http://mpora.com/videos/h2UzQm3CC Following on from their videos on snowboarding style and how to judge it, the TTR World Tour have produced this excellent documentary about the history of women’s snowboarding. Here’s the official skinny:

‘Women in Snowboarding – the History’ is the fifth video segment from a collection cut out of the 2009/2010 Swatch TTR TV Show series and is the first part of the Women’s Mid Season TV Show, dedicated entirely to the women of this sport and the development from the early days.

The first part of the ‘Women in Snowboarding – the History’ show delves into the complexities of being a female snowboard athlete and the development of this side of the sport. Pioneers of the sport such as Tara Dakides, Jenna Meyen and Stine Brun-Kjeldaas talk about the early days of snowboarding and how the women pushed their way through, into the spotlight and began creating their own identities. They witnessed how prize money slowly began to turn commonplace from being virtually inexistent, and the major shift away from women wearing men’s clothing with the emergence of female snowboard clothing brands. Before that, “The girls where not allowed to be seen as girls at all,” says Stine. The show also touches on issues such as Tara Dakides appearing on the cover of the FHM men’s magazine and Daily Talk Shows, as crucial steps for the development of the female snowboard athlete identity in mainstream media and the increase of sponsorship/endorsement money.

Lisa Wiik, Chanelle Sladics, Kjersti Buaas-Oestgaard and Cheryl Maas all concur on the importance of these pioneers of the sport to the current situation on the TTR Tour. Jenna Mayen explains that today “TTR World Tour is spearheading women’s snowboarding, really laying down a foundation and putting us on a podium where we can show what we have, by giving us equal prize money, I mean, it definitely keeps the girls motivated.” Chanelle and Kjersti talk about their snowboarding idols and explain that now, “We have such blessed lives, it’s so cool to connect with those girls, because they are the reasons why we are getting paid and they’re the ones saying: Hey we can do this too.”