"Be Resilient"- McKenna Peterson Shares Raw Advice For Girl Skiers
Hailing from Sun Valley, Idaho, McKenna Peterson admits that “nothing in life is easy. There’s always going to be a setback.”
During an interview with SensiSwim, she spoke out about the power of “following your heart” despite major–and minor–setbacks in her life as a professional skier and fisherman (er…fisherwoman?):
McKenna has been in multiple Warren Miller films, including Chasing Shadows, Line of Descent, and Daymaker, an accomplishment even for the pro-est of skiers. She has also racked up quite a number of FIS points over the past seasons, finishing first on the FIS points list in the 2005/2006 season.
Despite this success, Peterson, like most female pro skiers, has faced a litany of challenges.
The world, and slopes, are filled with tough (death) cookies. Female skiers face sexism, lawsuits, fighting for spots in competitions, and receiving the same media attention as their male counterparts.
Not to mention female topsheets are often pretty lame compared to the male versions. Who wants pink, flowery skis when you could have something way more radical, like a fox or mountain range or something.
Perhaps even worse, just last year New Zealand resorts “did a self-audit to discover that only 29 per cent of their skiing and snowboarding content featured women in any way,” despite over 45% of their consumer market being made up of women.
Peterson’s success can likely be attributed to her mentality on life. Whether it be skiing crazy lines or fishing on her family boat, McKenna goes to the extremes. All in all, girl groms have a lot to look up to and get excited about.
As long as you’re passionate about skiing, you’re on the right track. In the words of McKenna, “if it’s what you love, keep going.”
Check out her segment from MSP’s 2020 film “Huck Yeah” below:
Related: Work Hard, Ski Hard: McKenna Peterson, The Fisherwoman
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