Denmark’s Chelle Fisher tackles eight mountains in eight days to celebrate sobriety, combat domestic violence

Chelle Fisher is hiking to the summit of eight mountains in eight days to celebrate her sobriety and raise money for the fight against domestic violence. Perched at the peak of Mt Hallowell on Tuesday, Ms Fisher reflected on her journey as she watched the sun rise over her hometown of Denmark. After battling drug and alcohol addiction for 23 years, she worked to replace her addiction with a healthy habit of hiking in nature. She started by hiking through the Perth hills before moving to Porongurup and then Denmark where she was able to explore the region’s vast trail networks. “Every year I go into the outdoors and I do a hike to celebrate my sobriety,” Ms Fisher said. “The reason I do that is because I was able to become sober by swapping my addiction with a new addiction, which was getting into the outdoors. “I’ve always been an outdoors lover, ever since I was little I have been out playing in the bush, climbing trees, I was always a bit of a tomboy. “It was just a place I always felt I could completely be myself.” Ms Fisher kicked off her challenge with a sunrise hike at Mt Hallowell on Tuesday, followed by a hike up Mt Adelaide and Mt Melville on Thursday. She will then drive to Walpole twice to hike Mt Pingerup and then Mt Frankland before climbing Nancy’s Peak and Mt Trio next week. The challenge will come to an end with a sunset hike of Mt Lindsey in Denmark. “I had a lot of nerves going into this but today (Tuesday) I had this renewed energy and I hope it sticks around,” Ms Fisher said. “It’s not just physical, but mentally I’m feeling a little bit special at the moment, I’m feeling like something has changed within.” Ms Fisher said she found being in nature had benefits for her mental and physical health. “I’ve had some really low moments in my life, even when we first moved down to the Great Southern, I had moments where we could dive back into depression but it was getting out in nature every day that makes you start becoming grateful for what you do have,” she said. “I recommend people just getting out there for half an hour a day to start with. “You don’t have to hike a mountain, you can just sit and watch the waves rolling in at the beach, look at the river or the inlet or even just sit in your garden. “You don’t have to go and do anything grand to be able to reap those benefits.” The eight mountains in eight days mission is not only about celebrating Ms Fisher’s sobriety but also raising awareness and money to help combat family and domestic violence. Ms Fisher said she turned to drugs and alcohol at the age of 13 as a coping mechanism for the domestic violence she had been exposed to. This year, she has chosen to raise funds for the Albany Family and Domestic Violence Action Group. “I was a victim of family and domestic violence myself and I didn’t really feel like I had much support so my coping mechanism was that I turned to drugs and alcohol thinking it would numb all the pain that I was feeling,” she said. “For me, being able to support an organisation that continues to raise awareness and actually tackles the issue head-on seems to make sense. “It’s my way of giving back and hoping that maybe the money I raise can help someone and prevent them from going down the path that I did.” To donate visit the AFDVAG Facebook page.