Sisters In Send - Female Freeride, Freestyle, and Race Camps.

Building inclusiveness within the ski community has been a growing goal for many ski clubs, resorts, and brands. We've seen amazing ski films, such as Nexus, come out highlighting female skiers in ways that haven't been done before within the sport. Here at Paradise, we do our part by not offering gendered equipment, as we believe that the right gear depends solely on your size and skiing ability.

However, our friends at Lake Louise Ski Clubs (LLSCs) have begun raising the bar as to how ski resorts/clubs should be encouraging more female-identifying skiers through an amazing program called Sisters In Send.

Run by Jillian Richardson, Sisters in Send is an initiative created by LLSCs to combat the disparity between female-identifying athletes and male-identifying athletes within skiing, specifically within freeride, freestyle, and high-level racing.

According to Canadian Women & Sport, one in three girls drop out of sport by late adolescence, compared to only 1 in 10 boys, and up to 62% of female-identifying youth don’t participate at all. The main factors contributing to this disparity are lack of access, social stigma decreased quality of experience and lack of quality role models.

Sisters in Send combat these factors by providing specialized female-specific training environments that is necessary to stimulate female-identifying athletes to enter and stay in the environments that their male-identifying counterparts naturally gravitate to.

Sisters In Send aims to encourage female-identifying athletes to push their boundaries, build connections with each other, and grow their self-confidence while staying in sport as they age.

The Goals of Sisters In Send

Sisters in Send hopes that providing this programming for athletes from a young age helps to lessen the gap and increase the presence of female-identifying athletes in high-level racing, free-ride, and freestyle environments.

They aim to provide equity for female-identifying athletes and to invest as they grow through the ranks, so that eventually there may be increased equality in these environments.

What Makes Sisters In Send Unique?

Sisters In Send builds programming around the creation of positive social environments that intentionally foster a sense of belonging - an essential factor in retaining girls in sport.

As pro-skier Alex Armstrong put it, “Boys do cool, scary things to fit in, where girls need to feel as if they fit in, in order to try those cool and scary things.”

Canadian Women & Sport agrees, stating that in male-identifying athletes, good performance builds a sense of social belonging. However, for female-identifying athletes, feeling that sense of belonging is essential to improving their performance.

Sisters in Send understands the psychological differences between male and female-identifying athletes, and how they each learn best. They provide progression-oriented, focused, and diverse training environments, specifically designed for those who identify as female.

Sisters in Send camps are led exclusively by strong, female-identifying coaches, allowing our athletes access to powerful role models (representation is a key factor of participation).

The Down Low

Ultimately, Sisters in Send increases the quality of sport experience for our female-identifying athletes.

They construct inclusive, specialized training environments that allow the expedited opportunity for progression while staying judgment-free and supportive.

How Can You Get Involved?

There are three camps scheduled for this season at Lake Louise:

Freestyle Camp   - January 27 & April 7, 2023

Freeride Camp   - March 17, 2023

Adult Camp      - April (Date TBD)

To sign up for camps, click here.

Freeride Ski Camp: 

Freestyle Ski Camp: