Google “famous skiers” and the top results will all be men. In the traditionally male-dominated world of skiing and snowboarding, it took a while to increase female participation. Even when girls started to be interested, there weren’t that many famous women to look up to. But today, we’re finally starting to see some amazing role models. Not only do these powerful women forge new frontiers in the skiing and snowboarding world, they inspire young girls to do the same. Without further ado, here are 8 female skiers and snowboarders who have changed the winter sport industry for the better.
Sarah Burke was one of the most inspiring female skiers of our time. The Canadian athlete won a slew of freeskiing awards, including first-ever female Halfpipe World Champion in 2005, and she was the first female skier ever to land a 720, a 900 and a 1080 in a competition. Burke was also an active philanthropist and role model, constantly striving to inspire a love of sports in the next generation of girls. It wasn’t uncommon for her to donate her winnings to pro-female freeskiing organisations with an emphasis on female participation, and she was a spirited advocate of equal pay for women in skiing. Perhaps most notably, Burke was instrumental in lobbying the IOC to include the superpipe as an event in the Winter Olympics for the first time in Sochi 2014. Burke was a favourite to win the gold medal but tragically, on January 19, 2012, shortly after the announcement was made, the 29-year-old skier passed away as a result of a skiing accident during a routine training run. An outpouring of grief and solidarity ensued, with many in the ski community sporting “Remember Sarah” stickers on their gear. Burke’s legacy has continued to inspire skiers around the world and lives on in the Sarah Burke Foundation.
Tina Basich has been snowboarding since 1986, when it was still a fledgling sport, and is one of the first women to become involved in the sport. She was the first woman to win gold in the X Games. Basich co-founded the non-profit Boarding for Breast Cancer in memory of fellow snowboarder Monica Steward, who succumbed to the disease. If you want to get inspired, check out Basich’s autobiography, Pretty Good for a Girl.
Lynsey Dyer is one of the best female freeride skiers in the world, with a host of big mountain awards and film credits to her name. She was the first female to be featured on the cover of the Freeskier Magazine. Dyer is an active advocate of female skiing, having founded the non-profit organisation SheJumps and the Unicorn Picnic female-focused production company. For girl power inspiration, check out their first film, Pretty Faces: The Story of a Skier Girl, which showcases the best of female freeriding.
Lindsey Vonn has been the biggest name in the skiing and snowboarding world for several years now, and the merit is well-deserved. The American alpine ski racer has won pretty much every award out there, multiple times, including four World Cup overall championships, a small mountain of Olympic medals and a whopping 28 World Cup victories, just 4 away from the all-time record set by male Swedish skier Ingemar Stenmark. Vonn is a versatile skier, having won races in all five World Cup alpine skiing disciplines: downhill, super-G, slalom, giant slalom and combined. In the 2014 ski season, Vonn injured her knee and was unable to compete in the Sochi Winter Olympics. The following season she came back with a vengeance, scooping up several more World Cup wins for her collection, but after several more years of competition she announced her imminent retirement; 2018/19 will be her last season. She runs the Lindsey Vonn Foundation, a non-profit organisation that works to inspire female skiers. Vonn’s personal story and her comeback from her injury are showcased in the 2015 film The Climb.
Britain’s Millie Knight lost almost all her sight at the age of 6, learning to ski by following her mum or her ski instructor and watching to see when they bent their knees to know when to expect a bump. The young skier has since gone on to forge a promising career in the Paralympics. Knight competes in slalom and giant slalom and became the youngest British Paralympic athlete ever to compete in the Winter Olympics, earning her the right to bear the flag for Britain in the opening ceremony. A few years later she bagged Britain’s only gold medal (plus three silver medals) at the 2017 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in Tarvisio, Italy, and silver in downhill and super-G at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympics. Today, Knight skis with the help of her guide, Brett Wild, a former ski racer and Royal Navy submariner who had learned to ski on the Glasgow dry slope. Just shy of her 20th birthday, Knight still has years left in her career and it will be exciting to watch her grow as an athlete.
