Wendy Clinch: Creating Community For Skiing Women, One Goddess at a Time

A Q & A with Wendy Clinch owner and founder of TheSkiDiva.com one of our subjects on Women Breaking Trails for the Younger Generation

by Kristen Lummis, the Brave Ski Mom

(Kristen Lummis) KL: You’re the Founder of TheSkiDiva.com, the largest online ski community for women. What inspired you to start TheSkiDiva.com and what makes you proudest?

(Wendy Clinch) WC: The idea for the site came to me back in 2006. I remember waiting for the gondola at Steamboat, the only woman in a long line of men, feeling very much alone and thinking, ‘I can’t be the only woman who likes to ski.’

At the time I didn’t have any women friends who skied. And when I looked at ski magazines or went to one of the online ski communities, I didn’t see many women there, either. Women were perceived either as beginners or as being interested only in ski fashions or hanging out in the lodge. Women’s equipment or needs were barely discussed. And there was a lot of sexual objectification, too. I found it all pretty dismaying.

So I decided to put together a place where women skiers could come together to talk about skiing in a way that made them feel comfortable. Today, TheSkiDiva.com is the leading online community for women skiers. It’s fun, informative, and a great place to hang out. I’ve learned so much from the women on the site, and I’ve made tons of ski friends, too.

KL: You’ve been a trailblazer for women’s skiing. I’ve always admired how you promote women within the ski industry, from competitors to mountain managers. Who are some of the most interesting women you’ve met through your website?

WC: Wow, there are so many! The women who join TheSkiDiva come from such diverse backgrounds and have such varied life experiences. I’m completely inspired by their accomplishments, as well as their ability to juggle work and family and still make skiing a part of their lives. There’s everyone from doctors to attorneys to police investigators on the site. This makes for some interesting conversations. I’ve also had the pleasure of interviewing such champion skiers as Suzy Chaffee and Donna Weinbrecht and trailblazers like Jeannie Thoren. There’ve been women who’ve climbed mountains and started ski companies, held high positions in resort management, worked as patrollers, founded non-profits, and fought the good fight against climate change.

KL: Where I really find community on your site is the forum. It’s an incredible community. Please share some more about it.

WC: The forum is really the heart and soul of the website. Right now we have over 7,200 registered members from all over the world. And we get thousands of visitors each week.

There’s everyone from beginners to the highest levels of experts; from women who know very little about equipment and technique to those with vast stores of expertise. We talk about anything and everything ski-related — gear, technique, resorts, and more. There are loads of firsthand gear reviews and discussions about various ski destinations. And there’s a lot of great advice, like what to do when you think your skiing has plateaued or how to handle fear or even why more women aren’t skiing.

I am blown away by the women in TheSkiDiva community. They are supportive, friendly, good-natured, and respectful. It makes participating on the site an absolute pleasure.  

KL: The annual Ski Diva ski gatherings sound so fun. Tell us more please!

WC: I started having SkiDiva get-togethers to get to know the people behind the user names. Plus there’s something freeing about skiing with a group of girlfriends. You laugh a lot. You have great conversations on the lifts. You’re free of the label of girlfriend, mother, wife, caregiver. It’s just you, the mountains, the snow, and TheSkiDivas. What could be better?

We generally have two events a year: one in the west and one in the east. The trips are open to members of the forum and their families. Women come from all over. And even if we’ve never met in person, it’s like getting together with old friends. The whole thing is a testament to the feeling of community that pervades the site.

KL: When did you begin skiing?

WC: I grew up on the Jersey Shore and didn’t start skiing til I was 13 and we went on a family trip to the Catskills in New York. At first I absolutely hated it — I fell a lot, and the rope tow up the beginners’ slope was a nightmare. But I kept at it, mainly to get better at it than my sister.

I actually didn’t ski all that much — maybe 10 times a year — and stopped entirely in my early twenties. Life just got in the way. Fifteen years went by, and one morning my husband asked me if I wanted to go skiing. To put it in his words, it was like handing a crack pipe to an addict.

Now I live in Vermont and ski about 90 days a year. Most of my skiing is at Okemo, though I also manage to hit a lot of places throughout New England and go out west once or twice a year. Amazingly enough, my daughter didn’t ski when she was a kid. I’m a firm believer that you can’t force your passions on your children. It just creates problems. Now that my daughter is an adult, she’s begun skiing.

KL: Looking at skiing as a whole, where do you see the sport headed?

WC: I’m concerned about the consolidations that have taken place in recent years. I know ski areas are expensive to run, but I think the mergers make getting into skiing extremely difficult. Sure, season pass prices are cheap. But day ticket prices are through the roof, so it’s really hard for people who might want to ski just a few days a year or try out a new resort. And since the larger companies can set ticket prices to whatever they want, I think they’re pricing out the smaller places where many people learn to ski and that act as feeder hills for the larger resorts. All this makes the pathway into skiing really anemic.

KL: Do you have any advice for the younger generation of women ripping it up on the mountain?

WC: Just keep at it. Find other girls who like to ski, too. That makes it a lot more fun. And don’t let guys talk down to you or treat you like you’re less of a skier than they are. Skiing like a girl is not an insult.

KL: Finally, what puts the Diva in a Ski Diva?

WC: That’s a good question. Diva has come to have a negative connotation: it can mean someone who’s temperamental and kind of a pain in the butt. But the original Latin meaning of Diva is Goddess, and I like to think that all women who love to ski are ski goddesses in their own right.

An Update to This Story:

(This story appeared in Issue 6 of Mountain Women Magazine, December 2022)

Rachel Vecchitto has been a member of The Ski Diva site since the beginning, when she was a 20-something living in NYC hoping to find other women who loved skiing as much as she did. She says, “This site and the friendships I’ve made here have remained a meaningful part of my life over the 17 years since, even helping me build the confidence I needed to move to Colorado in 2011”.

“In July 2023, I became the new owner of The Ski Diva. In addition to being a long-time member, I also have a professional background in both the tech and outdoor industries. I’m grateful that Wendy trusts me to run with this community that she’s spent so much time and energy cultivating, and I think I can do a good job keeping The Ski Diva vibrant and relevant for a long time to come. Wendy will remain a moderator and an active member of the community, but I’ll be running things day-to-day”.

What does this mean? Rachel says, “I don’t have any grand plans to re-imagine the site or fundamentally change the way anything works. I do have plans to improve site performance, increase site traffic, attract and engage new members, keep the site feeling current and relevant, and make The Ski Diva more of a community-run enterprise. I’m really looking forward to getting to work and helping the community grow from here”.

We here at Mountain Women Magazine say “Congratulations” to both Wendy and Rachel. Let the ski season begin!