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Women on the Edge and in the park

Park and pipe clinics now part of women’s program As skiing evolves into more big mountain riding and terrain park freestyle, so too do the ski programs evolve.

Park and pipe clinics now part of women’s program

As skiing evolves into more big mountain riding and terrain park freestyle, so too do the ski programs evolve.

Just look at the new Women on the Edge program whose roots can be traced back 20 years or so with world champion freestyle skier Stephanie Sloan.

When Sloan first began her women’s only ski program in Whistler she was teaching women to tackle the bumps.

From there the program evolved to taking clients through gates, into the steep stuff and teaching them how to float on powder.

This year, under the name Women on the Edge, clients are going places they’ve never dreamed of going before – like, the parks and pipes at Whistler-Blackcomb.

"It’s the new school of skiing," said Sloan after January’s two-day terrain park clinic.

"We started the terrain park/halfpipe program to entice girls and a younger skier who would like to learn some of those tricks in the park.

"It’s a very intimidating atmosphere just to go in there on your own. There are a lot of guys in there for one thing, not very many gals. But gals want to learn how to do that."

Jump back 20 years to the bump clinics. At that time Sloan found that women shied away from clinics full of men because they were intimidated. That’s when she first came up with the idea of creating an all-female environment to teach the ladies to get to that next level in their skiing.

"That’s how it started. (the women) just felt that they weren’t quite good enough to keep up with the guys in the bumps in a group situation."

By taking away the intimidation factor, Sloan said the all-female groups generally tend to be a supportive and non-competitive learning environment, where women can truly flourish.

"There’s not a lot of competition amongst the gals whereas with a group of guys they’re always pushing themselves a little bit beyond their limits," said Sloan.

"We don’t push women. We just make it easy for them to go to the next step in their skiing."

In order to join the Women on the Edge program skiers must have at least Level 4 ability. Sloan said many women sign up because they have reached a plateau in their skiing and can’t get beyond it.

Helping them get to that next step are some big names in women’s skiing. Freeski champions like Lee Ann Patterson, Jen Ashton and Lisa Korthals give up their tips and techniques as they lead clients through steeps, powder and bumps.

But for those who want to learn the new school of skiing there’s coach Mauro Nunez.

Currently there are no female instructors to take clients through the park and pipe. And so Nunez stepped up to the challenge. He’s no stranger to tricks in the park, coming in second place overall at the 2002 Molson Canadian Snow Jam where he was freeskiing in the quarter-pipe.

January’s two-day terrain park clinic began with a quick cruise through the halfpipe on Blackcomb before the crowds arrived for the day.

Nunez skied to the bottom and critiqued each woman on her way down offering up tips on how to make the transition from each side of the 15-foot pipe walls.

"You guys have opened the door to one of the hardest parts of skiing – the halfpipe," said Nunez.

As the morning progressed the park began to fill, mostly with young guys.

Nunez said that demographic is slowly starting to change as more girls take up the challenges in the park.

"You’re seeing more and more girls on the twin-tip skis," he said, although he noticed last year at the U.S. Open in Colorado there were 120 guys competing and only five or six girls.

After a couple of trips down the pipe, the rails were next.

Nunez’s rail progression began with riding a small rail in ski boots to jumping 90 degrees on the snow with skis to actually sliding on the rail with skis.

In just under two hours a seemingly impossible rail slide looked a little more probable. Some women now had a starting point from which to move forward.

Meanwhile other clients tackled challenges on different parts of the mountain.

"That’s one of the most fun things when I’m instructing is to take gals places they’ve never been before because I know they can do it but I know they probably wouldn’t do it unless they were in a group with a female instructor," said Sloan.

"Sometimes some of the entrances into some of the bowls are kind of tricky so they wouldn’t ever go there on their own but with a little coaching... it’s just such a supportive, easy atmosphere to learn in."

There are one, two and three day Women on the Edge clinics. The two-day clinics run every Thursday and Friday until the end of March for $195.

Other perks include lift line priority, video analysis and aprés ski.

There will be a two-day terrain park clinic in February and one in March.

For more information call Stephanie Sloan at 604-932-5826.