IT’S A GIRL WINTER
Published in the Feb. 14, 2026 issue.
The women behind Coalition Mammoth believe representation is crucial to getting young girls to ski and snowboard. That’s why on Friday, Feb. 20, the organization will host an independent screening of “Girl Winter,” an all female film festival spearheaded by professional backcountry skier Sierra Schlag, at Minaret Cinemas in Mammoth.
Coalition Mammoth’s rendition of “Girl Winter” will feature six femme forward ski films. The films vary in content, ranging from the story of an Alaskan Native skier returning to ski on her homelands, an artistic piece featuring big mountain skier Piper Kunst, and a high school English teacher setting out to ski 33 of the highest peaks in the Catskill Mountains, alone.
“Growing up in the ski industry, I never saw people that looked like me in ski films,” said Coalition Mammoth founding member Skyler Low. “They were all predominately white men.”
Low, whose mother is Ecuadorian, has been skiing in the Eastern Sierra since she was two.
“I very rarely see people of color on the slopes,” Low said.
She hopes that by bringing these films to Mammoth, and amplifying previously marginalized voices, young girls will see new role models on the screen who look like them.
“We’re really hopeful these role models will inspire them to be lifelong skiers, snowboarders, and snowmobilers,” Low added.
The film festival sheds light on the goals of Coalition Mammoth: youth engagement and community activism.
The coalition was founded last year by Low, Eva Bissonette, Cassidy Moyer (who are all 23) and Emily Markstein (32). The group focuses on the intersection between environmental justice, immigration, social justice, voter engagement, and community development, all while centering the next generation.
“Our goal is to facilitate engagement with younger generations and marginalized communities in Mammoth and on the Eastside,” Markstein said.
Coalition Mammoth is the only active group of its kind in Mammoth, as Eastern Sierra Pride focuses primarily on LGBTQ+ rights and Mono 350 has not hosted an event for years. Coalition Mammoth works closely with Friends of the Inyo and Inyo 350 to coordinate protests and host events.
“We wanted to go to a protest,” Bissonette said when asked why they founded the Coalition, “So we decided to just have a protest here.”
Last March, Bissonette teamed up with Low to organize a human rights protest. Since then, Coalition Mammoth has organized six protests, including the No Kings events in June and October, and ICE Out For Good in January. These have ranged in size from 20 to 550 attendees.
“We wanted to show people that activism doesn’t have to be intimidating,” Low said. “Activism can just be coming together as a community and building resilience and showing each other that our voices matter.”
Moyer and Markstein soon joined the team, both eager to find ways to fight for what they believed in on a local level.
“There’s too much happening in the world right now to just have it go ignored,” Moyer said. “Living in Mammoth, it feels like a bubble.”
The group also offers another kind of activism – bringing the Eastside together through regular “family dinners” and offering a free, warm meal to members of the community. These events are often hosted in the Mammoth Lakes Community Center.
Though Coalition Mammoth is donation based, much of the funding for these events comes from the member’s own pockets.
The ticket revenue from the Girl Winter screening will go toward these dinners.
In the future, the young women hope their group will continue to inspire others to get involved in their community.
“I really hope that we can inspire and teach people how to become their own activists,” Markstein said.
“None of us have a college degree in this, we all just cared a lot. And I hope that that in itself can help people to take action and create a larger group of people taking action in Mammoth.”
The Girl Winter event will begin with speakers at 6 p.m.; the films will kick off at 6:30. Tickets are $25 and free for indigenous individuals. For more information on Coalition Mammoth, check out their Instagram page @coalitionmammoth.
