Reflections on a Women’s MTR Clinic

by Joanna Eckhardt, Harriett Hollister Spencer State Recreation Area | Sep 14, 2024 | Division News, Program News, Spotlight Articles

I learned a lot of things at the Women’s MTR clinic organized by the Genesee Valley Region, under the leadership of Deb Whalen, however two things stood out for me the most.

First, offering a Women’s MTR clinic, especially with the word Women’s in the title, encouraged me to sign up. I know nothing about mountain travel and rescue. I like the idea of being outdoors and camping. But I am by no means one of those people constantly somewhere in the woods with a tent and a compass. I never held a compass until now. The fact the clinic was offered for women specifically and contained a topic I knew nothing about, really made me sign up.

I would probably not have signed up for a general MTR clinic, assuming I knew too little about the subject and would be too embarrassed, or too lost, or too frustrated, or frankly feeling too stupid to understand. The fact it was offered as a Women’s clinic empowered me to say, I would really like to know more about MTR, and I think maybe I can learn and understand. Now don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of subjects in the online portion of the course that made me slightly question my decision. The prospect of navigation was especially scary.

But the fact that our instructors assumed we could totally master the simple concepts of navigation was also empowering. Deb was wonderful and supportive, offering open communication about concepts we found challenging. She made it enjoyable to learn but, at the same time, we knew that if we got stuck in any way, we could call, and she would find a way to explain.

The second part that really stood out to me was the fact that being an “all-girls crew” gave the course a different feeling while attending the in-person portion. It was really refreshing to see that our instructors went the extra mile to teach the concept while fostering and encouraging creativity and individualism.

Some instructors I had in the past made it very clear, that while there are a lot of ways to meet the objective, there is honestly only ONE good way, this being their way. In the program we were asked to make a fire and build a shelter. There were no long monologues about how to best approach this request. The objectives were clearly stated in both cases (fire must burn for more than two minutes; shelter must keep you dry and allow you to survive a night in the wilderness in cold, rainy, and windy conditions).

I saw many fires, and I saw as many shelters as there were teams (seven I believe) and none of them were equal. It was refreshing and empowering to see that shelters can come in different forms, and what you have on hand and your imagination may, in fact, suffice to successfully spend a night in the woods with a fire and shelter. What really stood out is that our instructors and mentors attending fostered creativity and spirit. They helped each individual work to their best ability while not injecting their ego, but meeting or surpassing (you should have seen some of the amazing shelters) the objectives.

I absolutely loved the program, and strongly recommend finding and attending one if you can. I met some wonderful women and left in high spirits feeling empowered and a little in awe of all the great work I saw! And honestly, should we not all know how to use a compass and a map to get us out of the woods?