Today sees the announcement of the first ever female SuperUnknown finalist: Rosina Friedel. I've seen Rosina's name pop up a few times in European projects over the years, most recently holding her own alongside the rest of the El Makrell crew on a trip to Georgia. So I was duly stoked to see her name on the judging list when it was sent over by Level 1 and even more so when her edit not only inspired them to invite her to the finals, but also to add a women's category from 2019 onwards.

Full quote from Level 1:

"SuperUnknown was built on the concept of providing an opportunity to any and all aspiring professional skiers to get their foot in the door of an industry that’s often hard to break into. While the contest was never explicitly designed for men, entries from women over the years have been few and far between- less than 10 in total of the 1000+ entries received over the years. This year’s lone female entry, from Germany’s Rosina Friedel stood out- painting a picture of a skier with the style, creativity, and drive to break through- and inspired us to change things up and offer her a spot at the SuperUnknown XV Finals along with the 10 other finalists. As fate would have it, Rosina recently blew out her knee and will not be able to join us in Winter Park next month, but she’s inspired us to take the next step on behalf of all the women out there progressing the sport. Starting in 2019, we’ll be officially opening up a Women’s category for SuperUnknown XVI, and offering up an 11th spot in the Finals to the most deserving and qualified woman. Ladies- get out there and start logging shots! We can’t wait to see what you come up with for next year’s installment of SuperUnknown!" - Level 1

https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/899456/Rosina-Friedel-SuperUnknown-XV-Finalist

There's still one finalist's spot up for grabs in the wildcard poll, so vote for your favorite here.