Lynsey Dyer at Caldera House - Jackson Hole

Meet Lynsey Dyer. A professional skier, to be sure… yet our protagonist is also part entrepreneur, part storybook character, part modern-day philanthropist—both hard-charging and in charge. Her mind is focused and calm, her body’s been in training all her life. On this day, a phalanx of photographers is on cue to document her appearance. Perched above an impossibly steep, untracked face, she’s scoped her route and triple checked the landing zone. Finally, with military precision, she slides her skis smoothly, swiftly, straight for the precipice. Three, two, one…

Why would Lynsey Dyer want to huck a 60-foot cliff wearing a custom-made gown?

“I like playing with little girl princess fun we’ve all been influenced by,” reflects Lynsey. “Encouraging girls to get outside, to show girls we can be feminine and have fun in the mountains, it’s my passion.”

Despite the outfit she’s hoping to wear this spring for a very ambitious, very huge jump in Jackson Hole—a couture gown by master designer Cynthia Rowley, dressmaker to the Roberts, Parkers and Paltrows of the world—Lynsey Dyer does not believe in the ski world’s girlification of “pinking it and shrinking it”. Indeed, high-mountain feats like this tulle-trailing send-it are merely a small, if illustrative, part of what Lynsey is about.

From her home on the outskirts of the Wyoming backcountry, she has transformed her large garage into a broadcast-worthy studio, recording one of a new series of podcasts—this one with Dr Edythe Heus, the physician behind Revolution in Motion, a restorative training program of circulation-boosting and joint-opening gentle practice. Lynsey credits it with helping her recover from concussion and spends 30 minutes a day with it. The podcast project (more about that, later) is the latest in a portfolio that also comprises some impressive charitable projects, including the cofounding of SheJumps, a nonprofit targeted to girls’ outdoor ed, wild skills development, community outreach and, more roundly, getting outside through adventure. From organizing girls onto junior ski patrol missions to learn about avalanche awareness, to clinics for medical response and terrain navigation, the mantra—If she can do it, so can I—has never been more apt.

Lynsey’s decade-long career as a professional skier shines a bright, inspirational light for her followers. She rocked up for her first shot at the Freeride World Tour—and won. She subsequently pushed on to capture every big-mountain competition she would enter. Starring in numerous ski films, she laid her signature perfect turns in leading roles in Teton Gravity Research, Warren Miller, Sherpa’s Cinema and more. (With a ski racing background, her technical prowess is revered; she was also one of the first to hit some really big cliffs in the Jackson Hole backcountry that no female had hit before. “We’d never seen girls in magazines hitting big cliffs,” Lynsey explained, “so it was my mission to see if I—and we—could.”) She’s spoken articulately and passionately in TED talks on ‘skiing like a girl’ and filmmaking. Later, as a director herself, Lynsey produced and directed the first and only all-female ski film, Pretty Faces, after fundraising $113K on Kickstarter. Pretty Faces went on to sell out 100 shows and win a bevy of awards.

“I was in a great tech company, being paid more than I’d ever been paid before. According to what society tells you, I was winning. But I would be supporting someone else’s dream where people and kids would be spending more time in the virtual word,” she explained. “I found I more joy being outside in nature. The natural world is challenging but it can be really rewarding, too.”

Her latest project, The Showing UP podcast, bears the stamp of her experience and has also been resonating with an audience in search of motivation in the midst of uncertainty. “The podcast spans everything I’ve learned being a professional athlete since I was 16,” Lynsey explained.

A six-week series that features conversations with a new expert each week, it then branches into related workshops that are ideal for skiers. From a mobility specialist on becoming a “supple leopard”, to a nutritionist who’s pinpointed the specific training needs of women versus men, and flow states for the body that are not just for professional athletes—these are practical methodologies, and some great life hacks, for all of us keen to adopt wellness into our lives.