2016 GRO Ladies Day at Stevens Pass

Words:   Kellie Seldon

Images:  Kellie Seldon

Video:  Matthew Pew

Growing to be one of the largest gatherings of women snowboarders and skiers in the Nation. Girls Riders Organization, GRO Snow’s annual Ladies Day at Stevens Pass, WA has exceeded expectations once again. With a staggering 552 ladies enrolled, this year’s event had the highest attendance ever. As this special event continues to grow, so does the expansion to other mountain resorts. This year GRO Snow will be hosting another Ladies Day’s at Mt. Hood’s Timberline resort on Feb 28, 2016 and Snoqualmie Pass later this spring.

While staffed only by volunteers as a non-profit, it’s staggering to see how GRO Snow is able to put these events on every year and yet still able to bring the fun! As GRO continues to get bigger and bigger, so does the presence of women on the mountain. In a sport primarily dominated by men, it’s pretty awesome to have a day when you’re surrounded by other amazing ladies who love to shred. GRO Snow mission is to inspire, educate and support women through action sports on the mountain.

Whether you’re a total beginner or a park rat, there is definitely a place for you at Ladies Day. Just be sure to register and hop in for their demos with the leaders of different ability groups and you’re set to go!  The agenda for the day rolled like this: Early morning registration and purchase of heavily reduced price lift tickets, snacks from Kind and Zico to fuel the morning and lots of ladies purchasing raffle tickets in anticipation of all the gear to come out in the end of the day raffle. There were several demo teams there to educate and set up test gear for the ladies. Beginner ski and boarders met with mentor coaches, ladies of all ages gathered into groups by ability and all hit the lifts. Noon brought a gathering for PB& J sandwiches served by our friends from Nikita and the ladies headed out again with new groups of friends increasing the community spirit of the day. As the day rolled to an end ladies gathered for a group photo and the excitement of the raffle started. Everything from outerwear, beanies, socks and boards went out to a huge gathering of excited ladies. “Nothing short of the best day of my season” was the remark of one boarder who’s come to all 6 annual GRO Snow Ladies Days at Stevens Pass Resort.

Special thanks to the continuous support of new and old sponsors of this event! Because of them Ladies Day every year brings in an awesome amount of swag. For the first 100 ladies to register, each one got an awesome swag bag decked out with the essentials for a day on the mountain. If you weren’t lucky to nab one of these goodies bags there were still many awesome prizes to be won during the raffle. Some winners walked away with anything from Beats Headphones to brand new snowboards!  If you weren’t lucky enough to be able to attend the 2016 Steven’s Pass Ladies day event, be sure to sign up next year! If this year’s event was any indication of what GRO Snow has planned for 2017, it should be one of the best Ladies Days yet!

Special thanks to Pam Miller, GRO Snow Director and the force behind this event, for her tireless work in organizing each Ladies Day. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped throughout the day! BIG thanks to all of this year’s sponsors; Roxy, KIND, Super Cedar Fire Starters, Zico ,Stance, Helly Hanson, Sunscapes, Snowboard NW, PomPom, Salomon, Nikita, Zumiez, Play it Again Sports Woodinville, Neversummer, Skullcandy, Quest., GNU, Vans, Caliber Home Loans and Stevens Pass Resort