The Outdoor Industry Women’s Coalition (OIWC) is now accepting nominations for two awards supporting women in the Snowsports Industry. 


The first is the Pioneering Woman award. This award honors women within the snow industry who have furthered the vision of the OIWC by demonstrating an outstanding commitment to mentoring female colleagues. The 2008 Pioneering Woman Award (PWA) was presented to two women, Lynsey Dyer and Vanessa Pierce of SheJumps.com. Lynsey, a professional freeskier, and Vanessa, Features Editor for Ski Racing Magazine, launched SheJumps.com in 2006. SheJumps is a community dedicated to acknowledging, inspiring, and supporting women to reach their potential.


The second award to be presented is the First Ascent award. This award recognizes a woman new to the snow industry who demonstrates strong potential for leadership. This award furthers the vision of OIWC by increasing visibility of talented young women at lower levels in an organization, thereby facilitating and nurturing their leadership skills. The winner of the 2008 First Ascent Award was Sarah Bennett, global supply and planning analyst for Burton. Sarah serves as a critical guidepost within her strategic planning department. In her nomination, Sarah is praised as having “extraordinary vision, a solid understanding of her profession, and superior leadership qualities.

The winners of both awards will receive a monetary scholarship of $1,000 to be applied towards a national leadership program that supports their goals and ambitions. Recipients may choose their own program (to be approved by the OIWC board) or pick one from our list of suggestions.


Show your support of women in the Snowsports Industry by nominating a colleague, a mentor or friend for these Awards. This is open to anyone who would like to submit a nomination. Post your nominations online by Dec 15, 2008: http://www.oiwc.org/?AwardNomination <http://www.oiwc.org/?AwardNomination> .  Previous nominees may be nominated again. The award recipients must be present at the OIWC event to be held at SIA in January. Please take this request into consideration when submitting a nominee.


The winners of the 2009 Pioneering Woman and First Ascent awards will be announced at the upcoming SIA Tradeshow.