The first thing you’ll notice when talking to adventurer Jess Moon Bowen is that she loves spending time outdoors.

One of three new faces for Cotswold Outdoors, the Brecon Mountain Rescue Team volunteer can now be seen on posters across the UK representing the new season of the outdoor equipment chain’s womens’ range.

“It was quite nice being chosen to feature in the advertising, it was a bit of a surprise. Especially when I see my face all over the Cotswold windows or on posters in big cities.”

Jess said: “I know the poster is in Cardiff, Bristol, Poole, Manchester – I had a friend text me because they’d seen it in Piccadilly in London as well. It’s just all over the place I think.”

The 32-year-old says her family are very proud of seeing her used in the advertising and that she’s had a lot of “banter” with her friends who’ve seen her face around the country.

“Friends-wise there’s been a lot of banter and they’ve even been drawing moustaches or comedy glasses on my pictures.

“I’ve had friends sending me selfies of my picture, some of whom I haven’t seen in years.”

She laughed as she spoke about one experience outside the Cotswold Outdoor shop on The Struet in Brecon when she was with her boyfriend, Brian.

She said: “It was quite funny, the one time I was recognised there was by a little girl and she was looking at the picture in Brecon, and then she was looking at me, and then back to the picture and then back at me. Eventually my boyfriend just said to her ‘yes, it really is her’.”

Jess, who lives in Mountain Ash with her grandparents, was able to take part in the retailer’s advertising campaign through her involvement with the Brecon Mountain Rescue Team which she has now volunteered with for six years.

Cotswold Outdoor approached the mountain rescue team and asked them to put people forward who may want to take part in the advertising.

Jess, who works for the UWC Atlantic College in Llantwit Major, said: “Three people were put forward and then I was interviewed over the phone before I was picked. They’re using real people in the outdoors to advertise their products.

“They came to my work for the day and I took some of the students and we did a coastal run from the college and they followed us from there and filmed us jumping in the sea.

“They also came to my home, where I live with my nan and ‘granch’ and they came with me on a training exercise with the mountain rescue.”

Jess said she joined the mountain rescue team after Brian, who she worked with, told her the team was looking for new members to join. She said: “It seemed like a good idea, it meant I could go out and about, like a sociable thing. I didn’t actually think I was good enough to be a mountain rescuer at the time but then I passed (the training) and I was absolutely chuffed.”

Only 50% of people who applied to join the team at the same time as Jess passed the rigorous testing and were able to proceed to training.

The Brecon Mountain Rescue Team have unpredictable shifts which can range from having one call-out a week to a few call-outs a week or even none – Jess said they’ve recently had a search call-out and they often get people who are lost on Pen y Fan.

If team members receive a call-out, volunteers will stop whatever they’re doing – even if it’s in the middle of the night or during a Sunday dinner with family – to attend and help someone who is in need.

Jess, who owns a van which partner Brian, which is kitted out with a mattress and a TV so she can rest there, said: “Six years down the line, I’m still in the team, and every Wednesday I still get excited about going out in the evening. It’s become a huge part of my life. Call-outs can come any time, in all weathers. Then it’s knife and fork down – action, fear on, off I go.

“The adrenaline keeps you going, but when a rescue is over, you are exhausted.”

The mountain rescuer said she’s never really “been into” going to the pub or nights out drinking, and that going outside and enjoying the outdoors is how she likes to relax in her spare time. From Kilimanjaro to Everest’s base camp, Jess has climbed all over the world.

She said: “I’ve been a couple of times to Nepal, I’ve done the Everest base camp trek, I’ve done Kilimanjaro, I’ve been to Georgia, Peru. I did a day of walking in the Andes. I’ve also done north Wales and Scotland, lots of Morocco and Finland.

“I was actually quite ill on the Everest Base Camp trek because I’d developed a blood clot on one of my lungs because of a medication I was using at the time.”

The keen adventurer said she has enjoyed the outdoors since she was a child as she would go for walks with her family including her mum, dad and sister.

“I’ve loved the outdoors since I was a kid. You’d quite often find me outside building dens or in the forest. I pretty much lived outside until my mum would call me home for dinner.

“As a young child, the four of us used to go on mountain walks up in the valley. We could really relax, and it was just nice to be out in the fresh air and enjoying each other’s company.”

On the Cotswold Outdoor website Jess has her own so-called Adventure Kit List, so others can purchase the equipment that Jess uses, including: the Momentum Workout Hoodie, Momentum Bra and Infinity Crop Tights by Ronhill; Buff Headband; Salomon Speedcross Trainers; the Arete Hooded Jacket and Rupal Jacket by Mountain Equipment; the Meindl Women’s Bhutan MFS Boots; and, the Osprey Women’s Kyte 46 Rucksack.