The North Face and Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) introduced Girl Scouts’ Outdoor High Adventure badge programming, which includes 12 new outdoor adventure badges designed to introduce the 1.7 million active Girl Scouts across the country to hiking, trail running, snow sports and climbing.
Girl Scouts’ new badges will enable and inspire the next generation of women explorers through outdoor exploration, and it is the latest effort between The North Face and GSUSA, who collaborated for the first time in 2018 as part of the Move Mountains initiative that is designed to celebrate and promote the stories of women pushing boundaries in the outdoors and beyond.
The program will allow Girl Scouts to earn badges through activities that include backpacking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, rock climbing, trail running, and more. And, for the first time in Girl Scout history—because of the Outdoor High Adventure badges—girls can choose one of two distinct activity paths to earn their badges. For example, Brownies in second or third grade, can choose between taking three different types of hikes or going trail running, and Ambassadors in grades 11 to 12 can choose between camping out in the snow or frozen terrain or taking a multiday climbing trip where they will boulder, top-rope, and rappel. Giving girls choice is important for developing their sense of self and their own voice.
As part of its collaboration with GSUSA, The North Face will enlist its roster of outdoor athletes and leaders for speaking engagements and invite Girl Scouts and Girl Scout volunteers to attend nationwide, in-store events with experiential learning opportunities onsite.
With a shared purpose of encouraging exploration, The North Face and GSUSA understand the importance of providing the next generation of girls with outdoor adventure experiences. In a 2014 study from the Girl Scout Research Institute(GSRI), 72 percent of Girl Scouts said they improved a skill and a third said they had overcome a fear through outdoor experience with the organization. By giving girls the opportunity to experience the outdoors, The North Face and GSUSA hope to enhance leadership skills and confidence in young girls, while encouraging them to seek challenges through outdoor adventure. This philosophy is shared by The North Face’s athlete team, many of whom Girl Scouts will have an opportunity to meet and interact with at upcoming events.
The North Face athlete Hillary Allen said, “The outdoors constantly challenges me. I am exposed and I actively have to choose to keep going and move forward. In the end, I’m constantly learning things and pushing myself forward and becoming a better person.”
The North Face’s support and collaboration with GSUSA and Girl Scouts’ Outdoor High Adventure badge programming will introduce an entire generation of girls—regardless of socioeconomic status—to the benefits of exploration and adventure in the outdoors.
For more information on “Move Mountains” visit thenorthface.com/shemovesmountains.
Photo courtesy The North Face
