THE directors of Kendal Mountain Festival have been keen to ensure that this year’s programme features a diverse set of voices and experiences from the world of adventure – traditionally a male-dominated field.

“It’s a really difficult one because obviously I’m not interested in tokenism,” Clive Allen, one of the directors, said. “We do not put a woman in there just because she’s a woman. She has to be someone who is there in her own right, has amazing achievements and is entertaining to see – unfortunately the mountaineering world is skewed a bit away from that.”

Included in the line-up is Sarah Outen, a British adventurer who just one year ago completed a four-and-a-half year long world expedition.

Sarah kayaked, cycled and rowed 25,000 miles around the Northern hemisphere and has just released a book about her ‘London2London’ adventure.

“Not many people have heard of her but if you sit down and listen to her story and you’re totally gripped,” Clive said. I hope that’s what we bring along as well – people you might not have heard of but who are amazing.”

Claire Carter, film officer for the festival, said that for her the important thing was that standards were not ‘dumbed down’ for a specific group of people.

“I think that’s a false economy and we end up with people pigeon-holing a particular group or not being held to the same standards as everyone else,” she said. That’s a real problem for me.”

She said that although there were barriers for women in the adventure and outdoors industry, she was definitely seeing things improve. Initiatives such as This Girl Can and the Women in Adventure Network were both encouraging women to get involved.

“Because of the nature of the job and because of things like maternity it is difficult to make a career as an adventure film-maker a viable one as a woman,” she said. “But I do think it’s getting easier.”

Included on the festival’s line-up this year is the premiere of Run Forever, a film about Nicky Spinks, the breast cancer survivor who broke the double Bob Graham Record earlier this year.

“It’s interesting because it’s made by a man but it’s extremely graceful,” Claire said.

She also highlighted Dorothy and Judith, a film about two female climbers in their 60s who returned to one of their favourite routes in the Lake District. She was also involved in making a film called The Bothy Project, alongside Jen Randall, about four female artists going to find creative space in the great Scottish wilderness.

For Ms Carter, the power of these female focused adventure films is in their ability to inspire young girls that come to see them.

“I think that image has a huge potential to inspire and drive activity,” she said. “I think an issue with brands maybe is that they won’t produce a particular kind of product because they don’t think there’s a demand for women to go Alpine climbing say. Sometimes I’m tempted to say well I wonder what would happen if in your catalogue you showed a woman doing that activity? I wonder if that might make a change.”

And for the team behind the festival it is not just gender that is being considered. Steve Scott, one of the event directors, said that each and every year the festival grew in ‘quality, quantity and diversity’.

“We actively pursue the most engaging stories, films and speakers,” he said. “I’m delighted to see the increased representation of para-athletes and para-adventurers at Kendal.

“We know this is an ongoing challenge in our society but our aim is clear; we want adventure (and Kendal Mountain Festival) to stand for inclusivity.”