Chatter is a queer ski and snowboard community on the East Coast that brings LGBTQ+ riders together both on and off the mountain. What started as a small group of friends has grown into a community hosting indoor and mountain meetups, collaborating with other organizations, and creating opportunities for queer skiers and snowboarders to get involved regardless of experience or budget.
At its core, Chatter is about making snow sports more accessible and building community around them. That means more than just organizing group rides. Chatter provides gear through donations and drives, facilitates gear swaps, connects newer riders with on-snow mentorship, and works with mountains and partners to make events more affordable.
Chatter started three summers ago when a group of friends wanted to create a space where queer skiers and snowboarders could find each other, ride together, and feel like they belonged on the mountain.
Since then, that idea has grown into an East Coast community. We've brought people together through indoor snow sessions, mountain meetups, park days, collaborations, and events with partner organizations. Our community is largely centered around the NYC area, but we're continuing to grow our reach across the East Coast.
As we've grown, we've realized that simply creating opportunities to ride together isn't enough. Snow sports can be expensive and intimidating to get into, especially for someone who doesn't already have the equipment, knowledge, or community around them.
That's where Chatter's bigger purpose comes in.
We're working to make skiing and snowboarding more accessible to LGBTQ+ people by helping remove some of the financial and social barriers that keep people off the mountain. Through gear donations and swaps, beginner mentorship, affordable group events, and partnerships with mountains and other organizations, we're building a community where people can get into snow sports, improve their skills, and find people to ride with.