Janice Kostelić became the first female skier ever to win four Olympic medals in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Croatian skier learned to ski from her father, and because there was limited funding for her to ski, the family supported her by driving to ski races all around Europe, sleeping in the car or in a tent so they could afford to take her to the races. Kostelić won a handful of events before competing in the 1998/99 World Cup in St. Anton, where she won the combined event. Unfortunately, Kostelić suffered recurring knee injuries so after a triumphant gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy and a subsequent World Cup overall victory that same year, she retired in 2007.
This British darling is a Ski Sunday Presenter for the BBC and the honourable president of the Ski Club of Great Britain, as well as a proud mummy. But Chemmy Alcott has some seriously illustrious years of skiing behind her, including four appearances at the Winter Olympics. And the British athlete had to overcome no end of adversity to battle her way to the top, losing her mother just a few days after the 2006 Winter Olympics and suffering a horrible leg injury just before World Cup downhill race four years later. Alcott persevered, starting rehab just ten days later and returning to ski training in the Alps in 2012. Alcott is considered one of the greatest female skiers Britain has ever produced, and her success in the Winter Olympics helped inspire a whole generation of British winter sport athletes. Her last big competition was the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, but Alcott likes to keep busy, skiing in lesser-known races and raising money for skiing-related charities.
Mikaela Shiffrin is the hottest name in skiing right now, racking up the victories like they’re going out of style. 23 years old and at the top of her game, the American skier is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and the youngest skier ever to win 50 World Cup victories. She’s also the most successful female slalom skier of all time and is pursuing a third straight World Cup overall title this season. All eyes are on Shiffrin, who might turn out to be the most successful female skier of all time – watch out, Lindsey Vonn!
Google “famous skiers” and the top results will all be men. In the traditionally male-dominated world of skiing and snowboarding, it took a while to increase female participation. Even when girls started to be interested, there weren’t that many famous women to look up to. But today, we’re finally starting to see some amazing role models. Not only do these powerful women forge new frontiers in the skiing and snowboarding world, they inspire young girls to do the same. Without further ado, here are 8 female skiers and snowboarders who have changed the winter sport industry for the better.
Sarah Burke was one of the most inspiring female skiers of our time. The Canadian athlete won a slew of freeskiing awards, including first-ever female Halfpipe World Champion in 2005, and she was the first female skier ever to land a 720, a 900 and a 1080 in a competition. Burke was also an active philanthropist and role model, constantly striving to inspire a love of sports in the next generation of girls. It wasn’t uncommon for her to donate her winnings to pro-female freeskiing organisations with an emphasis on female participation, and she was a spirited advocate of equal pay for women in skiing. Perhaps most notably, Burke was instrumental in lobbying the IOC to include the superpipe as an event in the Winter Olympics for the first time in Sochi 2014. Burke was a favourite to win the gold medal but tragically, on January 19, 2012, shortly after the announcement was made, the 29-year-old skier passed away as a result of a skiing accident during a routine training run. An outpouring of grief and solidarity ensued, with many in the ski community sporting “Remember Sarah” stickers on their gear. Burke’s legacy has continued to inspire skiers around the world and lives on in the Sarah Burke Foundation.
Tina Basich has been snowboarding since 1986, when it was still a fledgling sport, and is one of the first women to become involved in the sport. She was the first woman to win gold in the X Games. Basich co-founded the non-profit Boarding for Breast Cancer in memory of fellow snowboarder Monica Steward, who succumbed to the disease. If you want to get inspired, check out Basich’s autobiography, Pretty Good for a Girl.
