Big Sky Resort to host barrier-breaking events for women, people of color in snowsports 

In February, new partnership between Women of Winter and the National Brotherhood of Snowsports will empower all 

By Jack Reaney ASSOCIATE EDITOR 

Two separate-but-aligned organizations will hold overlapping annual events at Big Sky Resort this winter.

From Feb. 22 to 25, Women of Winter will host their 2024 program, during which scholarship recipients—36 this year, the most ever—can gain instructor certifications with PSIA-AASI. WoW is a Bozeman-based nonprofit founded in 2018 by YC instructor Chris Walch and dedicated to empowering Black, indigenous women of color in the snowsports industry to become educational leaders. 

From Feb. 24 to March 2, the National Brotherhood of Snowsports, America’s largest winter sports organization for athletes of color, will host its annual summit. Founded in 1973, NBS’ mission is “to identify, develop and support athletes of color who will win international and Olympic winter sports competitions representing the United States and to increase participation in winter sports for people of color.”  

NBS hosted its annual summit in Big Sky once before, back in 1983. Big Sky Resort is proud to add NBS’ 2024 summit to its 50-year celebration—in a Sept. 13 press release, Troy Nedved, Big Sky Resort GM, stated that the reosrt looks forward to an event in “pursuit of a more inclusive future for snowsports.” 

Carolyn Stempler has been involved with NBS for 39 years, and that’s where she learned how to ski.  

She now spends her winters in Big Sky, and she’s executive director of Women of Winter, an all-volunteer organization. She’s thrilled that WoW is gaining a voice to impact change in winter sport communities and hopes the partnership with NBS—a 51-year-old organization with thousands of members—will continue.   

Both organizations want to create deeper spaces for women and people of color, from the leisure-level to the Olympic-level. 

“We have very similar missions, where we’re trying to break down these barriers and create this safe space in this community,” Stempler told Explore Big Sky.  

Unfortunately, cost of lodging and lift tickets are two significant barriers and the ski industry needs to change to survive, she said. Resorts need to meet in the middle with consumers to lower the barrier to entry. 

“So, how do we break down this barrier? How do we tell them that a $300 lift ticket is not something that’s going to be sustainable,” Stempler said.  

Beyond those tall hurdles, other barriers can damage winter athletes’ sense of belonging. As a Black woman, she’s been asked insulting questions. For example, in line alone for the chairlift, someone asked, “Why are you here?” 

“I had decent gear… I looked like I skied, I didn’t look like I didn’t belong there,” Stempler recalled. “And I still would get comments like that.”  

Stempler mentioned Nia Brinkley, a PSIA-AASI Level-3 certified snowboard instructor in Colorado.   

Stempler said that in the 32,000 members of PSIA-AASI, Brinkley is one of two black women snowboarders certified at Level 3. Stempler’s unsure of the exact numbers, but for Level 3 instructor examiners, she thinks there might be two Black women and six Black men certified by PSIA.  

“Whether it’s two, one, 10, five, four—out of 32,000 [PSIA-AASI] members, the numbers are embarrassing,” Stempler said. She does credit PSIA-AASI for taking steps to address the issue and for supporting WoW’s purpose.  

This winter might help move the needle; Stempler hopes WoW will help 12 Black women earn their Level 1 in partnership with the National Brotherhood of Snowsports.  

NBS summit to bring nearly 3,000 attendees 

Henri Rivers started skiing in the late 1960s in the Catskills of New York. When he first joined NBS in 1996, he had hardly skied with more than one or two people of color.  

Now national president of NBS, he’s most proud of the shared feeling NBS fosters. For him, it was eye-opening, refreshing and inspiring to ski with more Black people. He sees NBS members defying racist stereotypes. 

Team NBS trains youth athletes from U12 to U18 in a variety of snowsports. This winter’s team includes 29 “extremely competitive” young athletes, Rivers told EBS.  

“We have one that was competing in the big air competition at Copper [Mountain] a couple weeks ago. A couple going to Youth Olympic Games in Korea in two weeks,” he said. Of several strong mogul skiers, Rivers hopes at least one will make a run at this year’s World Cup.  

Aside from seeing elite Team NBS athletes, Rivers offered reasons for Big Sky locals to be excited for the NBS summit.  

“We not only bring such a loyal following, our membership’s passion about skiing, they bring so much positive energy to the mountain and the community. And they bring a lot of money. Last year, we spent more than $10 million in one week at Vail… It’s a staggering number, and more resorts should appreciate that and negotiate better with us,” Rivers said.  

That number includes on-mountain expenses, lodging, food and beverage and retail spend, across upwards of 3,000 NBS summit attendees from 58 clubs spread across more than 45 cities in the U.S. and U.K.  

The NBS members will spend time exploring Big Sky Resort and engaging in friendly competitions like downhill races—Rivers said the clubs love to run gates and some rivalries have endured 50 years.  

“It is so enlightening. It just lifts your spirit to watch them compete against each other,” Rivers said.  

He highlighted the happy hour at the end of each ski day, and emphasized that the public is invited to join all festivities. 

“We’re coming to have a great time, we’re coming to embrace the community, and we want the community to embrace us,” Rivers said. “Once they go to an NBS summit, they’ll always seek to go to another. I guarantee that.” 

WoW looks to keep 100% success in Big Sky 

Stempler has two granddaughters. The four-year-old just started skiing last year in Big Sky, and the two-year-old will start this winter. Stempler emphasized her desire to introduce kids to skiing—she just began instructing kids at Big Sky Resort.   

“It has nothing to do with the snow,” she said. “It has to do with the psychology of a child who wants to eat snow and do snow angels.” 

As of now, WoW helps certify instructors aged 22 to 62, and she said it’s awesome to see young adults determined to break down barriers and build the industry’s future. This year, WoW will host its largest-ever class of women. 

Scholarship recipients will arrive on Wednesday, Feb. 21. They’ll train Thursday and Friday, and face exams Saturday and Sunday. Normally, WoW offers 12 scholarships: six ski instructors and six snowboard instructors. Last year, WoW added 12 for alumni pursuing further certification—six for freestyle skiing and six for children specialty. For 2024, WoW is also offering 12 scholarships for NBS women to earn their Level 1 certification. 

Having 36 scholarship recipients at one time is “phenomenal,” Stempler said. Scholarship winners receive bindings and skis or snowboard from Rossignol, a helmet and goggles from Giro, Hestra mittens, Leki poles, and clothing from Phunkshun, The North Face and Terramar. 

Alums of WoW can return for advanced instructor training toward Level 2 or 3—Stempler said 15 are returning—and this year’s program will feature more than 50 women.    

“We do this massive ski down, and you can imagine from a drone perspective how cool that’s going to be,” she hinted.  

Women of Winter’s overall success rate is 99%, but 100% at Big Sky.  

“There’s something about that mountain that’s magical,” Stempler said. She also commended the resort’s management. 

“Big Sky [Resort] has really stepped up to be a partner for us, with the things that they’re offering, such as the lift tickets, the discounted lodging, the events space… Just having Christine Baker who is vice president of snowsports [at the resort] be a true mentor and also a partner with us, has really helped our organization to grow,” she said.  

Stempler is grateful she can volunteer her time for such an important organization. She hopes WoW can secure more grants and funding to be able to hire paid staff. 

Editor’s note: corrections were made to the original version which stated that Nia Brinkley is the only Black woman certified at Level 3—she is one of two—and that only a small handful of Black skiers are certified as PSIA instructors. Instead, there are only a handful of Black PSIA-certified Level 3 instructor examiners, while there are more certified instructors.