Real Women. Find Out Who Won!

REAL WOMEN.

The X-Games REAL Series started in 2010 with Real Street as a way to bring the worlds of professional skateboarding contests and video production together. Expanding each year, there are now a total of 6 disciplines in the series. Real Women, added this year, is an all female video contest combining 4 different sports, Surfing, Skiing, Snowboarding and Skateboarding, with some of the most talented female athletes in the world. Each athlete submitted a 75-second video edit showing off their skills and showcasing their personalities. Yesterday it was announced that Ingrid Backstrom won the Fan Favorite while Leticia Bufoni won the Gold Medal given by the judges at the X-Games in Barcelona.

Check out the rest of these ladies and their various skills. Who did you vote for?

#CelebrateSarah

Remembering Sarah

Above is a beautiful article remembering Sarah Burke a year after her death from people in the industry that knew her. A year ago today the world, and closer to home, the ski world, lost an incredible person. While never lucky enough to meet her, I have never heard one bad thing about this beautiful, inspirational woman. Kind, generous, caring, inspiring, happy, talented, these are the words I hear describing this incredible woman who paved the way for other women to join into the world of freeskiing and extreme sports. Her name became a household name as she broke the mold of what women and skiing meant together as she excelled year after year, competition after competition.

 

She is still an inspiration to everyone in the world of skiing, but to women, Sarah is a hero.  These snippets of her short but full life show us that even as a hero, an idol, a super star, and a bad-ass athlete, Sarah was one of us. A dreamer, a lover, a friend, a woman. She represents ski bumettes everywhere, and her story gives us the strength to know that we can do anything we believe we can. Even through her tragic death, she is able to serve as a beautiful reminder of what it is to live by our own standards of happiness, while being a light in others’ lives as well.

Thank you Sarah. From one ski bumette to another.

 

Powder Awards: Best Female Performance

Tonight the ski industry elite are gearing up for their chance to win at least one coveted Powder Award. Powder Magazine, known as “the skier’s magazine” nominates and votes on a number of categories based on the previous year’s ski movies. Best Line, Best Powder, Best Editing, etc. The one that I am focusing on though, big shocker here, is the Best Female Performance. All of these women kicked ass this year, and I am excited to see which lovely lady will take the prize home.

Watch tonight at 7:30 MST.

Nominated are:

Michelle Parker – Superheroes of Stoke – MSP Films

Ingrid Backstrom – Superheroes of Stoke – MSP Films

Angel Collinson – The Dream Factory – Teton Gravity Research

Elyse Saugstad – Kill Your Boredom – Voleurz

Good luck ladies!

New York Times: Snow Fall

Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek 

You probably read with horror about the avalanche that killed 3 out of 13 skiers near Steven’s Pass in Washington last year. The New York Times’s, John Branch, writes a complete account of the tragic incident through the eyes of those involved and loved ones left behind. It is beautifully pieced together, though the question looms-is it worth it? Whether you ski in the backcountry, have friends who do, or want to learn something about a very real event that affected many throughout the ski industry, please take a look.

Moving to a ski town from a world where backcountry skiing did not exist, the fear of avalanches is very new to me. I recently took an introductory class through SheJumps with Kelli Rohrig of White Room Adventures, which gave me a day’s worth of overview information. I learned the very basics of snow science, different causes of avalanches, different snow types, basic terminology, and the most efficient ways to use my gear. It was eye-opening and it scared me to death. Avalanches are a very real threat to those of us who venture out into the mountains that surround us, whether it is alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, or even snow-shoeing. No matter how great of a skier you are at the resort, take the time to learn about the terrain around you, your equipment, and what to do when the shit hits the fan. Knowledge, not ski ability, will save your own and your partners’ lives.

Female Wolf Pack is Full of Killer Babes

Killer Babes.

The Female Wolf Pack, releasing it’s teaser video on Vimeo, just yesterday, has made a splash with ladies and men across the online social world. With strong and widely known athletes such as Michelle Parker and Suz Graham, it’s purpose is “to increase female visibility in action sports.” The teaser itself shows nothing but badass women ripping on skis and surf boards, floating on water and in the air, climbing up mountains with their hands and their bikes. Awesome women doing awesome things.

