We have a new website!

We are super happy to announce that we finally have an official Women in Boardsports website. Go, go, go, run! Check it out!

WWW.WOMENINBOARDSPORTS.COM

The Alliance has a new website and new members

The Alliance has relaunched their website and announce a new board member: Jenna Selby!

Jenna tells in her website that she is "a skateboarder and freelance photographer based in London. She has since shot images for a variety of national and international publications, online magazines and companies. She also helped create the annual event series, "Girl Skate Jam UK" which is now celebrating it's 10 year. After breaking her ankle in 2008 Jenna turned her attention to film making, creating the first European female skate film ‘As If, And What?’ She is now working on a world wide venture called ‘Scratch The Surface.’ The film will look to showcase not only those riders already established, but also to document the girls who are part of emerging scenes in countries where skateboarding is relatively new, including Afghanistan, China and Russia. The project will be supported by images and short documentaries."

For those who want to know more, "The Alliance is a non-profit association of professional women skateboarders and other action sports athletes who have united to develop and promote their sport by empowering and encouraging young women's participation as well as increasing professional opportunities".

Check it out! http://www.actionsportsalliance.com

Mimi Knoop tells her experience in WIB2011

Text from Mimi Knoop on www.mimi-knoop.com
http://www.mimi-knoop.com/2011/10/05/women-in-boardsports-retreat-2011-%e2%80%a2-saas-fee-switzerland/

Women in Boardsports Retreat 2011 • Saas Fee, Switzerland

Posted by Mimi on Wednesday, October 5, 2011 · Leave a Comment  

I was invited to give a presentation at the 3rd annual Women in Boardsports conference that was held last week in Saas Fee, Switzerland. I decided to go at the last minute- not really knowing what to expect. Well, I couldn’t have been more impressed. This event brought together women across all action sports- surfers, snowboarders, skateboarders- and also women that work in the industry too. It was really amazing for me to hear everyone’s stories and to learn about what challenges lie within each sport (i.e. surf, skate, and snow). To say that the event was inspiring and motivating would be an understatement. A big thank you to Carmela Fleury and Daniela Meyer who founded the event, and who treated us all like royalty all weekend. And thanks to the Popcorn! for putting us up!

Check out Jenna Selby’s article about the retreat on the Cooler Magazine’s site here.
Below are some of my pics from the trip:
Saas Fee, Switzerland. One of the most beautiful places I have ever seen!

WIB2011 REview From Sophie Friedel

Text from Sophie Friedl on sophiefriedl.blogspot.com

"Women in Boardsports Retreat 2011

                                                                 Saas-Fee Mountain, photo: Maria Wolfsberger

 I had the pleasure to be a part of the best event for women in the boardsport scene ever! Carmela Fleury and Daniela Meyer are now in the 3^rd year running have been organizing a 5day Women in Boardsports retreat. The event is devoted to support, educate and inspire women in the boardsports industry. I can say the event did all that plus it gave me a great wipe of fresh energy.  We meet 1800m high on the Swiss mountain in the sweet little village of Saas-Fee and  listened to great talks, spoke to fascinated like minded people, had tasty food and great fun. 

Win a trip to Iceland with Nikita

That’s right, not only will the winner get a trip to Iceland, the six day adventure entails a visit to the flagship store in Reykjavik to choose some new Nikita gear, a look-see at Nikita HQ to meet everyone including founder and head designer Heida Birgisdottir, party with the crew (no mean feat in itself), go snowboarding with them, enjoy a soak at the hazy Blue Lagoon and attend the AK Extreme festival of snowboard and music mayhem where the likes of homegrown talents and global gob smackers Halldor Helgason and Gulli Gudmundsson will most likely be riding once again. The event is held in the north of Iceland in a town called Akureyri.

To enter all you need to do is take a photo of yourself in Nikita Outerwear (past or present) and upload it to the Nikita contest website between 10^th October 2011 to 10^th January 2012. There will be a microsite running on the website www.nikitaclothing.com featuring details about the comp, where your photos will also be visible to others. The winner will be chosen by Nikita and announced on 1^st February 2012. Follow the rules: you must be female, over 18 years of age, hold a valid passport and be available to make the trip next year, 11^th – 16^th April 2012.

So be prepared for many good times from which many good stories will follow.

