Co-founders Olivia Jankowska and Zaineb Abelque outline the importance of building a sports community, their tried-and-tested hiking techniques, and why they empower women and exchange skills on purposeful hikes
Surviving my first ‘official’ hike recently, a sweaty scramble down a near-vertical valley boobytrapped with loose rocks and spiky bushes to reach Praia da Ursa with a group of brilliant women, really hammered home the euphoria that Athene Club achieves. Their original graphics and the intimate photography documenting their adventures are gorgeous, probably another reason why Instagram’s algorithm first threw the burgeoning London-based, female-driven outdoors community into my digital consciousness. But it’s the freedom that their deliberately non-competitive sport provides and the refreshing glimpses into a nurturing non-judgemental community in their natural habitats that draws one in, spurring you to sign up immediately to experience it for yourself.
Co-founders and photographers Olivia Jankowska, 26, and Zaineb Abelque, 22, are modest about nuking hiking’s white, male and overtly middle-class glass ceiling. Basement Approved’s Alex Rope originally brought them together and they became fast friends when Abelque started assisting Jankowska on shoots. Both women felt ‘deprived of nature’ over lockdown and sowed the seeds for Athene Club through conversations about connecting with the outdoors and navigating their industry as women from Jankowska’s bedroom. The grass seems greener outside of London and, tapping into the Greek goddess Athena’s wisdom, craftsmanship and leadership qualities through their name, the pair decided that if their male peers could go on hiking trips, they would offer women safe and welcoming opportunities to do the same.
Skinny-dipping and discovering plants, flowers, and animals along the way, Athene Club’s beginners to advanced hiking excursions in changeable weather have evolved to include fossil hunting, swimming workshops, and other complementary skill-building sessions for groups of at least 20. As Jankowska and Abelque confidently explore the UK in technical streetwear, they’re championing the talents and interests of the diverse sisterhood they’ve built from scratch – members at the core strategise, design posters, and run their social media too – aided by selective brand partnerships and a brand-new Foundation FM show. Read on as Jankowska and Abelque outline the importance of building a sports community, their tried-and-tested hiking techniques, and why they empower women and exchange skills on purposeful hikes.
Can you share your earliest sports-related memory?
Olivia Jankowska: Going hiking or swimming with my parents, especially my adventurous dad. I used to skive off PE at school, I hated being competitive with other people. I don’t need to be the best.
Zaineb Abelque: Being in Burgess Park all the time, or running around the estate kicking a ball, or with a basketball. My mum got us roller skates and put us in after-school swimming and tennis clubs.
What makes what Athene Club does specifically a sport?
Zaineb Abelque: It’s a sport, slow-burning and rewarding, because we commit to move together every month: through a forest, mountains, bouldering. Athene Club is an after-school club that encourages sport – which is moving to feel, anything active with character development.
Olivia Jankowska: It’s constant ups and downs. [Hiking] is the baseline of everything we do but the community, connecting and making friends is on the same level.
Tell me about your dynamic as founders and leaders.
Olivia Jankowska: Zainab is very charismatic and a chatterbox. She’s way more confident, the spokesperson, whereas I feel comfortable behind the scenes and doing production. I love logistics, organising, and we come together for the creative stuff.
Zaineb Abelque: We’re always beefin‘ [laughs]. I’m the kind of person who can just show up and do something. Shout out to Becky Skirrow too because she's the glue. She reminds us what we’re doing and is a mother if needed.
Which hiking rules and conventions do you honour and which do you consciously break?
Olivia Jankowska: I use the Komoot and AllTrails apps to find different hike routes that I feel people will benefit from seeing. We usually do between four and five hours max walking time.
Zaineb Abelque: We don’t act in a way where people feel competitive and we don’t want it to feel like hard work. When you hike, you're either talking to people, self-reflective or there for silence.
Any unforgettable anecdotes?
Olivia Jankowska: There’s a photo of us hugging and crying at the end of our last workshop/hike in partnership with Nike ACG. Our friend and artist Lisa Keane led a natural dye workshop [in December] and it was really wholesome. We produced the whole thing ourselves.
“[Hiking] is the baseline of everything we do but the community, connecting and making friends is on the same level” – Liv Jankowska
Call out the key issues that you’re passionate about resolving.
Zaineb Abelque: There’s an outdoor space hierarchy with rich white men going on fun trips at the top. We’re planning on facilitating a larger number of women, that means physical resources, education, and giving space and confidence to create a movement.
Olivia Jankowska: I suggested that Zainab, her friends and I take a hike in the summer of 2020. It was Zainab’s first time outside of London and made me realise that London is a confined bubble. Sometimes you feel like leaving isn’t safe, or you don’t feel welcome in the outdoors. We went on more hikes then made Athene Club Instagram official in May 2021.
Zaineb Abelque: How can you not make it public when you get girls messaging ‘I appreciate you so much’? Or you invited two girlies and they’ve become best friends, or got a job together, or they’re hanging out in Tokyo. The group chat is like 500 people.
Olivia Jankowska: Hiking gear is expensive and the main thing we struggle with is resources. Finding continuously supportive brands who can provide those things and facilitate different experiences outside of hiking that also connect with the outdoors. On our regular hikes, the girls only have to cover their travel.
Zaineb Abelque: This is targeted towards girls who don’t ever do this: city girls, POC, working class ladies. We’re big on health and safety and once everyone signs up via Google form, we send an itinerary and terms and conditions like please be kind to each other. Please be respectful in nature. No littering.
Any hiking tips?
Zaineb Abelque: Bend your knees and stay lower to the ground. Some people tiptoe up, straining their calves. Put your backpack on properly and don’t tie your jacket around your waist. I can’t live without my waterproof jacket.
Olivia Jankowska: Spread your legs wider, walk on the driest ground and the edges. Proper hiking or trail shoes with good grip are essential and we share routes so the girls can go on their own hikes. We’ve done Epping Forest and Chesham to show that there are outdoor places that are accessible and affordable.
Why document your progress?
Zaineb Abelque: It’s just a vibe but if you want to build something real, you’ve got to create real things like zines, books and posters. If you like the way Athene is run aesthetically on Instagram, the logo and how we curate everything, then you’d enjoy the workshops. The [radio show] opportunity came up and it’s a platform where we can share all those important conversations that we have with interesting women during the hikes with the world.
Describe your dream hike.
Zaineb Abelque: I would love to go to Iceland and Georgia. I’m interested in all terrains, nature’s surprises, and experiencing the cold and the heat.
Olivia Jankowska: Georgia, Switzerland or Canada offer amazing mountain views, lakes, and green terrain. I find cold hikes very satisfying and I would document it on my film camera.
If you could be the absolute GOAT at another sport, what would it be and why?
Zaineb Abelque: I would’ve loved to be a swimmer. It challenges your body in a different way and it blows my mind that people can swim for miles and build pace. One day, the sea will be my common land.
Olivia Jankowska: Tennis! All the women playing tennis are so badass and playing the sport as a hobby brings me joy personally. Let’s be honest, the outfits are hella cute too.
What’s the future of hiking?
Olivia Jankowska: That it develops into everyone’s go-to sport. It doesn’t take a lot to participate and it's an activity for all ages and backgrounds.