Girls. Girls. Girls.

Rachel Burks, a big mountain skier based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, founded the Female Wolf Pack as a way to showcase what women can do in the world of action sports. On the website, which is still just a preview site until the 1/1/13 premiere, Rachel says, “I look at the things that I’ve done over the past six years and feel boundlessly lucky and stoked to be where I am. This is a feeling I’d love to share with other girls. I want to open doors for those who have the same thirst that I do: the thirst to show others what girls are capable of.” Basically, she wants women of all ages, of all corners of the action-sports world, to have a chance to showcase their talent, their drive, and their fearlessness to a wide-range of viewers. She goes on to say that she wants “… FemaleWolfpack.com to extend to all those who want to melt some faces off and hopefully inspire and foster the next generation of rippers.”

Women. Women.

There are 3 rules to this video-content-only website.

1. Fun. 2. “No Excuses, Play Like a Champion.” 3. No Nudity.

So ladies, if you wish to show off  your talent on this new female-only sports venue, enjoy yourself while being safe, stay positive by believing in yourself, and stay classy- bring on the sexy by kicking ass, not showing yours.

This article can also be found on Westelkproject.com.

Michelle Parker Joins Contour

I had the pleasure of meeting Michelle Parker at the World Premier of MSP’s Superheroes of Stoke in Seattle this year. She is tiny, sweet and totally rad. To welcome her to the team, Contour used some of Match Stick Production‘s footage from Whistler, BC along with her own footage taken with her cam caddy.

Charging hard and picking incredible lines, Michelle earns every bit of credit she gets. I’m personally excited to see more of her own footage on the snow!

Getting Refreshed with GoPro

Maybe I’ve just been watching too many ski movies this off-season, but seeing a video with multiple sports using different mediums is so refreshing. From snow to air to water to trees, these awesome athletes are kicking ass and making it look like we should all be there with them. What especially impressed me with the video though, is that one of the two skiers is a female. Julia Mancuso, a World Cup ski racer and Olympic medalist, takes on the big mountain and rips! I think women in advertising, even this century have too often been strictly selling sex, appearance or cleaning products. So it awesome to see GoPro representing female athletes and giving them just as much camera time as their male equivalents. Not to mention, it is always fun to see a ski racer take on powder. Not discrediting the incredible free diving mermaids, but as opening day here in Crested Butte approaches, I can’t get enough of women ripping on snow.

Lindsey Vonn Wants to Ski with the Boys

Lindsey Vonn wins her 51st World Cup Downhill

The name Lindsey Vonn to any woman in the world-wide ski community means strength, determination and badass super woman. She has won four overall World Cup championships as of this year, not to mention a gold medal in the 2010 winter olympics in Vancouver. As far as World Cup victories, she is only nine short of breaking Austria’s Annemarie Moser-Proell’s record of 62 victories.

And now, Ms. Vonn would like a chance to race against the best male ski racers in the world at the World Cup season’s opener in Lake Louise, Alberta. She has written a letter to the International Ski Federation (FIS) asking permission to break new ground by skiing in the November 24 downhill race. Now the United States Ski & Snowboard Association must file a formal request to the FIS. There are a few hurdles to consider as well. If the request is accepted, Vonn will miss the opportunity to pick up points at the competition in Aspen that same weekend. The women’s first speed races of the season are being held at Lake Louise the week after the men’s races, which could be in violation of the World Cup rule Article 14.2: ‘No training shall be allowed on World Cup racecourses during the last five days prior to first training run or competition.’ According to the New York Times, Vonn has said she would be willing to forgo two of the practice runs before the women’s race. She also said she would not race in the men’s downhill, if she is prohibited from racing in the women’s as well.

I want to know what you think. Is she taking away from or adding to the image of women’s ski racing? And what are your next steps to push yourself to your personal next level? Follow Lindsey on Twitter @lindseyvonn  for updates on whether or not she gets to race with the boys this November.

