INSPIRATIONAL Scottish athlete and adventurer Karen Darke – a two-time Paralympics medal winner – has been named as this year’s recipient of a top award from the Fort William Mountain Festival.
She is the 15th winner of the Scottish Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture, sponsored by JAHAMA Highland Estates.
As well as being an athlete, Inverness-based Darke is an author, global speaker, transformational coach and an adventure mindset coach.
She won gold at Rio 2016, silver in London 2012 and became the European Paratriathlon Champion in 2014. Darke is also an international adventurer and lives life as a modern-day “alchemist” – passionate about turning challenge into opportunity and transforming the difficult stuff into “gold”.
Darke said: “Receiving the Scottish Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture took me by surprise but is a real honour. Thank you. My soul is rarely peaceful without a mountain in its presence.
“On becoming paralysed almost 30 years ago it seemed at first that mountains were a thing of the past. Thanks to the interesting technology of bikes and skis, and to great friends who have been up for some adventures, mountain landscapes have worked their way even deeper into the fabric of my being.”
Nominated by the public and her peers as a mountain hero who celebrates achievement, accomplishment and the spirit of adventure, Darke joins previous esteemed winners such as Dave Morris, Andy Nisbet, Jimmy Marshall, Myrtle Simpson, Ian Sykes, and Dr Hamish MacInnes in the Excellence in Mountain Culture Hall of Fame.
Tom Uppington, managing director of ALVANCE British Aluminium, said: “Karen is the worthiest winner we can imagine of this award and an outstanding addition to the list of previous recipients. Karen’s resourcefulness, strength of character and mountain expertise are extraordinary and show qualities we can all aspire to in our daily lives.”
“ALVANCE Aluminium and JAHAMA Highland Estates are proud to play a role in the Fort William community and its place at the centre of British mountain culture.”
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