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| Rossignol We Rise Camp at Whistler - Photo Credit @Andrew Bradley |
Women are being wooed by the Rossignol We Rise campaign which hit the Canadian slopes last weekend. It’s a camp designed to encourage women skiers and snowboarders to the next level of daring and expertise.
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| Rossignol We Rise Camp at Whistler - Photo Credit @Andrew Bradley |
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| Joannie Faucher at the Whistler We Rise Camp |
Rossignol We Rise ambassadors include Tatum Monod, originally from Banff, who spearheaded the one-day Whistler We Rise camp Feb 8. Joannie Faucher, Rossignol’s Marketing Manager, was in Whistler for the event. “With the guides and staff, a total of 75 women took part in this day - skiers, snowboarders - all brought together to redefine their boundaries and connect with like-minded women,” she says. “Just got back home from this trip and I am still buzzing with all that positive energy!” The goal of the We Rise campaign is to share the Rossignol women’s story and inspire more dedicated female skiers and boarders to get out on to the slopes and enjoy another best day. “We want to create a community of like-minded women,” says Faucher. “So, together with our partner, Extremely Canadian, a high-end private ski school in Whistler, we organized this special day for women, which SOLD OUT very fast!”
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| Rossignol We Rise Camp at Whistler - Photo Credit @Andrew Bradley |
On offer were freeride and steep skiing clinics designed to foster mountain motivation and empowerment. “The global feedback was very positive,” says Faucher. “Most of them are local skiers and some of these mentioned they discovered spots on the mountains they didn’t know even existed!” A large measure of inspiration came from Rossi athlete,Tatum Monod, who was there to ski and exchange with the other women. The camp also included an Extremely Canadian Guide for a whole day (groups of 4), lift ticket, lift line priority, lunch, après drinks and food, and over $2000 in prizes. “Big thanks to Extremely Canadian for making this happen,” says Faucher. “It was the first We Rise event in Canada, and certainly not the last. We are already talking about a 2nd edition in 2021.”
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| Rossignol We Rise Camp at Whistler - Photo Credit @Andrew Bradley |
You can follow the We Rise Initiative on Instagram @rossignolwomen
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| Rossignol We Rise Camp at Whistler - Photo Credit @Andrew Bradley |
The We Rise campaign moves to Snowbasin, Utah in March, headlined by two-time Olympian, Jillian Vogtli. Here, it’s a three-day camp for both locals and out-of-towners, including pro boot-fitting, ski selection clinic, free demo-ing of the latest Rossi equipment, and video performance analysis. After Snowbasin, the camp moves on to Steamboat, Colorado. Rossignol’s We Rise women’s initiative is a call to action to women across North America to get out there and raise their skiing profile.
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| Derek MacGowan at Jardines |
Sun Peaks Resort has had its own Rossignol hub for many years at Jardines, owned by Derek MacGowan. He's worked in the shop for 20 years, and owned it for the past four since taking over from his family. On the ground floor of Hearthstone Lodge, at the crossroads where pedestrianized (ski through) Main Street exits onto the slopes, Jardines has been a neighbourhood name since 1941. While Derek was putting a new brake on my son’s ski – broken doing stunts in the terrain park – I quizzed him about my new skis. “The Rossignol Sky 7s have been sold out the last couple of months,” he said. “They are fantastic. They’re a stronger, wider all-mountain ski and in powder they’re great, not too much hard work.”
The Sky’s the Limit: I have this year’s model of the Sky 7 HD women’s freeride ski (they also come in men’s). I have the 164cm with a 96cm waist – even though this is a little longer than I would typically choose, I have been assured that they “ski shorter than they look”. They definitely don’t feel heavy, which is good – apparently due to the Paulownia wood core which reduces weight while maintaining stability.
First day I tried them was a 13cm powder day for which we were in line for the first Sundance chairlift at 8:30am. Tentative at first, I gradually put them through their paces, delighting as I discovered how easy it was to turn in pristine untrammeled powder, then in slightly tracked, until later in the day when it was all pretty much churned up and they were still performing with minimal effort on my part. Just what I need! This effortless is due in part to the rocker technology which gives you maximum floatation and control in deep snow. See video clip above for my first powder on these Rossi Rockers - wearing my new The Sky The Sky Alchemy of Ride ski suit, coincidentally.
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| Rossignol skis planted in the snow by Nancy Greene's Cahilty Hotel & Suites |
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| Marj Knive from Sun Peaks Art Zone sporting her Rossi skis as well as a distinctive pair of black-and-white Rossignol ski pants |
Jardines is a full service ski shop, with all the rentals, tuning and repairs, as well as recreational and high performance skis and snowboards, clothing and accessories for sale. They also have an incredible end of season sale when many locals and spring skiers take advantage of the best prices of the winter. Bonus: you get 10 percent discount for online bookings. Plan ahead!
As Sun Peaks’ largest ski shop, Jardines stocks a wide variety of other ski and snowboard brands, such as K2, and also carries coveted accessories such as Swany gloves, Bridgedale socks, Giro helmets, the Dakinerange, and Dalbello (the boots I want to try when mine finally fall apart – they’re ten years old and the tongues are almost severed).
