“The Uninvited,” a 2018 documentary, tells the story of a generation of women’s snowboarding, their skill, success and survival. The film and its sequels gave a platform to the riders who had been left out of the narrative. It was about more than snowboarding: It was about changing the sport and creating a space of inclusion, visibility and opportunity.
The films have since grown into The Uninvited Invitational, currently the only women’s snowboarding competition of its kind with a prize purse of $60,000 to spread across the week’s events.
“I found myself in a position to do something and do it differently. I really felt for the girls coming up,” said Uninvited creator and pro snowboarder Jess Kimura. “I did find success in the industry, but I didn’t want to be used as a reason for other people not to get somewhere.”
Credit: Photo courtesy of The Uninvited
Kimura spent years raging against the rigid standards of an industry that routinely excluded women like her. There was no warm welcome, no guiding hand — only grit, frustration and a deep-seated drive to carve out space where none had been offered. The Uninvited wasn’t born from encouragement; it was born from necessity, said Kimura.
“It was the gnarly experiences that I wasn’t really allowed to even talk about that fueled the fire. For every time I was invited on a trip where a filmer would put his camera down when I dropped in, every time my video was cut, every time I was lied to about a catalog shoot and then everyone showed up, I took note of,” said Kimura. “It’s like you’re not invited to the party and then you find out it happened anyway.”
It was after experiences like these that Kimura knew she had to make a change for the future generations in snowboarding. She filmed, edited and paid for the first Uninvited film on her own dime to feature the skills of the women who were often otherwise uninvited, with only the sponsorship of the North Face Uninvited T-shirt sales to pay for gas money.
“When they dropped ‘The Uninvited,’ it opened a whole other world of snowboarders I had never heard of before,” said Abby Furrer, social media manager for the Uninvited. “Having a friend in the video, them having first part in it, and seeing their career catapult after that video, was incredible to witness and to see the rise of snowboarding, not just women snowboarding after that, and to see people to really start to pay attention and wanting to invest in it was really special. For the first time, people were knocking at our door to actually want to be a part of women’s snowboarding, where they never had before.”
Nirvana Ortanez came up as a professional snowboarder in Kimura’s generation. Even after she had reached success, she still couldn’t reach the level of compensation she needed to survive in the sport, she said.
“What Jess created really catapulted everyone. We still have to prove ourselves. With the Uninvited, we are here to say that we’re not going anywhere. So show up for us,” said Ortanez.
With the springboard of the Uninvited film, the missing piece in women’s competitive snowboarding remains compensation, said Kimura. With the unprecedented size of the prize purse to win in competition this year, The Uninvited is about closing the gap monetarily.
“What’s missing now is money. The girls are getting the opportunities, but they’re not getting paid for them. The first year, I just threw out a number. I said $40,000 and posted it. I knew I didn’t have $1 of this yet, but I was going to find it,” said Kimura.
With the backing of Kimura’s team at The North Face and other sponsors, the first-ever Uninvited Invitational in 2023 broke the mold in women’s competition with a prize purse of $40,000. In 2024, Kimura reached $58,000.
“The dream is to make it to $100,000, give away a snowmobile and give away a car,” said Kimura. “That first year, we were trying to sell a concept that didn’t exist yet. I kept saying this would be the craziest thing anyone has ever seen, it’s never been done before and it’s going to make huge waves. The sponsors who knew me believed it.”
As the invitational continues to launch professional careers and support female and non-binary snowboarders to continue in the sport, it has gained traction in the industry, said Kimura.
“This is not successful because people are supporting it out of the goodness of their heart. It is commercially a good idea. Women have the spending power. Women are the fastest-growing demographic in this sport. There is a world of opportunity in women’s snowboarding. The industry is putting their resources toward their women’s teams, and it is paying off,” said Kimura.
The 2025 Uninvited Invitational is in its third installment and second year at Woodward Park City. The event qualifiers begin Thursday, with the finals on Sunday. The competition will feature 75 riders from more than 20 countries. The events will also feature booths and opportunities for connection with female riders and local organizations, including Part Time Babe Club, The Rose Club, and Ivy.
The 2025 Uninvited Invitational features a custom-built street-style course. The design and programming required the full year of planning in collaboration with Kimura’s team and Woodward Park City.
“We could not pull this event off without the level of effort and care that Woodward puts into this event. This investment they have put into the build has made it so that we can have this course that is unlike anything anyone’s ever seen in competitive snowboarding,” said Kimura.
The course features two stair sets that are padded with foam, making a stage for creativity and risk that is otherwise unheard of, said Kimura. When these riders have an opportunity to try things, learn from each other, and go big in competition, they push the sport forward.
“I think that women’s snowboarding is at a higher level than I even know. Every event we put on, I am surprised by someone who has no sponsor, who I’ve never heard of, who comes out of the woodwork and blows everyone’s mind. They’ve always been here. They just needed a place to show it,” she said. “This is a springboard for the people that want to do something with snowboarding to make sure that talent isn’t wasted. Because I saw so much talent wasted over the years, so many girls that quit that could have changed the world.”
The Uninvited Invitational event schedule:
Thursday, April 10 — Qualifying Day One
Riders on course: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Friday, April 11 — Qualifying Day Two
Riders on course: 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
Saturday, April 12 — Finals Day
Finals: 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Awards Ceremony: 2:30 p.m.