Women's ski groups and how to meet ski partners safely

To find female ski buddies, start with a women-run community: an online forum such as The Ski Diva, a membership group such as Women Who Ski with regional groups and trips, a SheJumps event, or a resort women's camp. Ask in those groups for women-only meetups or carpools in plain words. Before a first day with anyone you met online, look at how they behave in the group, talk first, and then meet at a busy base area. Drive yourself, tell a friend the plan and agree that either of you can end the day.

The problem isn't new. "One of the most common complaints I hear from women skiers is that they lack someone to ski with," Wendy Clinch wrote on The Ski Diva in Skiing Solo, a 2007 post. Clinch called it "a big reason why many women stop skiing": their partners and friends don't ski, and they don't want to go alone. The post's suggestions still hold: "Join a ski club or a racing league," or register on the forum and look for a buddy there. Many women also want to meet partners who are women, at least for the first day, and that's a reasonable thing to ask for. The groups below are where it happens most easily.

Women's communities and programs

These were checked on November 3, 2026. They are different kinds of thing, so pick by what you want: conversation, a local crew, one event, or coaching.

• The Ski Diva. An online community for women who ski, running since 2006, with a forum covering resorts, gear, trip reports and backcountry skiing, plus a blog and member meetups and trips. Its forum is one place to look for a woman who rides your mountain.
• Women Who Ski. Women Who Ski began in 2015 as a Facebook group and now has a membership app with regional groups for finding people to ride with nearby, and member ski trips. Its site says it has more than 18,000 members and, in October 2026, that limited openings remained on trips for the 2026/27 season.
• SheJumps Get the Girls Out. SheJumps is a nonprofit based in Salt Lake City. Its Get the Girls Out events run around International Women's Day (March 8) and invite "ALL women and girls-regardless of age or ability," with a $10 registration. In 2026, hosts included Alyeska, Stratton, Crystal Mountain, Palisades Tahoe and The Summit at Snoqualmie. Dates for 2027 weren't listed yet.
• Resort women's camps. Many resorts run women's clinics or camps, and a camp gives you several days with the same group at your level. Jackson Hole's women's camps page lists the Elevate Women's Ski Camp (January 12-15, 2027), the Mammut Women's Beyond the Boundaries Backcountry Camp (January 30-31, 2027) and the Lady Shred Ski & Snowboard Camp (March 2-5, 2027), all for ages 18 and up. Tuition covers coaching, video analysis, lunches and après events, and the page says camps "do not include lift access." Search your own mountain's lessons page for "women's" to see what it offers.

A ski club isn't women-only, but it puts you with the same faces trip after trip, and you can ask the organizer whether other women ride in your group.

Ask for women-only meetups and carpools

In a mixed group, ask directly. Most groups have members who'd welcome the same thing, and a specific post gets better answers than a vague one:

"Looking for women to ride [mountain] on [day]. Groomed blues to easy blacks, steady pace. Meeting at [named base-area spot] at [time]. Also happy to share a ride from [general area] with other women: split gas and parking."

If a group gets these requests often, suggest the admins add a women's thread or channel. Share only your general area in public and swap details privately once you've chosen who to ride with.

SkiBuds is being rebuilt for iOS and Android, and the new app is coming soon. Its planned discovery filters, described in the FAQ, cover skill level, availability and interests such as groomers, park or trees. A gender filter isn't part of that plan, so for now, women-only meetups are something you arrange in the message, not in a setting.

Vet someone from a forum or group

You can learn a lot before you ever meet:

• Read their history in the group. How long they've been a member, what they post, and how they talk to people they disagree with.
• Ask around. Members or admins may already have ridden with them.
• Talk before you plan. A few messages about terrain, pace and timing, then a short call if you like. Watch for pressure to change the plan, to skip the public meeting spot, or to drive together before you've met.
• Keep your address and schedule to yourself until you've ridden together and want to share them.

If something feels off, you don't need a reason to say no. Leaving a conversation is easier than leaving a chairlift.

The first day: separate cars, public base, an exit

Make the first day short and easy to leave:

1. Get there separately. Each of you drives or takes the shuttle on your own, so nobody depends on a near-stranger for the ride home. If you do share a ride, meet at a public pickup spot such as a park-and-ride, not a home address.
2. Meet at a busy, named spot at the base in daylight: a lodge entrance, a ticket window, the bottom of a named lift.
3. Tell a friend who you're riding with, where, and when you expect to be done, and text them when you are.
4. Agree on the exit before the first chair. "Two easy laps, then we decide, and either of us can call it, no reason needed."

The first-meetup checklist turns these into a message you can send, and the safety page's advice on meeting a new riding partner covers the same habits.

When a partner crosses a line

Most people you meet this way are just looking for someone to ride with. Sometimes one isn't, or pushes you onto terrain you didn't agree to, or turns a meetup into something else.

• At the resort, leave. Ride down, go into a lodge or a busy base area, and end the day. You don't owe an explanation. Ski patrol and resort staff can help if you feel unsafe, and call emergency services if you're in danger.
• On a tour, turn around. Outside the boundary you depend on your partner for rescue, so trust is the whole point. If you've stopped trusting them, end the tour, ideally in a group heading back, and pick partners for next time with how to find a backcountry ski partner.
• On a trip, have your own way home. Before you share a car or a room, know how you'd leave early: your own car, a bus or a flight you could change. How to plan a ski carpool covers agreeing on return times before you leave.
• Report it. Tell the group's admins or moderators so they can warn or remove the person, and report it to the platform you met on. The SkiBuds app is planned to have report and block buttons on every profile and message, with reports planned to be reviewed within 24 hours.

Solo trips

Traveling alone can be the easiest way to meet other women who ski, especially on a camp or a group trip. How to plan a solo ski trip covers host tours, lodging where people gather and riding an unfamiliar mountain safely on your own.