Chix With Stix – Enlivening female participation in snowsports

June 27th, 2013


The CWS program is all about encouraging young girls to froth out on snow sports and take their riding to the next level Image:: CWS

Mountainwatch | Chris Booth

Nationally, the the drop-out rate from sport is almost double for females than males throughout teenage years.

While that figure probably relates mostly to organised sports, there is no doubt the outlook is worse in snowsports.

Freeskiing and freestyle snowboarding in particular is a male dominated sport. There’s absolutely no question about it; there is more competition, they make more prize money, and get better sponsorship. The industry even puts on the occasional exclusively male event. Why is this the case? Terrain parks and halfpipes are a complete bro-down full of men. Not only is the terrain intimidating, but so is the atmosphere. Don’t believe me? The next time you’re in the terrain park or halfpipe have a look around.

The imbalance is not because girls are ‘dropping out’ of skiing or boarding though, its because its not easy to get involved in the first place. Torah Bright has spoken out on the issue.

Chicks with Stix is a not-for-profit organisation that aims to get, and keep, girls participating in freeskiing and snowboarding. Now in its fourth year, Chicks with Stix offers girls a chance to ski and board with the best snow-sports athletes in Australia and get an insight into what our sport has to offer as well as helping them to improve their skills in bumps, freeride, slopestyle and big mountain.

This season in Australia Chicks with Stix is running FREE ski and board sessions throughout the Australian Alps with Australia’s most experienced female freestyle coaches.

To keep the program running though, Chicks with Stix needs to raise $8000 by July 4th. To raise the money they are holding a limited sale with all funds going towards the clinics organised for this winter. You can even sponsor one of the clinics here.

In a sport where giving is admittedly not always at the front of our mindset, Chicks with Stix is a great initiative put on by our leading female winter sports athletes.