Shred De She marks eight years

Kristy Maki had worked as the events director for the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation for a year before she started her own event.

She calls it Shred De She.

 “It was so amazing this year. I mean the trails, the options where we could ride this year, the grooming was fantastic,” says Maki.

Shred De She celebrated its eighth year this weekend. The women-only camp teaches the elements of fat tire biking along the Birkie Trail.

The Birkie foundation has since added Ski De She and Stride De She as women-only programs. 

Maki has worked with the Birkie for 11 years, including nine years as events director. She says about 40 women took part this year.

Riders attended workshops led by female outdoor specialists, learned about bike maintenance and riding techniques, and had the chance to connect with other riders.

“We had about 8 coaches for all of our women, so we had a really good coach to athlete ratio. And we’re really able to spend a lot of time with the participants to get to know their riding levels, what they want to get out of riding, and kind of focus our coaching and what we did the whole weekend to what they really needed,” says Maki.

Maki says the foundation saw a disproportion between men and women in skiing and biking events, particularly for longer distances. This motivated her and the foundation to create women-focused programs.

“I want to give women the skills and confidence that they can do those longer races if they want to. Here’s some training plans, here’s how you do this, here’s the skills you need to do those longer distances to feel like you can do whatever event that you want to do,” says Maki.

The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation hosts several events throughout January leading up to the Birkie, including the Seeley Hills Classic, the Ski De She Camp and Race January 16th through the 18th, and the Birkie Tour on January 24th. More at Birkie.com.