Dear ski daughter, things I’d teach my snow child

An ode to skiing and snowboarding and of lessons learnt for all the snow daughters who love to ski and snowboard.

I have no children. I now consider that to be a choice. The very act of not making a choice is, in itself, making a choice. So I remain, without offspring.

The irony of taking up a life chasing the snow globe during my fertile thirties is not lost on me. While I wrote of ski towns filled with Peter Pans, I was living my own never-ending puberty as I hurtled towards middle age.

Relationships were, in those early ski writing years, fleeting thanks to multi resort itineraries each winter. I barely had time to say hello before I had to say goodbye, even with seven men to every woman in many ski towns, I just wasn’t finding my mojo. Some say I was chasing the snow but I know I may simply have been running away from a life more ordinary.

If my choices had been different and I did have a daughter, and I taught her to ski, brought her up with a mountain life filled with intrepid travel, arts and people and joy, then I could pass on what I have learned myself skiing in a male dominant leisure world.

Around 58% of skiers and boarders are men, so chances are you’ll be skiing or snowboarding with more of them than women. The odds are even greater when you step into a helicopter. It can make you a better (or worse) skier depending on the day and the style of testosterone you are sharing the snow with.

Speaking up as a woman, being heard, making change, pushing for diversity and respect is as important in the outdoors world as it is in the #metoo world of Hollywood. The more diverse the skiers and boarders are in gender, color, size, creed, the better it is for the growth of the industry.

So, here goes, dear imaginary snow daughter, heed my lessons well.

1. Ski like a girl because you are one. Ski big, ski hard, ski soft, ski mellow, ski however you damn well choose because it’s your ski life, not someone else’s.
2. Take time skiing away from your phone. Leave it behind when you can. Take a camera instead or leave that behind too and make pictures in your head.
3. You and your vagina have every right to be in the terrain park. It is not a mass domain for testes and swagger. You bought your lift pass and it’s worth the same as everyone else’s.
4. Drink water, whenever you can. Water is your life source and you are privileged to have it clean and accessible.
5. Step out of your comfort zone but listen to your gut, not peer pressure, as it will save you when needed.
6. Volunteer some of your ski time to help others. Spend time with the adaptive program, campaign for Protect Our Winters, run a ski race for charity. You are privileged to ski, so give back where and when you can.
7. Know your limits, physical, emotional and mental and listen to fatigue.
8. Don’t ski with music in your ears, you won’t hear the skier or boarder behind you or the avalanche above you.
9. Wear a helmet. it’s cool to be alive.
10. The size of your ski pants, speed of your turn, colour of your run does not define you.
11. Don’t try to keep up with the boys, but do let them keep up with you because kindness is key to all relationships in life.
12. Take snacks. Good snacks. Nuts, home made protein balls, coconut butter sachets.
13. Talk to people on the chairlift. Ask questions, don’t just over share. Life is about others, not just you.
14. Don’t count your vertical, days and seasons, count the number of times your face ached from smiling with frozen teeth.
15. Stop if you hit someone on the slopes. Make sure they are ok.
16. Stop if you see someone crash on the slopes. Make sure they are ok.
17. Put ski patrol’s phone number in your phone at every resort you visit.
18. Learn to ski first, take up snowboarding second, then decide which brings you the joy.
19. Ski the powder and the trees with a buddy, lookout for each other, no powder run is worth more than your friend’s life because you missed them falling into a tree well.
20. Do an avalanche course. Then do another.
21. Stand up for yourself and other adventurous women. Collaborate on projects that encourage more females to ski and snowboard.
22. Report bullies and always save abusive emails from bullies.
23. Tell stories. Life is a narrative not a series of selfie images.
24. Look after your body, stretch, move, stay strong so you can ski late into your life.
25. You are not #blessed you are #privileged, know the difference.
26. Thank people. Life is a team effort, you didn’t get here alone.
27. Be open to learning from those more experienced than you, at all stages of your life. A life not learning is an insular one driven by ego.
28. When you experiment with alcohol, because you will, do it with people you trust – and don’t take mind altering substances while skiing, reality is a better high than any synthetic fake peak.
29. Make mistakes. It’s ok. You’re ok. But own your mistakes and choices on the mountain. Don’t blame others if it’s your error at play.
30. Be a bad ass.