By: Shannon Mahre
Our love story is a tale as old as time. Girl falls in love with dirty Carhartt wearing boy that helps her while she’s volunteering at a ski movie premier. Boy falls in love with girl that doesn’t know who he is but likes to mountain bike and ski — then tells her months later that he was actually in said ski movie. That meeting was over 12 years ago now — and a marriage, two kids, four businesses and some gray hair later, it’s almost crazy for me to look back at the people we were then versus where we are now. Then, in our late twenties, the goal was adventure and doing whatever we could to create lives and work around playing in the mountains, on the rivers and on the trails. Now, with two very adventurous young boys, we continue to strive for that goal — through hard work, determination and a whole lot of grit.
We are based in Naches, WA, about 20 minutes west of Yakima and minutes from local trails and our favorite river to play on. During the winter months, I coach intermediate-expert ski lessons, clinics, camps and trips all over the PNW through my company, Girls with Grit. This season will be another busy one as we’ll be regularly at Alpental at the Summit at Snoqualmie coaching midweek day Clinics, at Schweitzer teaching a women's ski clinic as well as a coached cat skiing trip at their Cat Skiing outfit, and I'll also be coaching at White Pass, offering a few weekend clinics, women's ski camp, midweek progression clinics and private lessons.
When I'm not coaching this winter, you can bet I’ll be shredding with our four and eight year old boys… and getting as many “mom + dad shred dates” and photo shoots in the backcountry that my husband and I can fit in as well.
When I started Girls with Grit, I never thought it would be a full time job, but here I am 12 years later, coaching full-time, year-round (fly fishing, skiing, mountain biking, river SUP and trail running) while still doing consistent work as an adventure photographer and writer… and most importantly, being mom to our boys first and foremost. I also host GWG Collective Women’s Empowerment + Adventure Days year round — which fills my cup extra full of inspiration.
Helping others to get over their fears, to give them the skills and confidence to show themselves that yes, they really can slay that mogul hill, drop that pillow line or dance beautifully down a black diamond run — that right there brings a joy to my life that is too great to quantify. In fact, for both of us, coaching women and men on skis brings something to our lives that nothing else does, but so does hitting sick pillow lines, and watching our boys progress on two planks, two wheels and on the river. But I think that’s the key, right? Progression, getting over fears, showing yourself that the impossible truly is possible — being a part of any one of or all of these things creates pure, unadulterated joy — something many of us lose in our lives the older we get, and the more “grown-up” we become.
Sure, at one point, I thought of myself as just an athlete, then as JUST a mom. The truth? None of us are “JUST” anything. I’m an athlete, a coach, a business owner, a wife, a mom, a photographer, a writer, a wearer of 50 hats on any given day… Just. Like. You. We all have the ability to grow, to live a life that we can be truly proud of — to give more than we could ever possibly receive.
As I hear Huck, our youngest, waking up from his nap, I’ll leave you with one quote that I live by, whatever facet of my life is staring me down at that moment. “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away,” - Pablo Picasso. Life’s short. Share that gift… and hit that pillow line.
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