DENVER — A group of Denver-area women are preparing to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Fourteen women will take on the bucket list challenge in Africa next week. Planning this adventure started last year.
It was a joint effort between Women's Wilderness and Life's 2 Short Fitness. Women’s Wildnerness is a nonprofit organization committed to creating space for girls, women, and non-binary people of all ages and backgrounds to find their place, their voice, and their power in the outdoors, according to its website. Life’s 2 Short Fitness organizes courses, clinics, events and community focusing on skills and fitness-based curriculum to help educate, encourage and empower women to experience outdoor adventures and sports like trail running, snowshoeing, mountain biking, hiking and more, according to their website.
“I feel super lucky this is my work, and it doesn't always feel like work,” said Kriste Peoples, the executive director for Women’s Wilderness and lead coach at Life’s 2 Short Fitness. “I thought there was a wonderful synergy there between the two groups, so we created a series called Peak Ready to help those women get ready for the climb of Kilimanjaro and open it up to the general public.” Peoples has been leading the group of 14 women through training in Colorado.
Credit: Colleen Maldonado “We started our training back in the spring, so as early as March or April, with hikes all over the Front Range,” Peoples said. “It has been a gradual series of m.