Meet empathy - a new FLINTA*-organized collective pushing inclusivity in snowboarding
Who are you and what are you doing?
We are empathy, a freshly started FLINTA* organized community project still in its very early stages. Our idea is to connect people in the snowboarding freestyle scene who share values of respect, openness, and togetherness. We’re still finding our rhythm, but our goal is to create spaces where everyone feels welcome, especially those who might feel a bit intimidated by the snowpark scene.
We organize community days in snowparks where people can ride without pressure, movie nights to celebrate diverse perspectives in snow sports, and creative workshops to explore the culture around it. It’s all about trying things out, learning together, and letting the project grow naturally with the people who join in.
What is your mission?
Our mission is to make the snowboarding community more open, inclusive, and respectful, a space where everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, background, or experience level, feels safe and seen.
We’re inspired by projects like Super Friendly Society and others that bring warmth and creativity into snow culture, but we know we’re just getting started. For now, we’re excited to begin this journey, connect with people, and see where it leads.
We also really want to encourage FLINTA* people who’d like to get involved, whether it’s for riding, organizing, or helping shape what empathy can become.
What kind of things do you have planned right now?
We’re starting small: community days in snowparks around Innsbruck, which we’ll announce on Instagram and in our WhatsApp group. Some sessions will be in collaboration with the peanut butter club and Sendwitches, other FLINTA*-organized snow sports groups from Innsbruck. The first sessions will probably start in December, so stay tuned!
We’re also planning a cozy movie night and some creative workshops. And what we’re already super stoked about: we’ll be part of the Spleen Gathering in Innsbruck from November 21–23!
What does the future of empathy look like?
Honestly, we don’t know exactly yet, and that’s the exciting part. For now, empathy is a seed we’ve just planted. We dream of it growing into a supportive, creative community that meets to ride, share ideas, and build something meaningful together.
We want to open up perspectives beyond professional snowboarding and create space for beginners and first steps as well. Snowboarding is more than performance for us, it’s a way to express, to create, to communicate.
We also dream of empathy becoming a creative platform: supporting film projects, starting to film ourselves, and telling authentic stories from within the community.
It’s important to us that empathy doesn’t become about competition or visibility, it’s not about “being seen”, but about being together. We want to build something genuine, something that grows through empathy, curiosity, and connection
WhatsApp group link:
https://chat.whatsapp.com/HEDNnwD5fLuB7ub5BecqTm
