Ladies ski + ride day

Local skiers Ann Piersall, Holly Moseley-Raymond and Sarah Hoff hosted two complimentary events last week aimed at celebrating women who find joy in the mountains and on the snow.

“We organized the film [Pretty Faces] screening at Mammoth Brewing Company and an all-ladies ski day at Mammoth Mountain to celebrate the start of the ski season and … our skiing community in the Eastern Sierra,” said Piersall. “Especially the strong and beautiful women who rip!”

“Pretty Faces,” a film featuring women skiers, snowboarders and snowmobilers, played for at MBC on Wednesday, Dec. 9. Professional skier and SheJumps co-founder Lynsey Dyer spearheaded the film, which was crowdfunded through a Kickstarter campaign in 2014.

“I wanted to give young girls something positive to look up to,” Dyer said on the website Unicorn Picnic. “I wanted to give them their Blizzard of Ahhs, Ski Movie or High Life, but done in a way that also shows the elegance, grace, community and style that is unique to women in the mountains.”

“Holly, Sarah and I were disappointed it didn’t come to Mammoth last year,” said Piersall, “so we decided we should just bring it to Mammoth this year by ourselves.”

The event on Dec. 9 was free, but donations were encouraged in exchange for a raffle ticket. Piersall’s popular trucker hats featuring paintings of local mountain ranges were raffled off, as well as Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center t-shirts and other prizes. All proceeds beyond the cost of putting on the event were donated to ESAC.

In conjunction with the film showing, Piersall, Moseley-Raymond and Hoff sponsored a “Ladies Ski & Ride Day” at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area on Sunday, Dec. 13.

Approximately eighteen women (and one man) donned tutus made by local craftswoman Crystal Medhurst and skied at MMSA for several hours, braving a snow storm and a power outage.

The group ate bagels and drank coffee donated by Old New York Deli & Bagel Company both in the morning, at a festive tailgate party at the Chair 2 parking lot, and in the afternoon at McCoy Station as the storm raged outside.

Sarah Hoff said she hoped that the group could meet again in the spring for a reprise of the event. Other participants said they had enjoyed the chance to meet other women who ski and ride, cruise down the hill with their friends and share their love of the outdoors with one another. Numbers were exchanged, ski dates were made for the future, and those new to the sport tested their boundaries by following a group of tutus down the hill.

“There are so many strong women in this community,” said Piersall, as she rode up Chair 3 surrounded by ladies in tulle, glitter and goggles, “this was a great opportunity to connect some of them.”