An Open Letter in Response to Freeskier Magazine’s “10 Hottest women in Freeskiing” | by Lynsey Dyer

Last week, Freeskier Magazine wrote an article titled “10 Hottest Women in Freeskiing.”  Lynsey Dyer is one of the girls in Freeskier’s article.  They used a photo of Lynsey Dyer in a bikini (that they’ve since taken down).  Lynsey has responded to Freeskier’s article with an open letter on her facebook page:

An open letter in response to Freeskier Magazine’s recent post of the “10 Hottest women in Freeskiing”

by Lynsey Dyer

(though I am reluctant to respond at all knowing this will bring even more attention to this silly subject it seems necessary to address )

For a little background:

Freeskier used an image from a beach modeling shoot I did some time ago. Though I don’t have a problem wearing a bikini or celebrating being a girl, many legitimate skiing photos have been available to Freeskier Magazine if they would have only asked. However they used an image without rights or permission in a blatant objectification of some the most legitimate members of the Freeskiing family in exchange for page views. The photo has since been exchanged for a more appropriate image. I am requesting however that the piece be taken down entirely as a gesture of respect.

Dear Freeskier:

I know none of this was personal, I know you were probably trying to hit your numbers to appease your advertisers. I know that when the pressure is on it might be hard to remember that “hits” or “likes” come from people. You may have forgotten that a photo on a computer screen is connected to a living breathing human, just like you. A human, just like you, who is doing their best to live in integrity and authenticity without selling out to the man.

I know there’s a lot of pressure from your competition, who get their page views up by playing to the lowest denominator. This is a pressure every one of us feels at some level. As women we know we can play the “hot” card any time and our number of fans will sky-rocket.

If I wanted to play that game I would have put that picture up myself long ago. Instead, it’s a daily challenge to be true to the person I am striving to be over what I know will get the “likes”. I have a motto that says “Be so damn good they can’t ignore you.” I offer it to you now.

I challenge you to be good Freeskier, be so damn good in your clever posts and progressive photography, in your writing and forward thinking that people can’t help but follow you as a leader. I know it’s not the easy way but I know for fact it is what Freeskier Magazine was founded on back in the day. I challenge you to be the progressive, forward thinking magazine your founder set out to create. The magazine all of us was inspired by and dreamed to be showcased in for our talent.

For a little insight, one of the most progressive trends in skiing today is that of women rising up as legitimate athletes beyond their value as models to sell a product. The ladies are creating their own luck without waiting to be recognized or invited. Many established and up and comers are performing at a higher level, producing their own trips, shoots and content without objectifying themselves though I know it crosses their minds a lot. After all, tha’d be the easy way, but they didn’t fall in love with skiing because it was easy.

Just sayin’…If you’re a dude who might someday genuinely want a girl he can be active with, it’s in your best interest to support women’s skiing for the SKIING over the pin-ups. You’ve known plenty of “hot” girls but finding one you can do stuff outside with, now that’s harder to find. The more we encourage the ladies to participate the more they will feel welcome in this community; directly addressing that ski-town guy-to-girl ratio issue some people like to complain about.… get the picture? Good, can we just go skiing now?