Gutsy Girls and Nordic Paddling

Words: Elaine Farquharson

Photos: Elaine Farquharson
& Shalene Loh

Elaine’s Bio

Elaine Farquharson

Elaine owns and runs Dorset Sports Physio, based in Weymouth community college sports centre. She offers sports physiotherapy, biomechanics and coaching to the Dorset communities. Elaine’s specialist interest is tri sports and SUP, not only as a competitor but also through her work as a coach and physio. Elaine’s specialist work with the lower quadrant has helped her achieve advanced practice recognition in hip and pelvis and works closely alongside Dorset’s expert hip surgeons and lower limb specialists. Elaine’s facilities offer a large private treatment room, three sports halls, a fully equipped gym, sports pitches, and also racquet courts across the two sites. Elaine also has a hydrotherapy pool and Pilates studio off campus. @dorsetsportsphysio

Comfy paddling – female inclusivity with Gutsy Girls and Nordic Paddling, Norway

According to Sport England, only 35% of females participate in regular physical exercise, including gentle and safe activities like pilates, walking or yoga. So, encouraging women to enjoy the great outdoors and take themselves out of their comfort zones to become skilled in adventure sports is an even greater challenge.

I have been paddling since I was ten years old. I was lucky to grow up with a family who liked the outdoors, and I went to a school with a paddle sports section. My home was North Wales, and the culture around me was about adventure. I was one of the 35% who enjoyed sports at school. My shape was tall and athletic, allowing me to wear male-tailored wetsuits, drysuits and paddle sports equipment easily. The kayaks fitted my slender shape. Being sporty meant I could join the cadets and later the TA, so I was trained to like roughing it. So what’s a little water and a smelly drysuit when you spend days in the field living off the land? I was lucky; it seemed natural to become adventurous, but this isn’t the route for many women.

I work in the world of sports, health and exercise. I am a coach and physio, and the biggest thing I have learned about the barrier to female inclusion is comfort. Comfort isn’t just staying warm or dry. It’s about the weight of the kit when submerged, the cut of the kit to allow motion, the seat of the kayak to be able to obtain a neutral, pain-free posture, the adjustment of the backrest to accommodate all sizes of a female pelvis and even comfort breaks and modesty in the outdoors is a significant factor which does need more thought and work to overcome the problem it brings. The most critical barrier, though, is health. This is the physical strain, pressure on the skin and overload of the tissues, AND psychological wellbeing. Understanding female psychology and empathising with each person’s needs make a massive difference in participation.

A supportive environment
At this point, I should introduce you to a fabulous company called Gutsy Girls, which strives to achieve more participation for females in adventure sports. The company offers a variety of adventurous sporting holidays, from hiking to kayaking and cross-country skiing to SUP. All of these are aimed at creating a supportive environment for learning and growth for women that is fun and friendly to all levels of needs. Highly skilled coaches deliver the courses, and all have a host responsible for the group’s wellbeing. The courses are delivered across Europe and aim to teach sustainable travel and environmental awareness.

I have hosted Gutsy Girls for over five years and have seen a boom in female participation in paddling through SUP growth; however, we also want to help encourage more female participation in kayaking. I have had numerous discussions with coaches and leaders about why more girls don’t switch from SUP to kayaking, and I think it’s all about comfort. So when I got offered the chance to be a host on one of Gutsy Girls’ new kayaking and hiking courses, I felt I would be well placed to help problem-solve participation and enjoyment and put my theory to the test.

The course was a week-long set in the stunning Lysefjord Fjord, which is only an hour’s drive from Stavanger and is about the same flight time from major British airports. Nordic paddling kayak school is located on the banks of a sheltered cove on the fjord, ensuring protection from the more exposed sections, which can kick up advanced open water conditions with clapotis from the shear-sided cliff walls. Around the shoreline is a quiet, wild camping area hidden away as Nordic Paddling also offers multi-day trips and experiences.

The Norwegian diet
Accommodation for the week was in a luxury camping hut, which had excellent facilities and our jetty and beach to watch the sun rise and set. It’s stunning and allows peace from our fast-paced 9-5 lifestyles. All food was prepared from fresh ingredients within the cabin and included a selection of speciality Norwegian meats like Reindeer, seafood foraging and locally sourced veggies. The Norwegian diet is clean eating at its best, as you’re hard-pushed to find processed products in most supermarkets.

