British pals launch festival for black skiers to shake up reputation of sport
A group of friends determined to shake up the reputation of skiing as an exclusive, primarily white pastime have launched an Afro-Caribbean festival on the slopes.
Soft Life Ski (SLS) is the brainchild of a bunch of extreme sport loving friends from east London who recently swapped their yearly party holidays in the sun for some time carving up some powder. The trip was self-funded but crucially based on a fair payment plan, so those with more shouldered more of the collective costs accrued by the group of 30.
The group organised the whole trip by negotiating directly with hotels, provided ski equipment and lessons, took over bars and restaurants to provide a unique experience for their pals.
They had such a good time mastering the snow plough and slaloming down the powder of the alpine slopes of Chamonix on the French border that they figured others might want to give it a go for the first time.
The friends headed to the Alps last year (Soft Life Ski)Next year in March around 300 burgeoning snow-enthusiasts, 90% of whom are black, will head to Hemsedal in Norway for the inaugurals Soft Life Ski, a four day extreme sports and music festival. Michael Adelaja, from Canning Town, is one of the founders of the festival. He told the Mirror what he hopes to achieve.
Gales, snow and rain to batter country today with 80mph wind gusts
"It will be the best of skiing and the partying we're so used to in London. Our aim is to bring what we know and love in London on to the slopes, to break the mould for those in urban communities," the 25-year-old explained.
It is clear there is a need for such an event. According to a recent survey by the National Ski Areas Association, only 1.5% of skiers at resorts were black while nearly 89% were white. In the UK population at large, 4% of people are black and 82% white.
"For a long time, winter sports has been seen as highly exclusive and reserved for a specific demographic, and this is something SLS is hoping to tackle. The latest research from GB Snowsport shows that representation from an ethnicity and affluence standpoint is shockingly low," Michael continued.
"We believe not enough work is being done to increase diversity in this space, and what better way to do that than providing people with experiences that they know and love?"
"In the midst of Afro-Caribbean culture surging globally, evidenced by the mainstream music adoption of Afrobeats artists such as Rema and Burna Boy, we think providing the festival experience will not only help to increase awareness that skiing is indeed very accessible, but also shine a light on the nascent movement of black skiers that we hope to continue to grow.
"This is very important because from our experience, a lot of the resistance to trying skiing and snowboarding within our community often stems from a lack of feeling of belonging. Therefore, we believe creating an environment that celebrates our music and culture is the tool that can break the barriers."
SLS's organiser have promised to bring "all the best DJs, club nights and activities that will even make your work colleagues get FOMO" to the festival in March. The first batch of 200 tickets have already sold out, but a further 100 are soon to be released. Click here to find out more.
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