Be forewarned this post is huge, but it’s a topic that really means a lot to me. I decided to write my thoughts on the matter after the release of this article by Kristi Leskinen on ESPN.com advocating for smaller jumps and women only courses at major events. Read both, read neither, do as you wish, but feel free to voice your thoughts in the comments below.
In 2006 I began competing on the pro circuit. I competed in events like the Vans Cup, US Open and my first ever Winter X Games. At every single one of these events there were smaller jumps, next to the normal ones and they were always dubbed “the ladies tee”. Every event there were big debates over what should be scored higher; technicality and progression on the small kickers or clean and simple on the big jumps? How can you judge a contest fairly when a small portion of the field is hitting a different course? Almost every time there were complaints about the judging and about who won.
My entire career I’ve stood strong in my opinion that there shouldn’t be small sides at contests, even at my very first X Games I stepped up and hit the bigger jumps. Of course I was scared, but that was the direction I wanted to take my snowboarding in. In 2008 X Games eliminated small sides from the slope style, forcing every girl in the competition to hit the same jumps. There was a lot of protest in the beginning and the level of riding suffered as women adjusted to hitting bigger jumps on a consistent basis. The following year Dew Tour came onto the scene and debuted in Breckenridge with one of the biggest courses, very early in the season and with no small sides. The following two Dew Tour events also didn’t have small sides and all the ladies stepped up to the plate and made it happen. In all honestly this stunted the progression of women’s slope style for a few years, but now, four years later, we’re seeing the highest level of female slope style riding we’ve ever seen. Technical tricks and big spins on the same jumps as the boys. No more ladies tee. We’re finally getting the respect we’ve worked hard for and I couldn’t be prouder to be a female in snowboarding right now.
I guess this is why I become distressed when I see articles like the one recently written by freeskier Kristi Leskinen on ESPN.com advocating for smaller jumps and women only courses. She makes some valid points and conducted a survey polling people across skiing and snowboarding. She believes, and apparently the majority of women believe, that the jumps are too big and that girls are getting hurt more often then men because we don’t have our own course. These results surprised me because the courses this year were on point at almost every event and from what I saw the women thrived in this environment. The level was upped at event after event and the riding we saw at X Games in Tignes was by far the best from a full field of ladies ever. Leskinen also points out that all traditional sports and even some action sports offer women some sort of difference in the way their sports are run. Women golfers hit from closer distances, surfing has it’s own tour, tennis has shorter matches, girls play softball not baseball, the list goes on so why shouldn’t girl snowboarders and skiers have separate courses and separate events that are tailored to our needs? It’s a valid question, but how do these women only tours and sports differ from the men?
Women’s golf has the LPGA which is entirely separate from the PGA. They hit from closer tees and on courses that are anywhere from 700-900 yards shorter than the men’s. It’s been this way for years, as has the extreme gap in prize money. The total tour purse for LPGA in 2010 was $41.4 million while the men’s PGA tour purse was over $250 million. Women are considered too weak to play the same greens as men, their swings not fast enough or they’re game not sharp enough and there’s a thousand stats to prove it. Despite this common thought that women physically aren’t strong enough to tee off on a men’s course, they’re still allowed to play on tour if they can make the cut. A few women have tried over the years, but no woman has ever played regularly on the men’s tour. Michelle Wie hopes to change that, she’s publicly stated that she dreams of playing in the PGA Masters, one of golf’s most prestigious competitions. Michelle has it made, lucrative deals from sponsors like Nike and Sony and a place on the tour competing with the best women in the world, so why would she want to put herself into the grinder against the best men, where she’s almost certain to fail? She wants to break the barrier, she wants to be the best she can be and in turn make women’s golf the best it can be. If one woman breaks down the door, anyone can step through it.
What about women’s surfing though? It’s an action sport like snowboarding and skiing, but it has it’s own tour. Most of their events don’t coincide, but for the ones that do, they don’t receive equal prize money. At the US Open of Surfing, Kelly Slater walked away with $100,000 for his win while Stephanie Gilmore took home $50,000 for surfing the same wave. Was what Stephanie achieved that day really worth half as much as what Kelly did when they were surfing the same spot? This year was also the first time in nearly 20 years that Hawaii didn’t host a female surf event. The Vans Triple Crown for women didn’t happen due to sponsor cut backs even though the women’s market for surf products is actually more lucrative than that for men. Roxy pulls in more gross than it’s male counterpart Quiksilver so why are the women being left out to dry? Carissa Moore was given the chance to compete against the men this year with two wild card invites to the Hawaiian Pro and the Vans World Cup, but does this solve any of the woes that women’s surfing is struggling with? It’s inspiring to see her compete against the men, but at the end of the day women’s surfing needs more sponsorship money to get itself back on track.
