clients across the West. She even founded her own scholarship program, Color the Cascades, to help women and non-binary People of Color enter mountaineering. In a full-circle moment, she guided the 2025 SheJumps Mt. Rainier Fundraising Climb.
That’s the kind of long-term impact SheJumps strives for — not just a single event, but a pathway.
Why This Work Is Still Needed
Despite progress, women and girls continue to face real disparities in outdoor recreation and leadership. Fewer than 10% of AMGA-certified mountain guides are women. Only 7% of Everest summiteers are women. Just 2% of philanthropic funds in the United States go toward nonprofits focused specifically on women and girls. At the same time, children are spending dramatically less time outdoors than previous generations.
The outdoors is a place of challenge, reflection, resilience, and growth. But getting there can feel intimidating, expensive, or isolating. SheJumps works to reduce those barriers by creating supportive, community-centered spaces where women and girls can learn, take risks, and build confidence together.
Mentorship plays a major role in that process. Since 2013, SheJumps has built a strong regional volunteer structure that allows local leaders to design and host programs within their own communities. Volunteers receive comprehensive training in leadership, inclusive facilitation, and risk management. Last year alone, over 100 events were volunteer-led, and 72% of events were free or donation-based to ensure accessibility.
Representation matters. When women see leaders who look like them and recreate in landscapes that feel familiar, belonging becomes tangible.
Why Being Outdoors Changes Us
When asked why the outdoors builds confidence and leadership so powerfully, SheJumps shared a quote from community member and former board member Sara Boilen:
We go to nature for many reasons… It is a space for sitting and reflecting, a place to wonder and fill our minds with awe. For many of us, nature offers a place to feel challenged and empowered—digging deep into our abilities, bumping up against our insecurities. Nature is where we go to be who we are meant to be.
That sentiment resonates deeply with our own experiences as hikers.
There is something about moving your body across a landscape, feeling your strength, navigating discomfort, and sharing that space with other women that builds something lasting. Confidence earned outside rarely stays there; it follows us back into our families, careers, and communities.
Where Support Goes
SheJumps is fueled by community support. More than 80% of its funding comes from individual donors, partners, and grants. They have intentionally maintained low operational costs so that the majority of funding goes directly into programming, including scholarships, event supplies, insurance coverage, and year-round staffing to support events across the country.
In the past year alone, SheJumps hosted 153 events, offered more than 1,800 hours of programming, and awarded over $100,000 in access funds to remove financial barriers for participants. Community support makes that scale possible.
Why This Partnership Makes Sense
At the Women’s Wine Hiking Society, we believe in gathering women outdoors. We believe in growth through challenge. We believe in building connection in a judgment-free environment. SheJumps believes those same things and works to expand that access nationwide.
As we face increasing social division and rising mental health challenges, spaces where women can gather outside, support one another, and experience meaningful growth matter more than ever. When women take care of themselves and build strength together, entire communities benefit.
That is why we chose SheJumps.
We’re honored to support their work this year and excited to see how our community can help amplify their impact.
How Can You Support SheJumps?
Did you know that each day hike you sign up for helps support SheJumps’ mission? At the end of 2026, we will donate 20% of all day hike fees to SheJumps.
On top of that, we host a Christmas party with a silent auction the first weekend of December in Salt Lake City. All proceeds from the silent auction go to SheJumps. This year’s silent auction Christmas party is on December 5 at the Grandview Room at Millcreek Common. Stay tuned for more details!
We also host smaller fundraising events throughout the year, including our meet and greet on March 18 at Scion Cider. Only a few spots remain for this event. Sign up here.
