I love a good Instagram stalk! My favourite category to “research” (for work purposes obviously) is Female Snowboarders.
Girls are literally exploding in the snowboard world at the moment
Women’s snowboarding has never been so strong and as exciting as it is right now. For years snowboarding was very much a male dominated sport, but in more recent years the girls are closing the gap and charging just as hard as the men!
There are many reasons why this progression is happening, but I feel social media plays a big part in its growth. Girls are peculiar creatures. Our bodies are more than capable of doing all these amazing things, but our minds often hold us back. We can sometimes lack confidence and often care too much about what people think. We also have this “sensible” gene, which will often hold us back from doing stuff. Now this can definitely be a good thing, but it can also mean that we don’t always meet our potential in snowboarding.
How does social media help?
Well back in the day(!), it was difficult to watch out for other girl snowboarders that weren’t in your immediate perimeters, so you could only really compare yourself to your own crew and other local riders. The majority of these were most likely boys, so you could easily get disheartened when you started comparing yourself to them.
Now with social media and especially Instagram at our fingertips, we have access to and are able to be inspired by girl snowboarders based all over the world. With this circle of inspiration getting ever wider, the motivation amongst women to up their snowboarding game has just naturally got stronger and stronger.
“For me, I’m way more inspired by watching other girls snowboarding, as I feel it’s far more attainable.”
If see another girl doing a new trick, I want to do it too, and better it if possible! It’s clear to me that even if they don’t know it, this community of girl shredders are feeding off one another, as if they were riding together on the same mountain.
With the girl scene growing, so to does the interest for female specific snowboarding events and competitions, as well as womens-only snowboard brands, crews and camps. I personally think girls feel stronger when they’re out riding together, so progression happens more easily on the mountain. For example, a girl specific snowboard camp can offer tuition tailored to a female mindset and in a more supportive and relaxed environment which makes the whole experience far more enjoyable. There are lots of women-only camps around including this one led by the amazing Corinne Mayhew in Meribel this April.
FOLLOW KATIE BLUNDELL ON INSTAGRAM
But enough about riding! Here are my top ten favourite girl snowboarders/ crews to stalk in 2017…sorry, follow!
1. Jenny Jones
The first and most obvious, not forgetting well-deserved “must- follow” is our homegrown female snowboarding talent, Jenny Jones. She was the first ever Brit to win an Olympic medal on snow after achieving bronze for Slopestyle at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Just like so many of us, she started off her first season by working in a chalet. She then rose to snowboarding stardom over the years and has since pretty much dominated the world! She’s a good one to follow on Instagram as her snowboarding is seeing her head off in all sorts of directions, including glamorous red carpet events and exotic surf trips, to epic powder riding adventures and whole host of exciting coaching camps all over the world. I’ve loved following her story and she’s a huge inspiration to many UK snowboard girls.
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2. Anna Gasser
A beautiful, sweet and humble Austrian snowboard chick who I’ve had the pleasure of riding with on numerous occasions. She comes from a gymnastic background (seems all the best snowboarders do) and is a total natural at snowboarding. She trains hard and is a pretty determined character on her board. She was the first female snowboarder to land a cab double underflip – the first double cork variation off a straight park kicker. She’s just one of those girls that is going to really push the level of girls riding by trying new tricks She’s also a contest rider and competed in the 2014 Olympics. I also like to follow her as she does these cool little acro videos, often with her sister, and she’s so amazingly STRONG!
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3. Maria Thomsen
She was born in Denmark but now lives in Whistler, Canada, year round (lucky girl!). Not only does she snowboard like a boss, has amazing style and rides street rails with ease – SHE’S A FULL TIME MUM! Now, being a mum myself, I have soooooo much admiration for this girl. Even though she must be exhausted and mentally drained, her snowboarding hasn’t suffered at all. She still goes on all these street rail trips, laps the park and does loads of video parts.
She actually went on a rail trip to Quebec with two of my friends and her five month old baby. She wanted to get the shot and wouldn’t give up until she did, even though she kept having to go to the car and breast feed her baby. She’s a machine! I also like to follow her for her mountain life in general, as she represents the fact that your life doesn’t have to change when you have children.
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4. Too Hard
This is an all-girls snowboard crew in America and Maria Thompson (above) has just joined them! It formed when Peep Show (another girls crew I used to follow) died and one of its member, Danyale, started making her own “alternative” movies mainly focusing on a bunch of badass street riding girls! The actual editing of the videos is quirky to say the least, and can often offend people, but I LOVE them! These girls are well worth a follow, as it’s interesting to see how the gang figure out their rail spots together and the bails are always particularly epic.
