2026 is the 20th anniversary of The Ski Diva. To celebrate the amazing women who make this community what it is, we’re going to be featuring interviews with Ski Diva members on the blog all season long. Check them all out here.
This is a special member interview, because it’s with Wendy Clinch, the original founder of The Ski Diva. Wendy started this site in 2006 and ran it herself until 2023, growing it into the vibrant community that exists today. She’s a 20+ year Vermont resident, is still going strong on the ski hill at 70, remains an active part of The Ski Diva community, and feels incredibly grateful to still be so active in the sport she loves both online and off.
What drew you to skiing, and what’s kept you hooked?
I grew up on the Jersey Shore, where surfing is more of a thing than skiing. Nonetheless, when I was 13, my Dad took us on a ski trip to a little place in the Catskills with a rope tow. At first I absolutely hated it — I fell a lot, both going up and coming down. But I kept at it, mainly to get better than my sister.
After that, we started going skiing maybe 10 times a year, mostly in New Jersey (anyone remember Snow Bowl, Great Gorge, or Vernon Valley?), Vermont, and New York State. When I was about 21, however, I stopped skiing entirely. Life just got in the way, and I didn’t start again til I was 40. So now I ski a lot – usually around 80 to 90 days a year. I guess I’m making up for lost time.
As for what’s kept me hooked, that’s easy. Skiing is like flying while you’re still on the ground. There’s a feeling of joy and total freedom that takes you away from your day-to-day cares and concerns. Plus there’s the scenery, the beauty of the snow, the connections you make with fellow skiers, and the fun of challenging yourself with different terrain and conditions.
What inspired you to start The Ski Diva? Do you remember a moment when the idea first popped into your head?
I actually recall this pretty well. I was waiting for the gondola at Steamboat, and I noticed I was the only woman in a long line of men. I thought, “I can’t be the only woman who likes to ski,” though it certainly seemed that way. It really made me think. I realized I had no women friends who skied, and I wanted that to change.
So I started looking at online ski communities to see if there were women I could connect with. And what I found was pretty dismaying. The sites were mostly made up of men. And when they found out you were a woman, they automatically assumed you were a beginner or not a very good skier or not knowledgeable about anything to do with skiing. Plus the dynamic was pretty unappealing. There was a lot of bragging and boasting about who was the gnarliest and who hucked this cliff or that, and there were a fair number of misogynistic and sexist comments. It just wasn’t for me.
I wanted a place that respected women — that didn’t look down on us or treat us like beginners. And I wanted a place where I could connect with other women who felt as passionately about skiing as I did. So since I couldn’t find anyplace like that on line, I decided to create one myself. I launched The Ski Diva in September, 2006, which is like a bazillion internet years ago, and it’s been going strong ever since.
What were some of the biggest challenges you experienced growing the community in its early days?
It’s one thing to build a web site, but it’s another to get people to know it exists. Before long, though, it was pretty clear I’d touched a nerve. Word about The Ski Diva spread. People who found it told their friends, who told their friends, and so on and so on, so more and more women joined. Search engines helped, too. It’s at the point now where if you google anything to do with women’s gear or skiing, links to the forum will almost certainly appear.
Is there anything about how the community took shape that surprised you?
There were a few things I learned very quickly. First, not all women who ski are alike. We come in all ages, shapes, sizes, fitness levels, and abilities. We’re all individuals. We all have different life experiences. And we have lots of different opinions, which makes for some lively discussions on the forum. But the nicest surprise was the way these discussions went. You know, some online forums can be pretty awful, with a lot of sniping and trash talk. This isn’t the case at The Ski Diva. The members are supportive, friendly, good-natured, and respectful. Sure, there have been disagreements, but they’re few and far between. On the whole, I’ve been impressed by how well everyone gets along.
What do you think makes The Ski Diva unique?
Well, the most obvious thing is that it’s all women. There are no men mansplaining things to us or objectifying us in any way. It’s just women having conversations about a shared passion in a way that we can relate to. This “Women Only” policy isn’t in place to be mean or arbitrary or spiteful or because we hate men. It’s simply my feeling that once you begin letting in a guy here and a guy there, it soon becomes like any other ski forum on the web. And then it wouldn’t be the same.
Do you think women approach skiing differently than men? If so, how?
I think women tend to downplay their abilities and are much more critical of the way they ski. There’s less of the testosterone-charged one-upmanship you find with men.
Women can also be extremely supportive. That’s very evident on the forum, where we help each other with all sorts of ski-related issues, from picking out equipment to dealing with family issues.
This translates to real life, too. Here’s an example: on one of our Ski Diva trips, a group of us decided to go down something that put a few people a bit on edge. As each woman came down, the others stood by and cheered — yes, cheered. No one heckled or made snide comments. I’m not sure you’d find that with a group of men.
If you had to pick one or two ways that starting The Ski Diva has affected your life the most, what would you pick?
Definitely, it’s the friendships I’ve made, both virtually and in real life. Sure, you can get to know one another through conversations on the forum. But we also have get-togethers and trips where we meet one another in real life to get to know the people behind the user names. This has been nothing less than a complete delight. Happily, it’s also substantially expanded my world of ski buddies. We have women on the site from all over the country – really, all over the world. So now wherever I go, I can be sure to find someone to ski with.
What’s your opinion on how things have (or haven’t) changed for women in the ski industry, and women skiers in general, over the last 20 years?
I think on the whole, things have gotten a lot better. Women’s gear and clothing has substantially improved, and more and more resorts are paying attention to women skiers, offering clinics and workshops geared toward their needs. I think the prominence of people like Lyndsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin has helped, too. It makes people see women as the fine athletes they actually are, instead of as tentative skiers who’re only interested in ski fashions or hanging out in the lodge.
In addition to founding The Ski Diva, you’re also the author of two Ski Diva mysteries. What inspired you to write these books?
DOUBLE BLACK came out in 2010, and FADE TO WHITE in 2011. Both focus on a young woman who leaves her cheating fiancé to become a ski bum in a small Vermont town. She’s looking for the life she’s always dreamed about, but stumbles instead into financial intrigue, bitter family warfare, and, of course, murder.
In many ways, and as funny as it may sound, the main character, Stacey Curtis, is the person I never gave myself the chance to be. When I graduated from college I got married and went straight to work and pretty much traded in skiing for the pressures of daily life. Not that I’ve regretted a minute of it, but I’ve always wondered what course my life would have taken if I’d followed a less conventional path. Now Stacey’s doing that on my behalf!
What puts the Diva in a Ski Diva?
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.
Do you have any advice for the younger generation of women ripping it up on the mountain?
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. Just ask Mikaela Shiffrin.
One more thing, and this is true for whether you’re a beginner or a long-time skier: Be sure to ski to the level of your smile. It’s great if you want to ski at a high level, but you also want to ski with joy. Because after all, the bottom line is to have fun. That’s really what skiing is all about.
If you had to describe skiing in three words, what would they be?
Life changing (I know, that’s two words). Joyful. Freeing.
