International Women’s Day – Faction Collective’s Progression Segment. Video

Mountainwatch | Video

To celebrate International Women’s Day, Faction skis released this segment today and it is testament to the progression we are currently witnessing in women’s freeskiing.

Faction has the strongest women’s team in freeskiing and team riders like Mathilde Gremaud, Eileen Gu and Kelley Sildaru are leading the way in the park while freeride skiers Elizabeth Gerritzen, current FWT World Champion, and Sophia Rouches are pushing the boundaries in the backcountry and big mountains.

Faction deserves to be congratulated on its strong support of its female athletes and female skiing overall. It is helping to break down barriers and hopefully other brands in the snow industry will follow. Faction have also created an International Women’s Day page on its site where you’ll find statements from its female athletes about progression and the future for women’s freeskiing.  Well worth the read and will inspire more girls to get into freeskiing.

Here’s Sophia Rouches thoughts on the future of women’s skiing:

“Historically, female skiers have been placed in this box of needing to appeal to men in order to make a career out of skiing, or even just be accepted into the ski community. Ski media has perpetuated this idea by continuing to favour women as lifestyle models rather than skiers. I feel that the ski industry needs to take an honest look at how they portray women in these spaces. Is the shot of a beautiful woman in the mountains being released to inspire other women in skiing, or to entice the male gaze?

“The future of women’s skiing relies on more women becoming a part of the sport. Not only on the athlete side, but behind the camera, in the editing room, as brand team managers, and marketing coordinators. I’d really like for more women to not only be showcased in ski media, but for more women to be deciding how we highlight women in the sport