“She Jumps” Beauties, Skis and Guns

It is full-on fall here in Crested Butte, my favorite season. It is the time of year to sharpen the chainsaw and build the wood piles just right. It is a time for baking with pumpkin, drinking hard cider, and prematurely wearing down jackets. The weather is perfect for those last few mountain bike rides before trading it in for different toys. But more than anything, it is a time to watch every video possible about skiing. We are getting excited about skiing pow even before the first dusting, so what better way to anticipate a perfect ski season than watching some rad ladies rip in beautiful Alaska?

Who says men have to be a part of a perfect weekend filled with sick lines, sleds, and guns?

Alison Gannett: Badass Beauty on Planks and Wheels

Photo by Sarah Mah Rarick

Depending upon who you talk to, the name Alison Gannett can mean a lot of things. To a ski-bumette, she is a rad skier who holds her own as a professional world-champion big mountain free skier; to us green babes, she is an innovator in the eco-friendly way of life who actually “walks the talk;” to a bike chick, she is a kick ass mountain biker who manages to take her skills on the snow to the trails; and to a novice at almost any extreme sport, namely, skiing, mountain biking, or surfing, she is an amazing teacher who knows exactly how to ease women into their next personal level of fitness.

During this summer’s Bike Week, here in Crested Butte, I was lucky enough to be able to take one of her skills courses. A small group of women came together, most of us beginner bikers who were scared to go to that next scary and thrilling level. With the help of Alison’s excellent teaching strategies, we were all cruising over obstacles that had always been daunting on the trails. So, thank you, Alison, for the power you provided each of us in the saddle.

Ms Gannett was gracious enough to answer a few questions ranging from her skiing career, being a ski-bumette, her local Paonia farm, and why she loves our valley.

When did you start skiing and when did you decide to go pro in the sport?

I was full bore into my environmental career when a Warren Miller film crew saw me free skiing in Crested Butte and asked me to be in their movie. They talked me into competing, which was a tough but rewarding route into my new career as a professional skier. I was a teased traumatized chubby dorky math geek, always sucked at conventional sports, even kickball.

When you were/are unsure of a situation on skis or on a mountain bike, how do you get through it?

I now try to put aside the little voice in my head that tells me I can’t do something, think of some situation similar that went really well, and then talk myself into the fact that I am a strong powerful person that can do this, and then I try to stop overthinking and just go.

What made you want to start Rippin Chix, and what is you favorite part of teaching a clinic?

I started Rippin Chix in 2002 because I realized that sports had given me incredible confidence that spilled over into my everyday challenges in life. I also realized that not many programs were teaching women in baby steps, women were being turned off from sports forever because some guy’s only advice was “just go for it”.

As a respected female bad-ass, have you ever felt that being a woman has created more obstacles for you in your career advances?

Being a woman has been a bit tough, as my sports are very “dude” centric, with T and A for gals being more important than talent. I wanted to prove that gals could ski crazy lines and jump big cliffs. Sometimes it has paid off being a woman with perseverance, as some ski companies would hire me to do women’s designs as they only had men in the office.

How did skiing affect your outlook on environmental issues?

My favorite thing about skiing was not the championship titles or starring in ski films, it was creating my own women’s only ski expeditions to wild countries and places that had never been skied. Since I wanted to marry my career as an environmental scientist, I would photo document glacial recession. For my Global Cooling Tour, the most powerful part for most people is seeing that lines I skied just ten years ago are now gone.

What led to your decision to buy a farm, and what is your favorite part of running it?

I have been trying to walk the talk for over ten years now, especially after working with some people like Al Gore, who inspired me to not do what he was doing. I wanted to reduce my carbon footprint and see what worked and what did not – firstly starting with travel, then house, vehicle, and ultimately the biggest elephant in the living room – FOOD. My favorite part is bringing weeds to the pigs, and my least favorite part is letting the chickens out at 5:30am.  The cool part of this giant experiment, is that we have halved our carbon footprint with keeping an outdoor sport lifestyle!

and just for fun,

What is your favorite thing about the Gunnison Valley?

My favorite thing about the Gunnison Valley is all our trails and public lands! We often take for granted what many people don’t have!