I guess what I’m getting at with these examples is that although these sports operate differently to cater more to women the prize money is much less as are the sponsorship dollars that go into them. It costs an incredible amount of money to build a slope style course and it doesn’t make sense economically to build two courses when the women are capable of hitting the same one as the boys and are excelling on it. If this is the road female snow sports takes and say one day we decide we also need our own tour, it’ll eventually lead to less opportunities and less money in our sport. We’ll end up like women’s surfing, watching the men from the sidelines or like women’s golf, getting paid 5x less. Why purposely turn the spotlight away from our sport when it’s inspiring so many girls to get out there and ride? Sharing a tour means more media attention and more publicity for our sports which in turn equals more opportunities for female athletes.
Of course our sports aren’t perfect, but the main issues are not female specific, they effect everyone on tour. We need to have weather days so people aren’t forced to compete in poor conditions that sacrifice our safety. The courses need to be built in the safest way possible, to benefit every rider and so they’re clearable in all conditions. It’s not a matter of size, it’s a matter of how the jumps are built. A jump can be 80 feet, but if it’s built properly then it’s just as safe as one half it’s size. Safety is everyone’s concern and injuries aren’t just happening to women. We compete in a sport that involves high risk and we all make choices every day in regards to our personal safety. It’s up to us as riders to come together and voice our opinion if something isn’t right or isn’t safe. These issues don’t mean that we need our own course or different jumps, they mean that we need to come together as athletes to voice our needs to the organizers and come up with standards that every top tier event must follow.
Female sports have been plagued with inequality for all of history. We’ve always been considered too weak or too slow to play with the boys and not exciting enough to be marketable to a mainstream audience. Snowboarding and skiing have broken down some of those barriers and I’m proud to say that I hit the same course as the men, that I go as big as they do. The past two years have been the most exciting in the history of women’s snow sports. Kelly Clark landed the first 1080 in competition, 15 feet out of the pipe. Kaya Turski was the first woman to do a 1080 in a slope style competition, and she did it switch. Kelly Sildaru is 9 years old and already spinning 900′s. Who’s to say what that little girl can’t accomplish if we don’t put limitations on her and her talent in skiing. The gap is closing and female snow athletes are riding better now than they ever have before. I truly believe that we’re on the right path, I don’ think smaller courses are the answer and I don’t think taking a step backwards will propel the sport forward.
Clearly, I enjoy big jumps. 80 ft of amazingness, one of the best jumps I've ever hit.
Thanks for reading, talk soon.
S.
You’re absolutely spot on that female snowboarders should have same courses that men. That gives all athletes regardless of gender an oppurtunity to progress in their careers. Everyone should have option to choose what is right and what isn’t for their safety. It’s great that you stood up for all female snowboarders as you really deserve to be able to compete at same level as men and get equal prize pools. Good luck in the rest of the season and XO.
Hey Spencer,
as it comes to my mind ur definitively right.
it was really nice to watch you both girls & guys together @european and us open 2012.
i really do not want to miss the mixed competitions for the next season in any way.
it want be as attractive to watch as it is,
and it’s a shame that these discussions appear frequently.
so, enjoy what u deserve.
Couldn’t have said it any better myself. Amen sister!
Spencer your run at World Champs was amazing, the course was big and it separated both the men and women technically on the day..There is no going back from that event, that is the standard now. So gay even the suggestion of it. Women just need to work hard getting strong and get on with it, this will prevent the injuries.
Spencer. First, props for standing up for what you believe in and taking the time to follow through with your clearly written blog.
Love what you’re saying and appreciate what you are doing for females in our sport. I realize this is a mostly slope argument, but with moves like the Dew Tour canceling a women’s stop for both pipe and slope this year I know we will face more hurdles down the road and your assertive voice on this topic shows that women are a strong, passionate, and integral part of the snowboard tour.
Thank you for what you are doing for the sport! And by the way props to Kaya for caring about he safety of competitors and putting in the time to quantitatively judge what women want. Though I think Spencer you are moving in the right direction thanks to Kaya for asking tough questions like what is the best direction for female snowboarding!
p.s. Can’t wait to watch you do 9s ad 10s of 80 foot kickers because we all know you soon will!
[...] sports, this issue might actually get some traction in the not too distant future. Check out Spencer O’Brien and Kaya Turski‘s [...]
Womens should never get paid like guys…..PERIOD.