If you’re looking to buy Nikita Outerwear this coming winter season, watch out for the special hangtags detailing entry.

NEED TO KNOW:

Contest Starts: 10^th October 2011

Contest Ends: 10^th January 2012

Winner announced: 1^st February 2012

Trip will take place: 11^th – 16^th April 2012

Take a photo of yourself in Nikita Outerwear and upload it to: NIKITA Clothing – www.nikitaclothing.com

Extra Streetwear and Outerwear prizes will be given out every month!

You will be going here - AK Extreme - http://www.akextreme.is/english.html

3rd day WIB retreat, gala dinner and awards

Sophie Friedl telling her experience in Afghanistan. Photo credit: Alba Pardo

After Friday night party and two days of inspirational speeches, comes the third day. No less interesting, no less intense.

The first conference was led by two Brittish snowboard legends: Lesley McKenna and Josie Clyde, who made us think about WTF is so special about boardsports!

The passion, the sharing, the lifestyle, and freedom… the sponsorship, the IOC, the FIS, Shaun’s White chewing gum sponsor…?

They did a tour through some professional riders’ thoughts and ended up concluding that we love boardsports anyways.

We appreciated the sunny afternoon to get some energy before going into deep thoughts and complex exercises about assertive communication told by Suzanne DeJannasz. The German speakers also had the opportunity to listen to Lilo Schwarz, sports psychologist and enjoy a more relaxed workshop.

Suzanne DeJannasz. Photo Credit: Alba Pardo

 Lamono magazine was in charge of the last workshop of the day and also of the retreat. They made us travel to the future and told us how important are the experiences within the brands’ communication.

An emotive gala dinner with awards given to Alba Pardo, Mimi Knoop, Cori Schumacher and Deb Friedman, some of the pushing women in the boardsports industry, was the perfect opportunity to celebrate all together the closing of the amazing weekend in Saas-Fee.

Group picture. Thank you girls! Photo Credit: Alba Pardo

The obliged Karaoke session was as fun as usual, and all the ladies went get some sleep, to get ready for the snowboarding day in the glacier we all have been expecting the whole weekend!

 

WIB 2011: Day 2

Skate clinic. Photo credit: Maria Cerda

Would you think that neither France, nor the UK nor Germany is ranked amongst the 10 countries most worth living in as a woman worldwide? Equal rights are far from being an evidence for a lot of women on the globe; however it is always disturbing to actually see the statistics alongside the everyday suffering of many.

Cori Schumacher. Photo credit: Alba Pardo

 

Day 2 was opened by a very thoughtful introduction by event organizer Carmela Fleury – leaving the stage to no one less than 3-times Longboarding Worldchampion Cori Schumacher from California. Besides being a great surfer, Cori is an exceptional personality in many ways: She refuses any kind of sponsorship to stay independent and withdrew her participation from the ASP Longboard Worldtour this year to boycott the ASP’s move towards China. Outspoken and straight forward, Cori’s speech lead into a debate about women in the surf industry, in particular the way they are advertised.

Christine Waeber from Bluesign was the one to follow. Operating from Switzerland, her company is doing great steps on the road to sustainability in sports clothing. Check out their website to get some information about their work http://www.bluesign.com/

Another amazing project that you definitely need to check out is Skateistan. The NGO is working with youths in Kabul, Afghanistan where a carefree life is far from reality for most. Sophie Friedel’s speech and footage was deeply moving and inspiring. Make sure to take at look at http://skateistan.org.

Mimi Knoop. Photo Credit: Alba Pardo

After this rather reflective and earnest start, the afternoon went on with some lighter content. After a skate clinic held by pro skaters Lucy Adams, Mimi Knoop and Jenna Selby in the local Skatepark,Tamara Prader introduced us to the basics of downhill skateboarding.

Staying on wheels, Lucy Adams and Jenna Selby shared her experience being female skaters in the early 90ies and their approach of “How to influence female skateboarding in a positive way”. They even shared some top secret footage of Jenna’s latest film project “Scratching the surface”. Check out http://rogueskateboards.co.uk/ for regular updates about her creative work and skateboarding projects!

The evening went on with a yummy dinner at Ferienart Hotel and a Raffle dedicated to Skatistan in Popcorn Bar – thanks to everybody donating and to our sponsors for supporting us with great prices and goodies!