2023 Summit Scholarship Program Details
The Summit Scholarship program offers a series of women’s mountaineering & adventure stipends to help break down the barriers to entry to the big mountain realm for women from all walks of life. Mountaineering and backcountry adventures can be a transformative experience for all those who partake, yet they are costly; the very same women who are poised to benefit the most from this type of empowering adventure experience are also often the ones who are not in a position to afford it.
That's why we here at the AWE Summit Scholarship Foundation have created the Summit Scholarship: for all of us to dream big together. Let’s go climbing!
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All women, trans and cis, are welcome to apply regardless of if you live in the US or elsewhere. Citizenship / residence can be worldwide for most of our scholarships (some scholarships have specific citizenship requirements that will be listed on the details page). Each Summit Scholarship has a different lower age limit; while most scholarships are open to applicants 18 and older, there are some that are available to applicants as young as 14. There is no upper age limit.
To be considered for the Summit Scholarship, simply complete a few demographic questions and a couple of short essays during our application window.
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Applications are accepted from December 5, 2022 to January 31, 2023
Scholarship recipients are announced in March 2023
Scholarship expeditions & adventures take place throughout the remainder of 2023 and early 2024
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In 2023, we were able to create close to $30,000 in expedition & adventure stipends. You’ll find a list of the available scholarships further down on this page. What and how many stipends are available depends on what sponsor commitments we are able to secure, and on the outcome of our direct fundraising campaigns. You can help increase the number of available scholarships by buying a Women of Mountaineering Calendar (we ship internationally!) or making a donation of any size on our website here.
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We are excited to continue our partnership with key supporters who are making this program possible.
A big thank you to our returning core financial partners The Cairn Project , Nite Ize and McGill’s Mountains; we couldn’t do it without you!
Thanks to the generous support of Lucy Westlake - the youngest American woman to summit Mount Everest - we are able to offer youth scholarships for the first time.
LOWA, LEKI and AWExpeditions all contribute invaluable product & service partnerships.
A hearty welcome to EXPED, SheFly and Kula Cloth as contributors!
Got more questions? Our complete list of FAQs is here.
2023 Summit Scholarships
Click on each trip to learn more and apply.
Mount Baker 3 Day Climb (USA)
June 2-6 2023
open to ages 14 and older
4 scholarships available
Kilimanjaro Machame Route (Tanzania)
June 10-19 2023
open to ages 18 and older
1 scholarship available
Cordillera Blanca: Ishinca & Tocllaraju (Peru)
July 15-29 2023
open exclusively to women from Africa
1 scholarship available
Paria Canyon Backpack (USA)
October 21-27 2023
open to ages 14 and older
1 scholarship available
Alpine Academy & Mt Kosciuszko (Australia)
August 20-29 2023
open to ages 18 and older
1 scholarship available
