Who’d have thought that an informal chat with author and illustrator Kimberley Kay in March 2024 would lead to this!

Following Kim’s blog post we realised that we have a shared interest in exploring fear as a barrier to women’s participation in snowsports – and helping them develop confidence to enjoy the sport we both love.

With my background in academic research and Kim’s networks in snowsports industry PR, we launched an online survey to establish how widespread these issues are. We were astonished by the volume and scope of responses. If you experience anxieties on the slopes, you’re not alone. Triggers are wide-ranging, with these clear ‘top three’:

• risk of injury/re-injury (69%)
• other skiers’ boarders’ percieved lack of control (63%)
• speed of other skiers/boarders (49%)
• poor visibility (49%)

We’re here to help, and since publishing our findings, we’ve been invited to speak on a number of podcasts, at the Northern Snow Show (2024 & 2025), the London Snow Show (2025) and the World Women’s Snowsport Organisation summit in Austria (2025):

• Ski Rex Media
• The Ski Podcast
• Ski Moms

We’ve also featured in a number of publications, including:

• School SnowSports issue 09 (p44-45)
• The Telegraph Online

Why focus on women? Don’t men experience these anxieties too?

All skiers and boarders experience fear at some point. If they tell you otherwise, they’re not being entirely truthful. We focussed on women because according to Ski Club of Great Britain 2024 participation data, the male/female split is at least 70/30 in all age ranges except 43-50, where it is around 50/50.

Why not register interest in a mini-masterclass in learning to thrive on snow, despite your worries? Or a few days in Italy with on- and off- snow coaching in managing fear and ski technique? Join my mailing list and I’ll keep you posted with dates, locations and costs.