Follow Jardines on: https://www.instagram.com/jardinessunpeaks/ and https://www.facebook.com/jardinessunpeaks/
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| Sun Peaks Mayor Al Raine and his wife, Rossignol Ambassador, Nancy Greene Raine |
Longstanding Rossignol ambassador, Nancy Greene Raine has been skiing on their best technology since her 1960s racing days when she was Canada’s top ski racer. Competing in all alpine disciplines, she won gold and silver medals at the 1968 Grenoble Olympics and overall World Cup titles in 1967 and 68. Her total of 13 World Cup victories is still a Canadian record. In Whistler and, for the past 25 years, in Sun Peaks she has continued to worked with Rossignol. In November 1999 she was named Canada's female athlete of the century and, nineteen years later, was inducted into the Canadian Tourism Hall of Fame. As Director of Skiing at Sun Peaks, she still finds time to get out onto the slopes – on her trusty Rossignols, of course - to host regular tours for visitors.
Here's what Nancy has to say about Rossignol:
I Love my Rossi's - by Nancy Greene Raine, February 2020
I fell in love with Rossignol skis in the summer of 1966. I was given a pair of Strato giant slalom skis to test just a week before the World Championships in Portillo, Chile. I loved them right away, but didn't want to change skis so close to the championships. When we got to Portillo I left them in my ski bag, and then piled my teammates' bags on top of my bag so I wouldn’t be tempted. I placed fourth in the giant slalom — maybe I should have used the Stratos.
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| Nancy Greene Raine by Adam Stein |
At the end of the season, the Rossignol service man insisted that I give back the skis so they could test them at the factory to see why they were so good. They promised to make me new ones just the same - which they did, so I won most of the giant slaloms the next year too, including the Olympics.
Rossignol also decided that customers purchasing 207 cm giant slalom skis would probably like my Stratos, so they copied my skis and put them into their production line - that 207 Strato ski became one of Rossignol's top selling skis. After that I could have gone into any ski shop and gotten skis just like the ones I loved.
I used Lange boots for my last year and a half of racing - the Canadian ski team had worked with Bob Lange to refine his design for the first high performance plastic ski boot. After I retired I was very pleased when Rossignol and Lange became affiliated. The Rossignol boots I’ve used ever since are descendants of the original Lange ski boot.
I am proud of my long term relationship with Rossignol, and am excited that they continue to use World Cup ski racing for product testing, but also that they are now developing so many great skis for the other facets of skiing. I'm loving the new 2021 Rossignol Black Ops Rallybird skis that can go from powder to steeps to high speed cruising and be fun all the time - Nancy Greene Raine, February 2020
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| Rossignol dominating the ski stand at Sun Peaks' Umbrella Cafe |
Back to Louise: My own Rossignol romance started with a pair of rental skis in Méribel, France in the 90s when I was working there for the season with UK tour operator, Crystal Ski Holidays. They were black and I loved and trusted them and called them my ‘black magic’ skis. I did a lot of backcountry (off-piste) skiing back then and needed a very reliable and versatile ski. I was head rep for the resort and, as such, had a bit of swing with the ski shops who had 250 or more Crystal clients per week renting gear. The owner allowed me to use the coveted skis for most of the season – during peak times I had to give them back and ski on less high performance replacements. I was always so relieved to get the magic ones back when the crowds died down.
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| Me in my Rossignol JCC jacket with Ken Read at Lake Louise |
Since then, I have been Rossignol-inclined towards skis and also clothing – especially those pieces that appeal to my passion for prints. I still wear my Rossignol J C Castelbajac 1907 Collection jacket which I’ve had for about six seasons. It was the only one of its kind produced in the orange flame print. They used that colourway for other styles, but in that particular shape and fit they only made that one sample – so it is unique! For the past three seasons, I’ve been skiing on Rossignol’s Temptation 84s, which I love for their responsiveness (turning on a sixpence, I’ve always called it), their adaptability to a variety of snow conditions, niftiness on bumps, and their incredible speed on the flat (I can overtake anyone just by tucking, even if I was way behind). The only problem with them is deep powder as they tend to dip down in it. Before that I played with the Rossignol Savory 7s for several seasons, my first ‘fat’ skis and loved the way they powered through chopped up snow and floated on powder.
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| Ski Butlers rental delivery service |
Now, I have my Sky 7 HDs which I first tried last winter - via Ski Butlers rental delivery service in Aspen Snowmass and again in Utah - and fell in love with. To be precise, I didn’t fall, despite much frolicking in the powder, hence the fervent attachment! Here in Canada, you can try Ski Butlers in Whistler and, for those elsewhere, there are a wide variety of resorts throughout the USA and Europe within the Ski Butlers’ network. Door-to-door service to your hotel, condo or wherever you happen to be, the flexibility to change up equipment whenever you want, and it also saves on carrying all that baggage - or, worst case scenario, lost luggage! My travel tip: Keep your ski boots in your hand luggage – everything else is easily replaced but boots are precious!
Here’s a current list of Rossignol athletes: http://www.grouperossignol.com/en/athletes/
BTW: Rossignol means nightingale in French.
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| Rossignol JCC collection jacket - at Revelstoke |