Lynsey Dyer is one of the best female freeride skiers in the world, with a host of big mountain awards and film credits to her name. She was the first female to be featured on the cover of the Freeskier Magazine. Dyer is an active advocate of female skiing, having founded the non-profit organisation SheJumps and the Unicorn Picnic female-focused production company. For girl power inspiration, check out their first film, Pretty Faces: The Story of a Skier Girl, which showcases the best of female freeriding.
Lindsey Vonn has been the biggest name in the skiing and snowboarding world for several years now, and the merit is well-deserved. The American alpine ski racer has won pretty much every award out there, multiple times, including four World Cup overall championships, a small mountain of Olympic medals and a whopping 28 World Cup victories, just 4 away from the all-time record set by male Swedish skier Ingemar Stenmark. Vonn is a versatile skier, having won races in all five World Cup alpine skiing disciplines: downhill, super-G, slalom, giant slalom and combined. In the 2014 ski season, Vonn injured her knee and was unable to compete in the Sochi Winter Olympics. The following season she came back with a vengeance, scooping up several more World Cup wins for her collection, but after several more years of competition she announced her imminent retirement; 2018/19 will be her last season. She runs the Lindsey Vonn Foundation, a non-profit organisation that works to inspire female skiers. Vonn’s personal story and her comeback from her injury are showcased in the 2015 film The Climb.
Britain’s Millie Knight lost almost all her sight at the age of 6, learning to ski by following her mum or her ski instructor and watching to see when they bent their knees to know when to expect a bump. The young skier has since gone on to forge a promising career in the Paralympics. Knight competes in slalom and giant slalom and became the youngest British Paralympic athlete ever to compete in the Winter Olympics, earning her the right to bear the flag for Britain in the opening ceremony. A few years later she bagged Britain’s only gold medal (plus three silver medals) at the 2017 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in Tarvisio, Italy, and silver in downhill and super-G at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympics. Today, Knight skis with the help of her guide, Brett Wild, a former ski racer and Royal Navy submariner who had learned to ski on the Glasgow dry slope. Just shy of her 20th birthday, Knight still has years left in her career and it will be exciting to watch her grow as an athlete.
Janice Kostelić became the first female skier ever to win four Olympic medals in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Croatian skier learned to ski from her father, and because there was limited funding for her to ski, the family supported her by driving to ski races all around Europe, sleeping in the car or in a tent so they could afford to take her to the races. Kostelić won a handful of events before competing in the 1998/99 World Cup in St. Anton, where she won the combined event. Unfortunately, Kostelić suffered recurring knee injuries so after a triumphant gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy and a subsequent World Cup overall victory that same year, she retired in 2007.
This British darling is a Ski Sunday Presenter for the BBC and the honourable president of the Ski Club of Great Britain, as well as a proud mummy. But Chemmy Alcott has some seriously illustrious years of skiing behind her, including four appearances at the Winter Olympics. And the British athlete had to overcome no end of adversity to battle her way to the top, losing her mother just a few days after the 2006 Winter Olympics and suffering a horrible leg injury just before World Cup downhill race four years later. Alcott persevered, starting rehab just ten days later and returning to ski training in the Alps in 2012. Alcott is considered one of the greatest female skiers Britain has ever produced, and her success in the Winter Olympics helped inspire a whole generation of British winter sport athletes. Her last big competition was the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, but Alcott likes to keep busy, skiing in lesser-known races and raising money for skiing-related charities.
Mikaela Shiffrin is the hottest name in skiing right now, racking up the victories like they’re going out of style. 23 years old and at the top of her game, the American skier is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and the youngest skier ever to win 50 World Cup victories. She’s also the most successful female slalom skier of all time and is pursuing a third straight World Cup overall title this season. All eyes are on Shiffrin, who might turn out to be the most successful female skier of all time – watch out, Lindsey Vonn!
Born and raised in the ski paradise of Vancouver, Canada, I learned to ski before I can remember, balancing precariously on my parents’ skis as they sailed down the hill. I started snowboarding in my teens and am now delighted to be exploring everything Europe’s ski scene has to offer!
