JOY

“How the fuck did I get here?” I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve woken up filled with existential dread saying that… But as for my career, I’ve been working in the snowboard industry since I was 17, learning the ropes as a bug-eyed shop kid while still at school. I ended up dropping out of university and booking a one-way ticket to the mountains and spending the next few years in Italy and Austria as a groady seasonaire.

Eventually, once I was semi-jaundiced and days away from scurvy I moved back to London and picked up a job at the UK’s finest bricks and mortar establishment – The Snowboard Asylum.

I remember the first time I was acutely aware of the sexism that existed within the industry. A guy came in looking to buy a snowboard, I chatted with him for a bit, but after a minute he cut me off and said to an older colleague of mine, a big Finnish guy, “Is that true, does she know what she’s talking about?” and being the top banana he is, Lauri growled back “Yeah, she just fuckin’ told you man”.

“I definitely didn’t take the most conventional route into this job, but I think that’s kinda what makes it so rad”

I knew what I was talking about, so it was a bit of a kick in the ‘nads. Except it wasn’t, because I didn’t have them. Which was kind of the point… I’m not saying things like that are the norm, but they do still happen and though 99% of my experiences working in snowboarding are positive, there are some mouth breathing fart suckers who still think it’s a good ol’ boys club.

The UK snowboard scene is notoriously tight knit, and over the years I’d picked up friends, contacts, and mortal enemies at Whitelines, who happened to be hiring writers at a time I was looking for a job with some more stability. Despite my total non-grasp of the basic rules of grammar, and my complete inability to take anything seriously, as they say, the rest is history and I’ve spent the last two years playing verbal tennis with our readers and arm wrestling anyone and everyone at industry events.

I know that I’m incredibly lucky to have this platform, and I want to use it to speak about meaningful issues, as well as writing scathing piss takes about things that tickle me. I definitely didn’t take the most conventional route into this job, but I think that’s kinda what makes it so rad. I’m probably not the ideal role model for young women, or anyone for that matter, but if nothing else, my story will show you that with enough genital-based humour and a flagrant disregard for the rules of journalism you can achieve anything.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve spent countless hours chatting to women in every sphere of the snowboard industry, from big-name riders to young up and comers, creative media matriarchs to dominating businesswomen, badasses behind the scenes and tireless frontline activists.

“This is a time to empower each other and we want to make it full of positives”

We wanted to pay tribute to some of the trailblazers who have fought tooth and nail to allow us to be here and highlight some of the rockstars that’ll elevate women’s snowboarding to new heights. We wanted to tell the stories of these women and highlight their achievements, without reducing them to just their accomplishments.

We’re going to be dropping articles, interviews, Q&A’s and video parts full of inspiring women throughout the week. This is a time to empower each other and we want to make it full of positives. However, we can’t ignore the fact that this industry is still super male-dominated and that we still consciously have to make an effort to be heard. We’re not where we want to be just yet, but we’ve sure come a hell of a long way.

The guys we work with are great, but our Editor, Rob, and the rest of the team wanted to hand us the reins for this one. So, from all of us to you, we hope you enjoy engaging with this issue as much as we enjoyed making it.

Big love,
Stella, Joy & The Whitelines Crew x