Himalayan Women Trail Leaders (HWTL) is a transformative, community-driven initiative advancing gender equity in Nepal's trekking industry. Operating under The Porter Voice Collective, HWTL works directly with local women guides and rural communities to create greater access to professional opportunities and leadership. By elevating women's voices and expertise, the initiative is helping reshape high-altitude tourism and shift power and opportunity to local women.

For generations, Nepal's trekking industry—particularly at high altitudes—has been dominated by men, leaving women from rural and underserved communities with limited access to guiding and leadership roles.

HWTL is breaking down these barriers through training, mentorship, and economic empowerment. Women guides are building the technical, safety, and leadership skills needed to lead treks across the 1,700-kilometer Great Himalaya Trail, including remote and challenging high-altitude routes. In doing so, they are expanding their earning potential while helping normalize women as leaders in the mountains.

HWTL's approach is deeply rooted in local knowledge and lived experience. Women guides participate as co-creators through specialized training that combines classroom learning with hands-on field experience, as well as the development of a unique Trail Knowledge & Guide Handbook based on their own field research. This ensures the program remains practical, relevant, and grounded in the communities it serves.

Crooked Trails funding is helping expand HWTL's 2026 training and research while supporting a groundbreaking pilot program in Lukla, where women guides will lead training on porter safety and ethical trekking practices.

The impact reaches far beyond the individual guides, helping improve working conditions and safety throughout the trekking ecosystem. HWTL is not simply preparing women for jobs—it is building a future where women are recognized as leaders in some of the world's highest landscapes.