Nice post Spencer, I completely agree, and while I’m nowhere near your standard I set my sights on being able to achieve what the guys do, not just settle for being good for a girl. I think that too often girls settle for a lower standard in their achievements because they’re constantly told that they can’t hit the same stuff, land the same tricks etc. Restricting courses will drag back the riders like you who want to push themsleves and allow the weaker, less brave to shine. Keep fighting, and keep shredding!
YES, ladies need to be more like you props
i’m surprised and curious as to why this is still a discussion. there may certain sports where the physical genetics of how a woman’s build may hold her back from achieving the same level of ability as a man’s, but not snowboarding. look as it this way; if a scrawny 12 year old boy can double cork and switch backlip kink rails, so can everyone else. it comes down to being mostly a mental game then. pro snowboard chicks, shouldn’t let any of society’s negative stigmas hold them back, because i think they do and it shows. women’s tricks aren’t at the same level as the men’s and i often wonder why. i enjoy seeing the women catch up and i can’t wait until the day they can shed the stereotype of its entirety.
So…what’s the argument here about? You have it the way you want it. Pick the smaller jump if you want to hit that one or the bigger jump if you want that one. You ride the same course…you act like society and competitions are holding back women’s snowboarding when in reality it’s just that women don’t have the balls and dedication it takes to get to the skill level where the top men riders are at. plain and simple. If you were doing the same tricks, the format would change and girls and guys would be riding in the same competitions together. And why are you even talking about how much men and women in sports make?
It has no relevancy to your argument at all… Anybody with half a brain, or less, understands the concept of supply and demand and that people want to see men perform better tricks than watching women perform tricks that amateur 13 year old guys can do. And sponsors pay more for what people want to see.You get paid because there are other girls who want to see you do tricks they can’t do, and guys want to see pretty girls on the podium. wake up and smell the roses. I’m not saying you’re not gnarly, you are, compared to most people in the world, but not compared to the men or boys who put in just as much work as you or less. The top females in any physically challenging sport will never rival the top men, it’s human nature. You can try, good luck, and go for it, no one, no competition or society will hold you back…but don’t be naive.
Well done Spencer a well researched posting backed by valid facts that can’t be ignored. I feel that at the core of this issue is equality which is something that is not meant to be EARNED, it is a basic human right that applies to all aspects of life, snowboarding included. The current inequality in the snow-sports industry casts a gloomy shadow but there are plenty of people like you and others keeping the issue alive. Keep up the good work
All the other sports you mantioned are working towards what we already achieved in snowboarding, competing on equal grounds. Snowboarding is leading the way. Other sports shoul site snowboarding ang say it’s possible.
There is no doubt, the level of riding has increased dramatically the last couple of years, maybe more among the girls. And this will continue to be the case in years to come. Female snowboarding is on the right track, it shouldn’t be led astray, crippled by the fear of progression. Is this because of the bigger courses? Most likely. Whould the level of female riding in the pipe been at the same level as it is if the ladies were hitting smaller pipes? Def not! Anne molin kongsgard was the first girl to compete in the arctic challenge 10y ago, as the only female competitor, going higher than several of the guys. Now 10y later you have proven yourselves many times over.
For the progression of female snowboarding!
Wyatt is a hater…Spencer this post rules, and so do you!
It’s great to see your opinion is just as strong as your riding
and both of them are right
I just hope your golf swing is better than your TM’s
Hah, thanks Gary! I’ll let Weaver know. And I agree Jenny, Wyatt is a hater but I don’t think he even read the post at all hahaha. Nice one buddy! Thank you guys so much for all the comments! It’s amazing to see people interested and passionate about snowboarding!
[...] on either side of the issue. Check out Kaya Turski on why we should have women-specific courses and Spencer O’Brian on why we shouldn’t. Alternatively, just read the breakdown of the main arguments [...]
what’s wrong with giving women the option of the smaller jumps in competition? You’ve chosen the bigger jump line, and every competitor should have that option, by why force your competitors to hit jumps they will get hurt on? Isn’t the whole point of slopestyle that you can choose your hits and should go off the bigger jumps to get more points? Competition would eventually force everyone onto the bigger jumps in order to get the points they need. As for the money, a lot of prize money comes from sponsorship, and obviously all of the sponsorship money. You have to take what they can offer, if your sport isn’t popular enough, companies aren’t willing to pay for advertising. You can’t demand equal pay from sponsors because your events are viewed equally. More people are watching men’s sports, Wyatt is correct. That can change if women step it up, but if they just complain about the rules of the game it probably won’t. I’d love to see both men and women compete in the same events, but you’d probably see your screen time and sponsorship fade away when that happens.
[...] you’re a big proponent of women not hitting smaller jumps in competition. I read your blog, but since we can assume most Yobeaters didn’t, why don’t you think women should have [...]