I recently attended several of the talks, screenings and events at Fort William Mountain Festival.
I had picked a real mix of events expecting the only real link to be outdoor pursuits or winter sports.
Instead a recurring theme of mental health threaded through every single event.
In some events it was a focus of the talk such as Nick Ray’s inspirational story about his 12-month solo kayak trip around Scotland, embarked upon with the intention of raising awareness about mental health and how spending time in nature can have a positive effect on wellbeing.
In other events it was woven through the speakers’ stories, such as Emma Crome and Hamish Frost’s screening of Emma’s film featuring Hamish openly embracing his queer identity and speaking about how in doing so he had seen improvements in his own mental health.
Hamish also helped others in the mountain sports community feel able to share their stories and support others by speaking about issues, including mental health and sexuality.
Producer, director and writer Joe French shared his story, covered in more detail in his book Out of Mind, about his post-traumatic stress following surviving two natural disasters himself while losing friends and colleagues and his wife’s diagnosis of cancer.
Joe, who is a barefoot runner in the woodlands around Lochaber, explained how his connection to nature and the outdoors has helped with his own wellbeing.
The world of winter sports can be a particularly testosterone-fuelled one with a focus on physical strength and stamina and certainly previous events I have attended at the Mountain Festival have not had the same openness, honesty and matter-of-fact mention made of mental health and emotional wellbeing.
I was struck by two encouraging facts after attending the Mountain Festival this year.
The first was that the topic of mental health is starting to become one which is spoken about without shame and stigma, regardless of the spaces the conversations are taking place.
The speakers, and equally importantly, the audience shared these stories in a supportive, understanding and empathetic manner.
The second was the clear links being made between connection with the outdoors and physical activity - of all sorts - with mental wellbeing.
From cold water swimming to kayaking, ice climbing to barefoot running, nature and wildlife photography and film making to sharing stories around campfires.
Whilst the speakers at these events were inspirational individuals, exceptional in their achievements and skills and in the case of several household names it was their sharing of stories which everyone in the audience could relate to - including those of us who have never scaled a mountain, filmed an award winning documentary or authored a book - about being human, facing challenges, having struggles and how sharing those stories and getting outside had helped.
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