Kirsty in her own words:
“I’m a mixed-race freelance mountaineering and climbing instructor from the west coast of Scotland. I love being able to introduce and share so many of the incredible Scottish environments, whether it’s the mountains in full winter conditions or a beautifully still sea with views out to the Hebrides.
Climbing in all forms is pretty much my life but earlier this year I also started mountain biking and roller skating, which are both great fun and very different!
Outside of work and play, I’ve been a member of Oban Mountain Rescue Team since 2013. I’m a callout manager and the Training Officer on the team, and love being able to give something back to the mountaineering community.
I’m the founder of Our Shared Outdoors, an organisation set up to tackle and change the lack of diversity in the outdoors and promote underrepresented groups. I’m really passionate about making outdoor communities as accessible as possible to everyone, because it should be!
I’m also a panellist on On the Outside podcast, where we discuss outdoor news in the UK with a panel of diverse outdoor enthusiasts.”
New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday at 7am UK time - Make sure you hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss out.
The Tough Girl Podcast is sponsorship and ad free thanks to the monthly financial support of patrons. To find out more about supporting your favourite podcast and becoming a patron please visit
www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast.
Show notes
- Who is Kirsty
- What she does
- Her passions and interests
- Moving up to Scotland when she was 9 years old
- Getting to spend time in the outdoors as a child
- Her dreams as a little girl
- How she got into outdoor instructing
- Doing work experience at an outdoor centre
- Becoming a volunteer during the summer holidays
- Getting an outdoor education apprenticeship
- What was involved in being an apprentice
- What she loves about her job
- Mixing her passion for the outdoors with her job
- Deciding to join the Mountain Rescue Team as a volunteer
- What the call out manager does
- The stresses of the job
- Wanting people to be as prepared as possible for the outdoors
- Being a founder of Our Shared Outdoors
- Changing the narrative
- Call to the Mountains Film (Jan 2020)
- The women who inspire Kirsty
- Advice for women who want to start doing their qualifications
- Summer and Winter Mountain Leader Training
- Why we need to go and do it
- Being a panelist On the Outside Podcast
- The barriers that stop people going outdoors
- Struggling with equipment and finding kit to fit
- The changes over the past 10 years
- How the statics haven’t changed in 30 years
- Having a 10% female membership….
- Why women are less likely to wing it
- Support for women who have children
- Dealing with skill fade
- Kirsty’s favourite walk/hike up in Scotland
Social Media
Our Shared Outdoors - An organisation working to redefine the outdoor narrative to become inclusive to all.
On the Outside Podcast Launched Summer 2021 - is a UK based news-panel podcast sharing diverse views on outdoors news.