Impact

In our inaugural year, we showcased notable women in the snowsports and creative arts industries and gave them a stage to tell their tales of how they have made a life and a career out of their winter and creative pursuits, in hopes of inspiring the next generation of courageous women.

In 2020, we took our mission one step farther – from inspiration to action. In addition to showcasing notable women in snowsports, we also provided eight women with scholarships to an Avalanche Level 1 Course and provided tuition support to a female ski patroller to attend National Avalanche School. We continued to push this mission in 2021 when we provided 6 BIPOC Women with scholarships for a PSIA Level 1 Ski Instructor Course and Exam. We believe that by educating women, we empower them and give them the confidence and independence to pursue goals they may not have otherwise.

As Women of Winter grows, so does our mission and the lens from which we view it. Our focus for the first 2 years of Women of Winter’s existence has been on inspiring and empowering the women and girls in our local communities of Big Sky and Bozeman, Montana, who are already in the snowsports industry to have an even bigger and more impactful presence. In our third year, as all of us became hyper-aware of the role race plays in our communities, workplaces, and societies, and so we also reexamined our mission and sought to determine if we were meeting it to the fullest. We realized we were not. There is a large segment of women and girls that we have ignored. As we looked around the local ski schools and the PSIA division we are a member of, we came to fully own the reality that there are almost no women of color in our local snowsports industry - and this is not unique to our geography. We don’t believe this is for lack of skill or desire, but rather lack of access and opportunity and particularly lack of seeing women of color participating and succeeding in the snowsports industry.
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If our mission is truly to inspire and empower women and girls to get outside, to be courageous and to boldly embrace and pursue their dreams by carving their own paths in the mountains and in life - Women of Winter must focus on providing opportunities to the women and girls who currently have the least access or representation in the snowsports industry.