7 of the Best Female Skiers of All Time

1. Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Vonn obviously has to go on this list. The American alpine racer has won so many medals I wonder how she even keeps count anymore. For the highlights, Vonn currently holds 82 World Cup gold medals and three Olympic gold medals. She’s the only woman to have ever skied the Streif in Austria, although it was not in competition.

Despite a series of injuries throughout her career, Vonn is one of the strongest competitors ski racing has ever seen. She also has a Gucci collab and an HBO documentary about her. After retiring in 2019, Vonn recently returned to competition for the 2024 season.

2. Mikaela Shiffrin

This list wouldn’t be complete without the most decorated skier in alpine racing history. Originally from Vail, Colorado, Shiffrin has won more World Cup races than any other alpine skier ever (including men).

She’s a two-time Olympic medalist, five-time Overall World Cup Champion and is the youngest slalom gold medalist in Olympic History. Shiffrin currently has 99 wins on the World Cup circuit.

Shiffrin was also named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2023. If that’s not iconic, I don’t know what is.

3. Ingrid Backstrom

When it comes to freeskiing and filming, you’ve gotta know the name Ingrid Backstrom. Backstrom was the only female skier in POWDER's Future Big Mountain Heroes in 2002. She then went on to have segments in Matchstick Production’s Yearbook (2004) and The Hit List (2005), winning her "Best Female Performance" and "Breakthrough Performance" at the 2005 Powder Magazine Video Awards.

Backstrom has been featured in many other Matchstick films as well as Warren Miller, and the iconic G.N.A.R. In the early days of ski films, where not many women were featured, Backstrom was a beacon for female athletes and helped to establish a place for them in the industry.

4. Sarah Burke

Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke was one of the great pioneers of women’s slopestyle skiing, specifically in superpipe.

Burke won five X Games gold medals and the halfpipe world championship in 2005. Burke was also an instrumental part in getting halfpipe and superpipe added to the 2014 Olympic Games.

Outside competition, Burke had many standout segments in films such as Matchstick Productions Seven Sunny Days (2007), Push (2006), and Focused (2003), as well as a handful of other films with Warren Miller and Level 1. Burke tragically died in a superpipe accident in Park City in 2012. Her legacy lives on through the Sarah Burke Foundation and her impact on the sport.

5. Michelle Parker

Michelle Parker has become a household name not just in the freeskiing space these days but in all things sports media. Originally a competitive skier in slopestyle and halfpipe, Parker really found her path when she transitioned away from competition into skiing big mountains and filming in the backcountry.

One of the most versatile and dynamic, Parker’s been featured in more than a dozen ski films with Matchstick Productions, Teton Gravity Research, Red Bull Media House, and in the award-winning Nexus (2022). Parker won Best Female Performance at the Powder Video Awards in 2013 for her segment in MSP’s Superheroes of Stoke (2012).

Beyond the slopes, Parker has also acted as an athlete liaison and advocate in the women’s freeride mountain bike space and worked as such for the inaugural year of women riding Red Bull Rampage. 

6. Eileen Gu

In the last few years, Eileen Gu has become known not only for her accolades in slopestyle skiing but for the icon she's become in the high fashion world, as well.

After winning gold medals in big air and halfpipe and silver in slopestyle at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, Gu was not only the youngest Olympic champion to win these events but also the first freestyle skier to win three medals at a single Winter Games.

Gu was also the first woman to land a forward 1440 cork in competition. On top of her extensive ski accomplishments, Gu is also an internationally known model, holds an MBA in business from Stanford, and was listed by Forbes as the second-highest-earning female athlete in 2023. Go off, queen.

7. Maggie Voisin

Holding down the field for the current generation of incredible female slopestyle competitors who brought their skills to the backcountry is Maggie Voisin.

Voisin currently holds seven X Games medals, including two gold medals in slopestyle. She also became the youngest skier to medal in slopestyle in X Games history after winning a silver medal in slopestyle in 2014. Voisin was also selected for the U.S. team to compete at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi and would have been the youngest competitor in a Winter Games since 1972, but an injury kept her from competing.

Voisin announced her retirement from competition in 2024 to focus on filming and skiing in the backcountry. She’s been featured in the last two Teton Gravity Research films and has no signs of slowing down any time soon.

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