The kayak company have a variety of sea kayaks, doubles and singles. They have a range of sizes and styles, some having adjustable backrests whilst others have fixed systems. Paddles are lightweight and have a small-sided asymmetrical blade which can be feathered to the comfort of the individual, and they have two main lengths of shaft for paddlers to use. Their paddling clothing is all made by NRS and new, with a good range of sizes for everyone. Plus, they have a very effective drying room for the kit.

On the trip were seven wonderful gutsy girls who had a mixed level of kayaking experience from complete beginner to old school two stars. None of them had been in a sea kayak before and had not been given much formal paddling training apart from our 2-star paddler. Everyone was nervous about the cold water and getting stuck in the kayak. That was the fundamental topic that kept cropping up before the first day, but it was clear everyone was up for having a go.

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Rescue skills
I was surprised that the course included a lot of rescue skills over the first two days. Often, on holiday-orientated courses, the emphasis is on holiday, but the coaches wanted to inspire the ladies in their self-confidence. It would have been much easier to pop people in doubles and tour. Still, by the end of these courses, all the ladies were self-sufficient paddlers and, in my opinion, confident in easy coastal waters with a guide. The fear of the first day was completely gone, and the anxieties of comfort at the start had seemed to vanish as the team grew skills, tactics and techniques out in the fjord.

It’s surprising how daunting it is for people who have never worn water sports clothing. We often think all about the paddling, but how to dress and keep your temperature regulated is a big part of learning our skills. Time was spent going through the set-up of the kayaks. We tried different seats and backrest options. I recommend centres always have adjustable seating systems for new paddlers; it can make or break a person’s experience.

Working in pairs
The first few days looked at all the basic strokes and rescues within the sheltered water bay next to the centre. I was amazed at how well everyone learned how to handle their craft, and by day two, people were even showing signs of edging and linking their strokes together. I think a lot was from making falling out of our boats fun. We developed our self-rescues and worked in pairs to help each other early on. Once the fear and barrier of worrying about being upside down had gone, progress was a lot quicker.

Trips out in the fjord were gently built up in distance and exposure. Lysefjord, or light fjord, is 42km long and stunningly beautiful due to its lighter-coloured rock walls and famous pulpit rock, which towers 604 meters above the sea. This landmark was used in the iconic film Mission Impossible – Fallout and is certainly impressive to see from the water or land.

We also learned how to fish from the kayaks; we were shown, but we didn’t catch anything. The foraging team had better luck as the fjord is renowned for its shellfish, with many farms along the broader section of the fjord. This is something I have never done before, and it tastes good.

We spent a couple of days hiking along the fjord to help rest our arms from all the new kayaking. Hikes in Norway are extreme and sometimes involve sheer drops and ladders, and trails involve bushwhacking through the vegetation to enjoy access to the plateau at the top of the fjord. It was an exciting experience, especially as getting up high helps you appreciate the vast size of the fjords we had been paddling on.

Explored new boundaries
So, this was a highly successful experience, with all the ladies being able to paddle efficiently in the open water environment. We pushed our limits and explored new boundaries but overcame many barriers that hopefully, on reflection, will help others have a positive experience in paddling. I asked one of the participants, Sharlene, about her experience. She said, “This trip was so much more than what I had expected. On top of learning paddling and rescuing skills, we also foraged for seafood at the fjord and learned how to navigate using the compass and a map. While I can’t say I am confident about being outdoors alone, this trip has fuelled my interest in participating in more outdoor adventures!”

Progress
So, we are making progress on female inclusivity in kayaking. We have increasing opportunities and awareness of female kayakers’ needs, but we have a long way to go to design more female-user-friendly kit. Sharing the good work that companies like Gutsy Girls and Nordic Paddling do for females will help industry professionals follow suit with innovations and further opportunities around the UK. Further study is needed to help understand and break down female participation barriers. We need more inclusivity for female shapes and sizes.

More sympathy and solutions for reducing exposure to toileting are essential. Improving the seating adjustment and sizing for female comfort and obtaining an efficient posture in the early paddling stages shouldn’t be overlooked. Also, lighter kit to transport, lift onto transport and manoeuvre for storage, perhaps using more surf skis type design and less plastic moulded kit, could be another starting place for intro paddlers, not just those that are more specialist or elite.

So a big thank you, Gutsy Girls, for tackling female participation head-on in sea kayaking and Nordic Paddling, for listening and getting stuck into our psychology, bending over backwards to learn and develop an inclusive course for females. Your care is most appreciated, and I cannot wait to see what opportunities you both create for us next year!