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5. Christy Prior
This kiwi chick has BAGS of style and my favorite girl to watch. She can pretty much do every trick the normal way, and in switch. I was also lucky enough to hang out with her a little in Colorado and she was always on the go – completely DEDICATED to snowboarding. I also like to follow her because she’s massively into her yoga and seems to practice in the most beautiful of settings.
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6. Silje Norendal
Silje is actually quite a depressing female to follow on Instagram as she’s a pro snowboarder/model and slays it both on and off the mountain. She represents that you can still be a super girly girl but be great at snowboarding. She rides hard and normally with boys, and is usually lapping the park in all weathers. She started snowboarding at the age of four, did her first comp aged six and has since gone from strength to strength to become one of the world’s top female snowboarders, with 3 X-Games medals under her belt! She works hard in the gym and I’m pretty sure she even has a Nike trainer designed after her.
FOLLOW SILJE
7. Corinne Mayhew (aka Cozza)
Cozza is an independent snowboard coach and one of the highest qualified female snowboard instructors in the world! A pretty epic title to have! She is based in the French Alps in the winter and then surfs in the South of France in the summer. She’s involved with lots of girl specific trips including a surf camp called Surf Affinity and is the Head Coach for the Ticket to Ride Girls Snowboard Retreat in Meribel this spring. Follow her on insta for insights into a different aspect of the snowboard industry, as she also helps coach the GB team!
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8. Nikita
Nikita is a cool Icelandic clothes wear brand for action-seeking women, so definitely one to follow as there aren’t that many female specific brands out there! It not only has a snowboard range but also boasts an edgy street wear range as well. Their feed is made up of inspiring images of their models in their clothes and snowboarders they sponsor doing tricks/riding powder/street rails. Ever since I started snowboarding I’ve loved Nikita and it’s still my favourite snowboard brand.
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9. Jess Kimura
One of my all time fave girl snowboarders! In my opinion, she is one of the most hardcore female shredders out there and has definitely had her fair share of injuries. She is best known for her street riding and has had some amazing video parts. She lives and breathes snowboarding, and has even done stints living in a van just so she can shred to the max.
She’s from Canada (actually from the little town I was born in BC, Vernon) so has powder riding in her blood and rides them just as well as she rides any rail. She most definitely rides like a dude and has even won Transworld Riders Poll “Women’s Part of the Year”. I love following her on insta as she has a proper outdoorsy, tomboy lifestyle in the Canadian Rockies and it’s obvious that she just loves life.
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10. Katie Omerod
She’s the “one to watch” in the international snowboard circuit and she’s from the UK. I first met her when she was around 9 years old and competing in the Brits in Lax with little bunny ears attached to her helmet. She has EXPLODED over the last few years, not only on the British scene, but she has also massively made a mark for herself on the international scene as well.
Again, she’s got a strong gymnastic background, and as such works her way up to tricks in a methodical way. She’s actually done tricks that no other female snowboarder has ever done! She originates from the indoor dome scene in the UK, so her rail riding is on par with her kicker riding. She is also getting invites left, right and centre to all of these prestigious competitions, so I’ve very confident in saying that one day she could win an Olympic gold medal.
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So that’s my top ten done and as you can see, I’m pretty inspired by the girls that are out there riding at the moment! My ‘must follow’ list on Instagram could go on and on and in fact I’ve slipped in an extra cheeky three to follow below.
Also worth following
It’s definitely going to be really interesting to see what happens over the next 10 years or so! Who knows we might even overtake the men! GIRL POWER.
1. Aimee Fuller
Another one of the UK’s finest! If you like back flips, you’ll love this girl. She loves nothing more than to get inverted! I love following her as it’s truly gobsmacking how HUGE a jumps she gets inverted over – this girl has no fear.
2. Jess Rich
A proper Aussie chick with great banter, who is awesome to live with and only snowboards if she’s having fun. Has had some gnarly injuries but ALWAYS bounces back.
3. Melissa Riitano
The sweetest American girl from Montana, who is now living in Colorado. Rides street, laps the park and uses a sled for the backcountry. Surfs in Nicaragua during the summer, has a pro skier boyfriend and is BFFS with Christy Prior.
Are you looking to take your snowboarding to the next level but want to do it in an relaxed and stress free environment? Then join our Girls Snowboard Camp in Meribel so that you can focus on your all round snowboarding skills this winter.
