Laurie White, right, runs Ski Sisters, a female-focused skill session at Sun Peaks Resort in the B.C. interior.Adam Stein
The thing about signing up for resort ski lessons is you never know who you're going to get. The adrenalin junkie, who pushes you to rip down the runs? The statesman, who's content to just show you around the mountain? It can be a crapshoot that costs hundreds of dollars a lesson. And a lot of women – especially once they reach an intermediate level – no longer want to roll the dice.
"I found a lot of ladies were ski-schooled out," Laurie White says. She runs Ski Sisters, a boutique skills clinic out of Sun Peaks Resort in the British Columbia interior, a 45-minute drive from Kamloops.
White, with her two fellow instructors, work with only women, and only women who are comfortable on skis but ready to step up their game. She has a bubbly, infectious grin and an uncanny ability to read her clients – knowing exactly when to push and when to pull back. "I will never push anyone's safety zone, but I will push their comfort zone," White says. That's something you may have heard from other ski instructors, but White knows exactly what it's like to be a middle-aged woman on skis in a male-dominated sport. She's earned your trust.
Even though you grew up in Ontario I can't believe you didn't get on skis until you were 43.
I learned how to ski out of the Oshawa ski club, and I didn't start until I was 43. I can well understand any fears or apprehensions that women have as they get older. I relate to them extremely well. But I've skied over 100 days a year since I started skiing because I became a bit of a nut about it. I took to it very quickly. I went through the Canadian Ski Instructors Association, and I came out to [British Columbia] every December for ski-pro workshops – where instructors come to get their training – I did that eight to 10 years in a row.
So why move from regular instructor to specialized Ski Sister?
I was a mountain guide for the first two years [at Sun Peaks]. I'd be talking to people on the chairlift, and I started to realize I'm hearing the same story, just maybe different versions, from women from all over the world: She's skiing the same three blue groomers; [her husband or boyfriend] wants to go on more challenging terrain; the kids say their mom's too slow.
And I'd say to them, 'Look at the beautiful snow over there.' And they'd say, 'Oh, I can't ski that!' Oh. 'What about over there?' They'd say 'I can't ski that!' So by the time we got to the end of that chair ride I'd take them off for an hour or two to see if I could help. Then the light would come on – they'd have big smiles and big twinkles in their eyes. Finally I thought, something is missing. There's a niche here that's needed, and I can fill it.
How do you do things differently?
There is a real market out there for ladies who don't want a social program, they want to learn to ski better. And I get excellent results, I move people along really fast. We only take up to three at a time, and we only take intermediate [Level 3] and up. You need to be quite comfortable [on skis] because we try and take you on an adventure as well.
Your age – and the age of your fellow Ski Sisters – makes a key difference to the school.
We're mature ladies. One of my ski sisters is a little younger, but I'm only talking in her 40s. Women want to be with women, they want a mature woman. So when they come to the Ski Sisters they know what they're getting, there's no question whatsoever: A mature woman who is basically just like your sister but she happens to have all these teaching qualifications and she knows her way around the mountain. It's very comforting. I had two clients in a class who didn't know each other but by the end of the 2 1/2 hours they were having so much fun, they skied together for the rest of the week. They'd found a buddy to ski with.
So, once you've tried Ski Sisters, you can't go back to regular lessons?
Well, I don't want to put it that way, it sounds rather full of ourselves. But we take pride in what we do. When I hear, 'Oh I can't wait to go skiing again,' [from a client], I go, 'Yessss!' and do a fist pump.
Are you based out of Sun Peaks for a reason? You could go anywhere.
I've skied a lot of places in Canada and I've skied a lot of different resorts in the States, Colorado, South America. Sun Peaks is the first place I'd ever found where I could live for the winter and be totally happy. It's not too small, and we have everything here. And the snow! You'll never find better snow than at Sun Peaks. Ever.
For more information visit sunpeaksresort.com.
This interview has been edited and condensed.