Jumping Around
Posted on Monday, December 1st, 2008
(Photos by Ki Kopkau)
This was not your typical ski movie premiere. Imagine an evening where you are dared to challenge yourself in hand-stand and pogo-sticking competitions. During the same evening, girls throw swag at your head and you you get to see the first public showing of Rage Productions’ Down Days documentary about big-mountain skiing in AK. But that’s not all. The party is MC’d by pro skier Lynsey Dyer (whose work was recently featured on the walls of the Cloudveil flagship store in Jackson) and proceeds go to her nonprofit, SheJumps, that inspires girls and women to participate in outdoor activities through mentoring and coaching from professional and recreational outdoor female athletes.
For the second year, SheJumps teamed up with Boeing’s Skibacs NexGen ski club on Nov. 20 to raise money for SJ’s programming. And, again, the party was a hit! In true SheJumps fashion, Dyer challenged the audience to step out of its comfort zone by offering challenges for prizes. Watching the sweat drip from the brows of two Boeing kids fighting for the pushup prize was inspirational. They got up to 64 and 63, and the guy that won told Dyer to give it to his competitor — a girl — for nearly kicking his butt. That energy continued all evening with freestyle pogo sticking contests and a rowdy raffle.
After several years of development, SheJumps, recently earned 501c(3) status as a non profit.
In addition to parties, SheJumps will be leading four day-long skiing camps at Alta for the Girls & BOys Club in Salt Lake City. On January 3, 10, 17 and 31, SheJumps members and volunteers will give classroom, exercise and ski lessons to the boys and girls.
We’re requesting outerwear, ski boots, poles, or goggles that people don’t currently use or wouldn’t mind lending to the program. There will be a mandatory coaching session at Alta on December 5th and/or 6th where official PSIA techniques for teaching “never-evers” will be explained.
Please let us know if there are any other ways you can help, maybe even with helping to shuttle gear, fitting the kids for their equipment, or finding food donations. Remaining gear that is not claimed will stay in the SheJumps Gear Library to provide for future programs and help bridge the expensive gap that outdoor sports undoubtedly create.
SheJumps, at first glance, may seem to be all about women. In truth, our organization supports the naturally nurturing and communal nature of women. We feel it is time that adventurous, proactive, and inspired women come together to grow that energy in an organic way. Philanthropy is about seeing a need for a service and then starting a nonprofit organization. For all us involved in creating SheJumps, we saw the opportunity to increase women’s presence in the outdoors and help women see their lives as a “manifest game” where anything is possible. We want to help women live the lives they’ve imagined—and do it in a healthy, sustainable, and exciting way!
-Clare Smallwood contributed to this post
