How One Outdoor Adventurer Is on a Mission To Make Hiking and Climbing More Body-Inclusive

When you close your eyes and picture a mountain climber, chances are the images flashing through your mind are frustratingly homogenous. The messages we've received about who belongs in nature, not to mention the racial and socioeconomic disparities that exclude marginalized communities, have contributed to a narrative that a certain type of person—in a certain type of body—belongs on the trail. But now, there's a new generation creating a more body-inclusive vision of outdoor adventure.

Avid adventurer and body-acceptance advocate Megan Banker is part of the change. She’s made it her mission to turn the outside world into a welcoming place for people living in bodies of all sizes. “I can’t speak for all plus-size people, because my experience is my own,” she says, “but I just want to see bigger bodies represented and for it not to be such a surprise when people see us outside enjoying nature like anyone else.”

She's sharing her experience on the trail, in the woods, and beyond—with the hope that she might inspire others to champion size inclusivity, more universal accessibility to the outdoors, and more reverence for the natural wonders around us.

Banker’s vision for a size-inclusive, nature-loving community

Banker has always been drawn to the wild—but her affinity for it grew when she moved to Oregon in her late 20s and signed up for an introductory rock-and-mountain climbing course. “Exploring outdoors connected me to my mind, body, and spirit in a way nothing else has,” she says.

Early on, though, Banker was met with a roadblock. “When I started getting into more technical sports outside, there was no gear for me,” she says. “I was climbing mountains in clothes that were too small and made for men. I was physically, emotionally, and mentally capable—but my gear was the limiting factor.” This experience inspired her to begin sharing her body-acceptance journey on social media, ultimately creating an online community of people “who could see themselves in me,” she says. “That was so powerful.”

As her love of climbing and hiking has grown over the years, her body advocacy has, too. “Sixty-seven percent of women in the United States are plus-size. That’s a huge, untapped, and underserved community,” she says. One thing she wishes more people understood about it? “We are here and we are doing these activities. Not all of us are doing it for weight loss, either. I will sometimes get comments like, ‘Good for you! Hiking is good for your health!’ Most people are well-meaning, but that doesn’t make the impact of their words hit differently.”

The connection between body inclusivity and reverence for nature

When Banker reminisces about her first hikes and climbs, she remembers putting pressure on herself to be “good” at it. “That attitude created so much resistance in my mind,” she says. “It was only when I switched to a place of nurturing my sense of wonder that I began to really embrace my body and its connection to the outdoor world.”

To Banker, body acceptance and nature are totally interwoven—and focusing on that connection helps her slow down and stay in the present moment. “Mountains don’t care about how big they are, trees have so many different shapes and sizes,” she says. “And they all have a place to exist in the world.”

As she practices respecting her physical body and all the amazing things it can do, Banker extends that reverence to the natural world—and she hopes her community, both online and outdoors, will too. “We are here for such a short time relative to the nature we are exploring, and we need to protect it.”

And it doesn’t have to be time-intensive or complicated—celebrating the wild starts with curiosity, Banker says. “Be kind to yourself. Be curious about the world. Speak up when you see injustice or inequality. And finally, respect the land.”