With fresh snow on the ground, there’s no better time to hit the slopes. Ski Sundown has a special event planned for the weekend with a little catch - no boys allowed.
For five years, Ski Sundown has been hosting the Girls Rock the Park event, encouraging women of all ages to try new tricks and hit the rail in a comfortable setting.
"I think if you're hitting some features that are under a chair lift and everybody's watching,” said Marketing Director of Ski Sundown, Lori Shield. “We wanted to take this and tuck it away on our learning park and give them a more private area to practice where you're not afraid to fall sometimes you have to fall to learn."
Heather Joy of New Hartford has fallen a time or two, but always gets right back up and out with the boys.
"I want it to be more known that girls can do everything that guys can do,” says Joy. “So I took it as a challenge and decided I wanted to go for it."
Now she is one of many volunteers who make Girls Rock the Park possible.
"We'll walk them through hold hands get them over the features until they're comfortable doing on their own," explains Joy. "It's really rewarding and special to get the really little girls out there and you get them to realize that it's not as scary as it looks and once you figure it out it's just like riding a bicycle and you can do it over and over and over again."
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Girls Rock the Park registrations starts at noon on Saturday at Ski Sundown and the event goes until 2 p.m. Girls ages 8 and older who are intermediate or above skiers and snowboarders are invited to participate. Each participant will receive an event helmet sticker, certificate, and a raffle ticket for a drawing for prizes. Registration will be held in the lodge from 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. A helmet, waiver, $5, and a lift ticket or pass are required to participate.
