Julie-Ann Chapman knows what it takes to keep up with the likes of extreme sledders Dan Treadway, Chris Brown and Brad Gilmore; she rides with them and other members of the Slednecks team all season long. And Chapman is eager to share what she has learned with other women who are interested in mountain sledding.
In March 2012, Chapman organized a very successful all-girls riding clinic in Whistler, B.C. Twenty participants spent the day with four coaches, learning how to ride a snowmobile, what to do in avalanche country and basic mechanical skills. Chapman received such a positive response after the event that she decided to start her own clinic-based tour company called She Shreds Mountain Adventures.
This one’s for the girls
Operating out of Pemberton, B.C., She Shreds Mountain Adventures will teach women how to become better riders, whether they want to learn how to carve in the powder or get more air on big jumps. There will be two main clinics taking place during the 2012/2013 season—one in Whistler and the other, tentatively, in Revelstoke.
Chapman will be offering private and semi-private clinics throughout the season as well. She said the clinics will give other women an opportunity to learn about sledding in a comfortable environment and to progress at their own rate. Chapman said that a lot of the ladies she has taken sledding with her in the past feel intimidated when they ride with the men and they worry that they are holding the guys back. So the first thing Chapman tells other women when she starts working with them is that if they aren’t getting stuck 10 times a day then they aren’t trying hard enough.
“You can’t be afraid to get stuck,” she said. “(And) you can’t freak out when you get stuck.”
Ladies who are interested in the clinics will be able to turn them into a multi-day retreat. Chapman is putting together packages that include accommodations and other activities, such as yoga and a night on the town.
Gaining exposure with Slednecks
Several members of the Slednecks team live right in the Pemberton and Whistler area. Chapman started riding with this group about five years ago and she said that was when she became a better snowmobiler. Although she has yet to be featured in one of the Slednecks films, Chapman went along with the crew last season as a photographer while they were filming a segment at the Pemberton Ice Caps. As a result, she scored the front cover of the soon-to-be-released Slednecks 15 film with her gravity-defying shot of Dan Treadway.
Chapman spends a lot of time in western B.C.’s Sea to Sky Corridor, which is her favourite place to ride, but she also likes shredding the pow in Revelstoke, B.C.
“I take a yearly trip to Revelstoke to go do some filming with Rob Alford,” she said.
An adrenalin junkie
So what does Chapman like to do when she is out in the backcountry?
“I love dropping cliffs,” she said. “On the right day, when it is nice and deep, I will go off any cliff . . . And then after that, just a good ’ol pow day with some good friends—going out and shredding as much pow as you can is definitely one of my favourites. And, of course, being with your best friends in the backcountry is the best.”
To learn more about She Shreds Mountain Adventures, visit the Facebook page or Julie-Ann Chapman’s website.
