A huge supporter of the Snowpack Scholarship, Nordica's Carly Driscoll is shares the partnership highlights and values the two organizations share.
Get the Girl’s Out Event 2022 at Alta Ski Area. Photo by John Shafer.
Nordica is throwing a party and wants *you* to be invited. Over the past two years, the company has partnered with SheJumps to create a more inviting environment in snowsports through the Snowpack Scholarship and 2022 Get the Girls Out!. Carly Driscoll, Nordica's Women’s Lead in North America, is taking charge to help create that change.
“At Nordica, we're looking to welcome a more inclusive and equitable space for women in skiing,” said Driscoll. “We’d like to be a welcoming brand for all women no matter your ability level of skiing.”
For Driscoll, the partnership with SheJumps was an easy choice.
“I started skiing Alta thirteen years ago, when SheJumps was in its infancy,” said Driscoll, who got connected with Co-Founder Claire Smallwood through the local community. Over the years, she volunteered with the Into the Canyon program up on Alta Ski Area.
Smallwood and Driscoll taking a lap at Fernie Ski Resort.
For over a decade, Driscoll saw first-hand the mission of SheJumps–bring diversity, equity and inclusion to the outdoors. She noted SheJumps is doing much of the heavy lifting and hard work to make that a reality.
“Nordica is committed to the partnership–collaborating, growing, and learning from the work SheJumps is doing,” said Driscoll. “The partnership between SheJumps and Nordica is helping bring light to the deep work that needs to continue to be done in skiing and the outdoors to continue inviting women in.”
Left to right: Ali Sailor, Felicia Wong, Blake Licata, Cassie Abel, Jordan Berde, Claire Smallwood, and Carly Driscoll.
This winter marks the second season Nordica has been a sponsor of the Snowpack Scholarship. On January 23rd Nordica hosted their first US Connect Speaker Series at evo SLC, co-moderated by Driscoll and Smallwood.
Nordica’s goal for the night was to open the discussion on how to increase a sense of belonging for women in skiing. The panelists included Cassie Able from WildRye, Lauren Samuels from Salomon, Jordan Berde from evo, and Nordica Ambassador Felicia Wong.
Left to right: Smallwood, Able, Samuels, Berde, Wong, and Driscoll. Photo by Jen "Freddy" Fredsall.
“The conversations in the panel events are not about the products we sell, it’s about the community we serve and how we can build gender equity in skiing,” said Driscoll, who noted the abnormality of two competing ski brands showing up together. “The work we’re doing at Nordica for women in skiing is to break down historical barriers that open space to allow women to feel welcome and to be heard, treated and seen as equal. We just want to be treated equally and put in the work to help break down that gender bias.”
On March 10th, Nordica hosted the second panel discussion in Fernie, British Columia at Fernie Distilleries. Smallwood, who now calls Fernie her hometown, took a seat as a panelist along with Nordica Canadian Marketing Manager Laurence Couillard, Edge of the World Snowboard Shop Employee Sarah Previte, and Former Olympian Alpine Ski Racer Emily Brydon. Nordica’s Driscoll moderated the panel.
Left to right: Couillard, Smallwood, Previte, Brydon, and Driscoll.
Next year, Nordica plans to continue collaborating with the SheJumps programming.
"Nordica is committed to making our partnership impactful, we want to be actively involved. Skiing is FUN, it can turn a bad day into a good one, it can turn a good day into a great one,” explained Driscoll. “It is a retreat from the daily grind. I want everyone to experience that joy.”
Get the Girl’s Out Event 2022 at Alta Ski Area. Photos by John Shafer.