Trollhaugen Resort in Dresser, Wisconsin is infamous for it early season terrain parks, and this year, the crew at Troll, led by Marketing Director Marsha Hovey, are taking things even further. In December, twelve women who build parks from all over North America–both diggers and cat operators–will gather at Troll for a brand new event, Take the Rake. The crew will work together on a special build in the Valhalla park–the first all-women’s park build, ever–and then the park will be open to the public to ride for about three weeks before Troll refreshes it per their normal season schedule.
Marsha Hovey announced Take the Rake on her Instagram this morning and explained the impetus for the event.
“The concept for Take Take Rake was born out of a round table discussion during the Pitch Sessions at Snowboy Productions‘ IT’S TITS! this past May. While discussing the current status of women in the snowsports industry, Jess Goucher addressed the room and asked a question, “Why aren’t there more women building the parks we ride?” As a digger herself, she wanted to know what it was going to take to see more female representation in a role that has changed her life for the better.
As the Marketing Director for Trollhaugen, I’ve been racking my brain trying to solve a necessary riddle: How do we create more events to empower the women in our industry? Jess’s question hit me like a ton of bricks, and the dream idea was born: A preseason terrain park, built entirely by women, for every human to enjoy. Trollhaugen is looked to as an industry leader in terrain park creativity, but we cannot continue to claim that status if we are not actively working to create more equal representation from every angle.
Take The Rake will elevate the work of the women who bust their asses all over the country, and seldom receive the recognition they deserve. Take The Rake will inspire other women to seek out vital roles within the trades as they finally see strength in numbers. Take The Rake will show the industry that women drive cats, rake lips, and haul features just the same as any other crew, but this time, they’re not the token crew member, they are the crew.
The future of this event is limitless. A yearly conference? Instructional clinics? Industry job fair? The dream continues to grow.
A massive thank you to Jess Goucher, Laura Rogoski, Chloe Butel, Krush Kulesza, Mary Walsh, Pat Moore, Lucas Ouellette, Steve Petrie, Adam Mahler, PJ Britz, and Paul Scanlon for believing in this idea and helping to shape its future.”
SNOWBOARD will be at Take the Rake, so stay tuned for plenty of photos, videos, and more from Troll the first week of December!
If women are interested in getting involved in the future of this event, reach out to Troll. “We’re excited to grow this and create a space for women to feel welcome in operations at all ski areas,” adds Marsha.
