SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Ladies Avalanche Night, which took place on December 12 at PT Revolution, had an unexpectedly large turnout, drawing in more than 70 women in the South Lake Tahoe community, and among the many who attended, their reasons for showing up may have varied, but they left with one thing in common, more support from their fellow women.

Dani Rudinsky, creator of Ladies Avalanche Night, said the event raised over $1700, and gave over $3500 worth of raffle prizes. 

Colleen Bye, one of the raffle prize winners, heard about the event through PT Revolution’s newsletter. Bye has been a Tahoe local for 32 years.

“I’m very interested in seeing more women get involved. I’ve been backcountry skiing for over thirty years and it was really great to see so many folks show up and be excited to tour.”

Bye went backcountry skiing a few years after her first attempt at resort skiing and fell in love with it, particularly touring in the Sierras. Her interest in attending the event was to lend her own hand in building the community. 

Bye’s highlights of the night were meeting people, exchanging numbers, listening to the information provided by Rudinsky, “I think she really provided some great information,” and of course, Bye’s raffle prize – a consultation with a trainer for mountain athletes. 

“It was so perfect for me,” Bye said, “the reason why it was so relevant was because I have this big event coming up this summer where I hope to ride the Orogenesis trails,” one of the largest bike trails stretching from Canada to Cabo. “Being able to have an hour conversation with somebody that has been trained in exercise physiology and helping me set up a schedule, it was just so serendipitous.” 

Anisa Kastle, a relatively new backcountry skier, saw a post on PT Revolution’s Instagram about Ladies Avalanche Night, and decided to attend the event with a group of her girl friends. “It was an absolute yes,” said Kastle. “We were planning it for weeks in advance.” 

She participated in the event with hopes of finding more female friends to recreate with. “The whole night felt very aligned. It was exactly where I wanted to be. I’m trying to expand my circle and focus my energy on female friendships, and so it was the perfect community event to get together, share something that we all love and are passionate about, and potentially link up and get some ladies touring together.”

Kastle left Ladies Avalanche Night with four new contacts, and said she really enjoyed the speed dating style activity Rudinsky created, which aimed to help skiers align with new partners based on things like common ski objectives, risk tolerance, and abilities. 

“I’ve recreated a lot with men, and it was so nice, and a little bit eye-opening to see how many women wanted to go camp and ski, and how many women were just out there having the same shared interest,” Kastle said.

In the midst of helping host Ladies Avalanche Night, Janet Kowalchick was also attracted to the concept behind it. 

Kowalchick, who works at PT Revolution, moved to Tahoe in September. Like Kastle, she is a fairly new backcountry skier. “When I heard about [the event], I was totally stoked,” said Kowalchick, who notes that oftentimes, many women won’t go backcountry skiing at all if their male partners aren’t available because they don’t know other women who backcountry ski. 

Rudinsky blew Kowalchick away. “I just thought she did the best job presenting. First she showed this film that was very inspirational for women in the ski industry, and then she did a great job telling her story of what it was like to, kind of, branch out as a female and not be under the wing of a partner, boyfriend, or a male figure, to really prove herself in the backcountry.”

Kowalchick left feeling empowered and took home more knowledge when it comes to touring safely. “It’s intimidating when you’re trying to find a backcountry partner,” added Kowalchick. “You’re always thinking ‘oh they’re such a better skier, or they want to do terrain that I’m not comfortable with’ and the way she approached it and talked about it, made it easy for someone who is newer in backcountry skiing to approach someone.” 

As far as the turnout goes, Rudinsky was immensely pleased. “It was so gratifying watching people win gear they really needed, meet new friends, and get inspired by the ripping female athletes in the “Advice for Girls” movie,” Rudinsky said. 

“After pouring countless hours into every element of this event, I couldn’t be prouder of how it turned out and I’m so grateful to those who partnered with me to make it all possible, most notably, PT Revolution, Alpenglow Expeditions, and Tasha Thomas with the Sierra Avalanche Center.” 

Bye, Kastle, and Kowalchick all agreed on one thing, they will absolutely go again next year. 

“We needed something like this in South Lake. We need opportunities like these, as women, to connect with each other, and we need more honest conversations about the importance of backcountry partners you respect and trust. I truly feel privileged to play a part in bringing those things to our community,” said Rudinsky.