Meet DO Member and Founder of EDGE Outdoors, Annette Diggs
📸: Annette Diggs by Adam J Sanders
“Nobody is fully liberated until Black, Indigenous women are liberated and Trans Women of Color are fully liberated and accepted for who they are.”
This is the spirit behind EDGE Outdoors, a non-profit founded by Annette Diggs to create opportunities for Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color (BIWOC) to participate in snow sports.
Annette didn’t grow up with access to snow sports, or other forms of outdoor recreation. She was raised in a redlined neighborhood in the south, where violence against Black folks was rampant, and stories about Black people going into nature almost always ended badly. It wasn’t until Annette moved to the Pacific Northwest that she experienced all that nature had to offer.
“I fell in love with hiking. I was on the trail seeing people of all ages and all sizes. One thing I remember was how helpful everyone was. It makes you feel welcome. It makes you feel like you’re in a community that cares about what’s going to happen to your life.” From hiking in Mount Ranier National Park to summiting Mount St. Helens, Annette began her foray into outdoor sports and recreation.
Annette remembers her first time on Mount St. Helens, saying, “I climbed it and it was the most challenging thing I ever did in my life. It was the cusp of me getting into non-technical mountaineering.” Annette began climbing Mount St. Helens every year, along with climbing other mountains in the region, like the neighboring Mount Adams.
“One year I saw ski mountaineers shoot past me as I was climbing down and I was like this freaking sucks! I want to learn how to ski.” Annette took to the slopes shortly after that. Her first time on the snow, she didn’t see any other people of color and she immediately knew she wanted to change that.
Annette landed a job at Stevens Pass, a popular ski area in Washington State, knowing that she had to grow more as a skier and an instructor in order to effect the kind of change she wanted.
📸: Annette with students by Adam J Sanders
“I launched EDGE through a Gofundme campaign. From there it grew and matured into a beautiful organization. We’re still growing and building community.” EDGE has grown into an inspiring community, with programming in Washington and new programs to come in Lake Tahoe and Park City. EDGE not only provides access and opportunities for BIWOC folks to get into snow sports, but also offers avalanche education courses, intro to the backcountry courses, athlete development programs, and instructor training, with accompanying scholarship opportunities.
“I'm super stoked and excited to be a part of that culture change that we see on the hill and to be part of the return to the mountain for BIWOC.” Annette talks about how her priority is on women and femme-identifying people. Women of Color face unparalleled levels of violence, and her goal is to provide a safe and welcoming space for them to learn and build community.
Through the creation of EDGE Outdoors and her continued activism, Annette is definitively changing the culture in snow sports. Snow sports have a long history rooted in white supremacy and patriarchal views, but organizations like EDGE are triumphantly disrupting the status quo for the next generation. “Everybody should be allowed to slide on snow.”
Be sure to follow Annette and EDGE Outdoors on Instagram to stay up to date on their latest programming and opportunities to get involved.