The “little blond girl” skier, Caroline Gleich takes on the daunting Wasatch Mountains in this new edit from REI.
Not only does the edit epitomise Gleich as an adventure athlete, it’s also a strong answer back to the cyber bullies that have relentlessly plagued her social media platforms in recent years.
A victim of online harassment, Gleich has been subjected to continual negative comments, from faceless users, on her Instagram feed. Horrifyingly hostile remarks were left on her post, comments such as:
illbutterz: How many dix did you suck to get those cover shots? I know it wasn’t based on the merit of your skiing.
Or, after posting a useful guide to layering for cold-weather climbing:
findingawayaswellasworking: How would you layer for a massive blast of seamen?
For female athletes, it feels like the criticism is often more appearance based on social media, while with men it’s more performance based.
Not Just A Pretty Face
Fortunately, this edit displays her grit, talent and performance as a skier. Sure, she’s a beauty, but more importantly, she rides hard.
At sixteen, she stumbled upon a copy of the cult classic guidebook The Chuting Gallery. The guidebook lays out a set of 90 ski mountaineering lines across Utah’s Wasatch Mountains.
They were difficult and dangerous.
When she first said out loud she wanted to ski them, she was met with laughter.
“Maybe it was because I was five feet tall, or I was a little blonde girl, but I remember that clearly — and it didn’t feel good” says Gleich.
Watch Gleich take on some of the trickiest lines in the planet, proving her skill upon the mountain, regardless of what cowardly cyberbullies claim.
