Shredding Powder and Stereotypes

Skiing duo Tatum Epperson and Margeaux Bailey are putting women at the forefront of their outdoor films.

Story by Anna Friederich

March 16, 2022

A group of women turn heads and draw lingering stares near a steep Mt. Baker ski run as they carve blocks of snow out of a hill and begin to stack them. Shovels on hand, they get the slope camera-ready as they prepare to take flight. Shedded coats and skis dot the snow as the women work in the sun. People lounge in camp chairs and grill hot dogs as they wait for their turn to jump.

Self-promotion and production are vital to getting underrepresented groups, like women, included in outdoor sports. Having control over the filming and editing process allows women to authentically represent themselves as imperfect, goofy people. In recent years, more female producers and stars have joined the ski-film scene at both the professional and amateur level.

Even though more women are in the outdoor film industry, the number of women participating in outdoor activities has stagnated for the last eight years, according to the Outdoor Foundation. Representation could be the key to changing that, and Dirty Girl Productions (DGP) is on a mission to help foster that change and have a good time while they do.

Tatum Epperson and Margeaux Bailey, the pair behind DGP, met in high school in Alaska. They took a couple of years to warm up to each other but were best friends by the end of high school.

They started their first video blog series during their senior year before moving to Bellingham to attend Western Washington University together. Back then, DGP was a private Instagram account used to capture their outdoor misadventures for friends.

In 2020, they made their account public to showcase women in the outdoors. Scroll through their page and you’ll find videos of them working on a fishing boat in Alaska, sticking flowers up their noses and, of course, skiing.

The duo expanded into the ski film arena with a 2019 season edit, a three-minute video full of mayhem set to music. Their relatability shines through; on top of the ski shots, you’ll see them showing boogers, taking naps and rollerblading.

“It doesn’t really display humanity to see someone do a triple cork whatever off of a cliff. You want to just see people having fun, falling over and giggling,” Epperson said. “We got into the scene at just the right time where there is a huge demand for women telling their own stories and producing their own media.”

The pair prioritizes goofing around and crash segments in their filming so people see the work that goes into their skiing and not just the polished, practiced result. They want a community that supports each other when they fall. While DGP doesn’t condone concussions, they want people to know it’s not just the good shots.

“Knowing that the women you look up to also land on their head, I think is important,” Bailey said.

Epperson and Bailey can see themselves carving out more space for women as they rise in the outdoor industry. In addition to the goofiness and crashes, their videos feature women practicing and performing remarkable skiing acrobatics.

“One of our goals is to see some ladies flip,” Bailey said.

Mt. Baker Ski Area offered the pair a media partnership going into the 2020 ski season. Through this partnership, freelance and grassroots producers can get free season passes in exchange for content on the Mt. Baker Instagram.

The Mt. Baker Ski Area, which has been locally owned and operated since 1953, works with independent groups to create promotional material for the mountain. The mountain relies on these partnerships to get the word out about the ski area because they don’t allow brands to advertise on their property.

“That helps tell the story [of the mountain] in a community way, [not] a corporate way,” said Gwyn Howat, CEO of the Mt. Baker Ski Area.

The Mt. Baker partnership got Bailey and Epperson thinking about what else they were capable of and inspired them to create a short ski film. To pitch a film they needed to look legitimate, which meant showing off sponsors they didn’t have.

Enter Stones Throw Brewery in Fairhaven.

Epperson approached her boss at the brewery and made him an offer: DGP would buy a case of beer in return for the Stones Throw name as a sponsor.

His response: No deal.

Instead, he sent them off with a free six-pack, a promise to brew them a beer named after them in the fall and an agreement that Stones Throw would become a full partner.

“[They] want the brewery to be an avenue for people in the community to pursue their dreams and passions,” Epperson said. “They’re also really involved in the outdoor community and wanting to make the space more inclusive.”

Ski-film industry long-timer Anne Cleary, who met DGP by chance on a Mt. Baker chairlift, shares that idea. Meeting Cleary changed everything for the pair, who gained a mentor who understood the difficulties of being a woman in the outdoors.

Cleary, who was filming long before Instagram’s rise to fame, believes people will pitch and film what matters to them. In an industry led by white men, representation can become an afterthought.

“I think that filmmaking is the way a person sees the world, so for me, I see the world filled with ripping female athletes,” Cleary said.

Cleary directed “The Approach,” a ski movie showcasing people of color, women and athletes with disabilities. After a battle to secure funding, the film was finally released in 2021. Companies had been hesitant to sponsor the film because there was already another women’s film that season, and they didn’t see the need for more, according to Sophia Rouches, who worked with Cleary on “The Approach”.

Most of “The Approach” was filmed before funding was secured, but sponsors came on after it was finished. Cleary used this experience to help DGP get funding and send their pitch out to people who could help.

It worked. The team got funding, started production and is releasing the film at Stones Throw in fall 2022.

Rouches uses her film experience to lift up other women; together Cleary and Rouches have helped DGP navigate an outdoor film industry dominated by men.

“A lot of the time when you have ski movies that are directed by men and filmed by men you are getting the expanse of a woman through a male’s perspective,” Rouches said. “[This] results in these slow-motion, hair-blowing-in-the-wind sexy mountain moments that aren’t exactly a representation of what it means to be a female in the outdoors.”

Advocating for themselves and their goals has become more important as opportunities arise. Epperson and Bailey think connections are helpful, but they still had to put in the work themselves.

While DGP is excited about their filming plans and the growth of their platform, the best part for them is the female skiing community growing at Mt. Baker. Bailey and Epperson have seen this on their Instagram with women reaching out to cheer them on and get trick tips. They regularly open the app to see comments like, “I don’t know these girls but I like these girls. I support more of this kind of content.”

On Feb. 24, Epperson and Bailey organized a women’s jump day, using social media to get women out on the slopes to build a jump and try some tricks.

Seven women joined them. Some tried backflips, others tried tricks that neither Bailey nor Epperson knew the names of and some just came to hang out. Everyone brought their best energy.

At the end of the day, skis were traded for cowboy boots as laughter and sunshine spread across the Mt. Baker parking lot. Cameras played back scenes of powder and digging through the snow to find runaway skis. Women gathered around the bed of a truck, sharing stories of jumping over camp chairs and landing — or not -new tricks.

Afterward, Epperson, laying on her floor wrapped in a sleeping bag, looked ready to take a nap after being behind the camera all day. Bailey collapsed onto the couch opposite her, but the excitement of the day still lingered in their conversation as they gushed about how inspiring it was to see so many women on the mountain.

“You could see people [skiing] by us and doing a double-take,” Epperson said. “[They’re like], ‘That’s a group of girls filming and jumping and building all of it by themselves.’”

“It felt unique,” Bailey said. “I don’t think it [usually] happens at all.”

“Ever,” Epperson added.

Anna Friederich is a senior environmental education student who runs a group at Western focused on getting women and non-binary people into the outdoors.