There’s another ski film in the works, but this one isn’t just another ski film.
Pretty Faces is the labor of love of big-mountain skier, Lynsey Dyer, and she is teaming up with a number of other female skiers and boarders to produce a crowd-sourced, crowd-funded film that celebrates “women’s achievement in the mountains while inspiring girls of all ages to believe in their dreams.”
Before you are tempted to dismiss that statement as sappy sounding, you ought to stop for a second and consider the situation of women athletes everywhere, including the ski industry. On the Pretty Faces Kickstarter campaign page, Lynsey notes some significant facts:
(1) Though women make up about 40% of the skiing population, and about 30% of the adventure sports film viewership, only 14% of the athletes in major ski films this past season were female.
(2) “Statistics show that most kids are active, but around 11-15 years old many girls tend to drop off and stop participating in sports. We hope to direct our message toward this group in hopes of making skiing look so fun they won’t be able to stay inside any longer!
Although skiing is the focus of the film, we hope to showcase women’s on-hill success–from professional skiers to recreational enthusiasts–to inspire girls of all ages to pursue their dreams, walk the path less traveled, and reach their fullest potential, whatever path they choose.”
If you don’t resonate with that, then I don’t know what to say to you.
And if we don’t step up to make this project happen, then I’ll be extremely disappointed in our snowsports community.
Speaking of community, I asked Lynsey who the women skiers were that she looked up to back when she was getting started, or whether she was mostly seeing what the guys were doing and saying to herself, “I can do that too.”
“Actually, it was Warren Miller who inspired me, “she said. “He brought a community together. And no one has really done that since. Watching an entire audience come together over this thing called “Powder.” That’s what I hope to do with Pretty Faces.”
So no, this film isn’t just about showing off some sick lines and some pretty (mountain) faces. It’s a statement about equality, a protest against a very tired status quo (where women are often measured by their appearance rather than their achievements), and a push to expand the horizons of what’s possible.
Lynsey herself has said it best: “If you are a mom, a dad, a mentor, a brother, a coach, or teacher, who feels this message is important to share, we hope you’ll participate in this fund raiser.”
We’ve made our pledge, and we encourage you to contribute what you can.
I’ve very rarely been tempted to use the word “important” to describe a ski film, but “important” is exactly how I would describe Pretty Faces.