White-outs for girls who wanna have fun

A WOMEN'S-only ski program proved ideal for avid alpiner Debbie Schipp to improve her skills.

Good life ... female skiers are finding women-only classes a comfortable environment in which to hone their skills / Steve Cuff

I'M prone on a snowy mountainside, pinned to the ground by a gusting 130km/h wind.

Fierce chips of wind-driven ice are battering the bit of my face that has somehow escaped the coverage of a beanie, neck-warmer and goggles.

Ahead of me, three of my ski buddies have just toppled down like dominos. A wind gust picked one up off the ground and sent her plummeting into her mates.

We should be scared. Or cold. Or wondering how the heck we're going to get out of here. But I'm laughing my head off.

Welcome to Perisher Blue's women's ski program: three days of instruction, laughs and the occasional tumble.

It's taught by women for female intermediate skiers seeking a challenge. Relax; they don't hate men. Just snowboarders.

It's fitting that I've ended up on a women's ski program, given that my ski trip was sparked in an embarrassingly girlie way: a shopping expedition for work clothes resulted in new ski boots.

So a program offering three days of skiing, wrapped up with champagne and canapes and offering instant ski buddies seemed only fitting.

And those "buddies" are a mixed bunch, aged from 18 to 80.

Di, late 60s, remembers skiing at Guthega when it was the only place to ski, complete with a dodgy T-bar and a single, doorless loo that gave you a view hard to match when you took a seat.

Rheumatoid arthritis in her knee isn't going to stop her – although she prefers chairlifts these days.

Lee, in her mid-20s, has left her boyfriend back in Sydney while she and some girlfriends carve up the mountain.

Petra wants to polish up her technique to honour her Austrian heritage.

Sara, an accomplished skier, is taking three days to herself instead of running kids to and from elite ski training and competition.

Me? I just want it to be easier. To ski smoother. To work with the mountain rather than fight through the more challenging runs.

By day two, that has all changed. I want speed. I want jumps. I want tricks. My instructor, Stephanie, just wants me to stop running over her.

The program's not perfect. On day one, a bigger-than expected roll-up results in two of the three groups being oversize and we learn enough to know we want a bit more of our instructors – which means smaller groups.

By day two, they are back to a manageable six or seven.

The three groups, graded in varieties of salsa – mild, medium and spicy – have sharpened our technique, analysed it on video, and have thrown in several laughs along the way.

It's largely word of mouth that has seen the popularity of such programs steadily growing: increasing demand last year saw both Perisher and Thredbo, which conducts a five-day course, to add extra programs.

Instructor Heidi Ettlinger, who spends her life following the winter and has helped develop women's ski programs in both hemispheres, says pure logic makes them so popular.

"Women are built differently, physically, to men, so we ski differently," she says. "There have been such advances in the equipment that is available to women, there's so much to pick up, swap tips about.

"You find a group of women replace the competitive element that can emerge in mixed company with a challenge element – it's a supportive environment. Women find a new confidence. Occasionally, they are surprised by what they can do."

It might sound a bit girlie and soft but, when the bad weather kicks in and pins us between a blue run and the bar, the steel in us emerges. Which is why I'm laughing my head off.

An hour earlier, in a last-ditch effort to make me "feel" the snow, and get knees, hip and legs in the right place, my instructor had made me ski blindfolded down a run.

The value of the lesson, she assured me, would kick in not just then, but in white-out conditions when you can't see your feet or the ground in front of you. An hour ago, I hadn't known I'd be putting the experience to use the same day. I was just delighted that, blindfolded, I'd just skied the best run of my life.

Down rather than across the run, carving my turns, using the speed rather than curbing it. Working with the mountain, not fighting it.

And suddenly, even in a blizzard, it isn't all so hard.

How to join the women's program

PERISHER'S three-day women's programs are on July 21-23 and August 4-6. Program only is $442, or program, mountain pass and ski tube from Bullock Flat $741. Bookings essential.

Thursday is women's day this year at Perisher. One-day courses offering five hours of coaching, video analysis and schnapps tasting costs $148 plus a valid mountain pass; on July 24 and 31 and August 7, 14, 21 and 28. Bookings are essential, through Perisher Snowsports office 1300 655 811, or online.

The Sunday Telegraph