Jackholes

I am very lucky to have a wonderful sister and a deep community of other women and femme people who share the same interest in the outdoors. I have been privileged to have been skiing since I was only three years old, and despite the fact that it’s expensive and really hard to get to the mountains sometimes, I do love it. Ever since I was out of my parent’s house (college, big kid life, etc.) I have tried to keep skiing as my budget allowed, but the groups I skied with have always been predominantly men. That’s all fine and good, but on a ski trip a few years ago I got really sick of being constantly underestimated and left out of the route planning while skiing with a group of men. It was insane — I had been skiing for the longest out of this group, knew the mountain the best, and not only kept up but often outpaced most people in group — yet these dudes acted like I was invisible in most conversations.

As soon as I got back from that trip I started thinking about the next winter and how I wanted to get a group of women together for a ski trip. We got a small but mighty group of four and flew out to Jackson Hole, Wyoming at the end of February for a week of shredding!

It was pretty amazing to be skiing with people I loved, cooking for one another, and binge-watching the first season of Love is Blind. I got to goof around with my sister and teach her how to tune and wax her own skis! It was real nice to ski with people who are interested in collaborative and cooperative trip planning. I think this can happen with any group of genders, but I had never experienced this feeling on a ski trip. I don’t have many poignant reflections from this experience, but I think it is important to tune into how you feel around people, how they treat you, and to create new dynamics if you can! You are allowed to build a community/communities that lift up the collective, share skills, share food, and resources.