When women conquer the heights

Things are starting to change in the hitherto male-dominated world of Canadian mountaineering. It is a woman, Sylvia Forest, who now chairs the Canadian Association of Mountain Guides (ACMG). In addition, the Alpine Club of Canada, a 115-year-old institution, has just appointed women to the positions of Chair of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer for the first time.

Mary Tison
The Press

What’s more, these two women are French-speaking: Isabelle Daigneault is from Bromont and Carine Salvy is from Chamonix.

“The majority of the members of the board of directors wanted more diversity,” says the new president, Isabelle Daigneault. The will was genuine, but there was also a question of image and reputation. It was said of the Alpine Club that it was a boys’ club, that there were just guys. It was getting awkward. »

Since 1907

However, the Alpine Club accepted women into its ranks practically at the beginning of its existence: in 1907, of the 44 participants in a mountaineering camp, 15 were women.

“At the time, it was one of the only alpine clubs in the world that welcomed women”, notes M^me Daigneault.

It is assumed that there was a strategy behind this: the Alpine Club of Canada had just been created and was looking to differentiate itself from more established clubs, such as those in the United States and Europe.

The fact remains that the club’s authorities have remained essentially male over the years, a situation similar to what was happening in the rest of the world. In 2017, women made up only 30% of members of the Alpine Club of Canada. The organization currently has 12,000 members (including the author of this column).

French speaking and experienced

Isabelle Daigneault joined the Montreal section of the club 25 years ago, looking for hiking and climbing partners. She became involved in the board of directors of the Montreal section, then in that of the national club, located in Canmore. She visited this Alberta town several times before settling there with her husband and child.

It was friends who invited Isabelle Daigneault to present her candidacy for the position of president of the club’s board of directors. According to her, being French-speaking was an advantage. “There has been a demand for more communications and documentation in French for a long time,” she points out. But what played was also the fact of having lived in the West, in Quebec and in Ontario. I don’t think the Rockies are the navel of Canada. There are plenty of activities to do everywhere. »

The appointment of Carine Salvy as Executive Director is also audacious: it has only been eight months since she immigrated to Canada. However, she has extensive experience in business management, governance and mountaineering. “Being in Chamonix, I did a lot of mountain climbing. I understand the issues related to the alpine environment,” she says.

“There is a great desire to tap into all the diversity of this country, to address portions of the population that we had little approached, not only in terms of gender, but also in terms of ethnicity. and socio-economic background,” adds Ms.^me Salvy.

For Isabelle Daigneault, it’s about questioning the image projected by the high mountain world, that “it’s just white people who wear Arc’teryx clothing who go to the mountains”.

Sylvia Forest, the new ACMG President, also wanted to talk to The Press, but after returning from a guided expedition, she had only one evening to wash and repack before leaving for two weeks. The mountain is a demanding world.