determined to reclaim childlike joy she didn’t have growing up

Emilé is that cool snowboarder friend everyone wants, the smartest person in the room who doesn’t GAF, is hilarious and fiercely loyal. She earned her Masters in Environmental Management from Yale and has low-key ripped up Jackson Hole on a snowboard for nearly 20 years. Through snowboarding, she strives to reclaim the joy and playfulness that her childhood never allowed, but her professional snowboarding ambitions are consistently thwarted by others’ underestimation of her ability. Simply put—Emilé totally shreds.

disabled athlete searching for his limits - he hasn’t found them yet

Vasu, the token male in The Approach crew, is a professional skier and disability access strategist. He ninjasticks up and down mountains on one ski, using self-designed outrigger poles, and works tirelessly towards a brighter, more accessible, and more intersectional future in the outdoors. The diversity of his athletic skills is unparalleled. He accomplished the first one-legged ski descent of Denali, has stomped a 720 in the park, regularly charges down huge Alaskan spines, and can kickflip on a skateboard. He brings humor, truth, and a megawatt smile on every expedition.

the door-opener, veteran, leader, always frothing to ski

Ingrid has skied professionally for 21 years, appearing in over 20 ski films and earning many awards for Best Female Skier in addition to making first ski descents on six continents. Over the years, she experienced multiple ski injuries, several close calls, and the loss of her brother and countless friends in the mountains. Now married with two daughters, she’s seen her ski contracts cut in half and has struggled to recover her balance between risk and reward, professional and personal.

making her own role models to pursue her freeski dream

Brooklyn’s hard-charging ski style belies her kind, balanced, thoughtful, and hard-working personality. She gives everyone the benefit of the doubt, a nonjudgmental acceptance that resulted from her upbringing, including grandparents who lived for a time off-grid in a cave. Brooklyn started skiing at 18, watching ski movies featuring white dudes and the occasional white woman. She wondered when she would see someone in a ski movie that looked like her and asked, “Will I have to do it myself?” Now, 8 years later, she strives to be the role model she never had, brushing off microaggressions on the mountain while balancing dual careers as a pro mountain biker and commercial artist.

a gal’s gal - hard-charging and known for her massive backflips

Sophia grew up in a skier family and moved into her van after college, spending winters in the parking lot at Mt. Baker in singular pursuit of snow and air. Once she started getting noticed for her skiing—think huge backflips over road gaps and silky smooth pillow stacks—she also noticed that unfortunately, moving ahead in the ski industry often meant that as a woman, others expected her to capitalize on her looks and conform to the whims of the male gaze. Sophia refuses to play that game, yet regularly suffers comments like “great backflip over the road gap, but where are your bikini pics?” Sophia just wants to ski hard and have the opportunity to show what she can do on skis–and to be a part of a future of skiing where women get to define their own roles.

ready to drop into anything, even if her vantage sits a little lower

Anna is a big mountain sit-skier, mountain biker, and climber. She climbed and skied Mt. Hood and Mt. Baker—both after a climbing accident left her paralyzed from the waist down in 2015. She is a reluctant advocate, preferring to live her life and pursue her outdoor passions rather than promote herself. However, when thrust into the spotlight for her ski accomplishments, she always speaks the truth in mic-drop moments. She holds down a full-time job as a wildlife biologist and also makes time to shred Alaskan spines. Her potential as a skier knows zero bounds; she needs everyone to get out of the way and stop looking to her for inspiration so she can shred.