Breaking Barriers in the Backcountry

Myia Antone, Founder of Indigenous Women Outdoors.

"Safety always has and will always be important when getting out on the land. Learning how to travel safely, rescue yourself or friends and understanding what the snowpack is doing under your feet is all part of this safety training. However, another important piece emphasized throughout the whole course was following your intuition - that gut feeling. That feeling that we all try to ignore. It is no secret that women tend to be silenced, even further than that, Black, Indigenous and Women of Colour (BIWOC) tend to be even more silenced. So, following your gut and vocalizing that feeling can be harder than most people could believe. However, by creating and upholding a safe space for BIWOC to learn about avalanche safety, practicing following our instincts and allow us to unapologetically grow into the leaders that we are…. Now we are talking.”

In January of 2021, in hopes to start the year with strength and determined focus, I partnered with a kindred spirit, Indra Hayre, founder of Incluskivity and Burton to hold a space that certified 7 Black, Indigenous and Women of Colour with their AST-1 on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and L̓il̓wat7úl First Nations. With Myia’s support, Indra’s knowledge and my perseverance, we got Burton Ambassador Kate Ediger on board to instruct the course and 7 BIWOC to come take part in this beautiful event that brought lightness to our fair share of darkness during the pandemic.

Understanding that there are immense barriers for women of colour in outdoors spaces, we sought to create a safe physical and psychological environment for the women to arrive in. Having an all BIWOC group allows space for kindred trust where our cultures, our differences and our journeys are not only accepted but encouraged and celebrated. Yes, we had a classroom session like any AST-1 but what a gift it was to share stories about our childhoods and our values and how they translate to our understanding of the land and the outdoors. Beyond learning about standard practices with safety equipment and avalanche terrain, we also learned about our relationships with ourselves, our history, the other women in our group, and the land.

We were so lucky to be joined by another Burton Ambassador, Chelsie Mccutcheon who literally has life vibrations that make you feel like sun on your face after rain, or a warm hug on a cold day. She taught us about our reciprocal relationships with the land we connect with, and she gave a blessing to the mountain before we started our skin up on our field day.

I’ll let Mika, one of our participants say what needs to be said about our time together:

“In courses, it's often easy to see guides as the sole leader and source of knowledge. But what was particularly invaluable for me was the opportunity to learn from and with other outdoor role models beyond an instructor. Having folks like Myia, Chelsie, Mirae and Indra to learn with and from allowed me to gain different perspectives of what it means and looks like to connect with the outdoors and/or be an active member of the industry. It also made a wider breadth of knowledge and support more accessible and was a great reminder that we’re always learning regardless of experience; ultimately adding a fuller, more colourful picture of what it means to be a badass female leader of colour in the backcountry.”

And with that, I would like to leave you all with final words from Myia at Indigenous Women Outdoors, and I hope you take it away with you to help bridge the backcountry:

“We learned so much from the course, and so much from each other. These spaces allow for BIWOC to just be. We get to bring our whole selves to these moments and share with each other what we can. We bring different experiences, traumas, and victories to the mountains and instead of trying to hide them from everyone else, this group allowed us to heal through them. In that very moment. With no apology necessary. To get more BIWOC backcountry skiing and boarding is to help more BIWOC on their healing journey. And what I’ve learned from this past group is just as the land is our medicine, we are also each other’s medicine.”

Follow #BurtonAmbassador to keep up with Mirae Campbell, Kate Ediger, Chelsie McCutcheon and the rest of the squad to see their latest trips and what they are doing in their communities.