Climbing with Pride
The outdoors is open to everyone, and we are proud to support campaigns that champion equality, inclusivity and adventure for all. Pink Summits is one of those causes, and we’re helping the team to complete their expeditions, deliver more community events and raise awareness of their ultimate mission: LGBTQ+ visibility.
Who are Pink Summits?
Pink Summits is a community of LGBTQ+ mountaineers who share a passion for adventure and the outdoors. Founded in 2018 by Dastan Kasmamytov, a well-known LGBTQ+ activist from Kyrgyzstan, the campaign aims to promote visibility and acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community around the world and to inspire and empower LGBTQ+ individuals to follow their lead.
“I started this campaign because there is a lack of LGBTQ+ inspiring stories in the public domain, especially when it comes to adventure sports, particularly in regions such as Central Asia. It’s a personal challenge for every one of us in the team because, to share our stories, we must ourselves come out. It’s never easy, but we believe in the transforming power of stories: they change people’s attitudes, increase exposure to our communities and eventually improve acceptance.” – Dastan Kasmamytov, Founder of Pink Summits
Dastan and his inspirational team work together with LGBTQ+ organisations to bring people together in the outdoors, empowering them and planting seeds of pride. They are also currently in the process of climbing well-known ‘Seven Summits’, promoting queer visibility from the top of the highest peaks across each of the seven continents.
The Seven Summits
With five peaks climbed so far – Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc, Kosciusko and Elbrus – the next Pink Summits expedition is planned for 2024 when the team will climb Denali in North America. In 2025 they aim to summit Puncak Jaya in Oceania, followed by Vinson in Antarctica in 2026.
The final summit of the challenge is planned to take place in 2027 when they will take on their ultimate test and climb to the highest point on Earth: Mount Everest.
“This is a very challenging campaign, not only from the physical and emotional perspective shared with other fellow mountaineers, but because we are activists. Sadly, we still receive a lot of nasty jokes, hate and even threats both online and offline for what we do and what we believe. But this only makes us stronger and more empowered to fight for our cause.”
FIND OUT MORE – https://pinksummits.com/en/summits/
Join The Cause
If you’re passionate about adventure and raising LGBTQ+ visibility and dream of joining the Pink Summits team, you can apply for the Osprey-sponsored scholarship. Applications close at midnight on 17 May 2023 (Central European Time).
“This is a project that we’ve dreamed of since the beginning of our campaign. We know that mountaineering is expensive, and this scholarship will support someone – who perhaps doesn’t have the financial means – to realise their dream of joining the Pink Summits team championing the LGBTQ+ community.”
