The problem with women's (snowboard) gear

"And before you think, ‘Who cares? Just go riding’, consider the bigger picture. Because maybe it goes a bit deeper than just categorising mens’ and womens’ gear, or designing a product that a woman will like. Because women get a lot of shit from men for being, well, shit. And yeah, generally, the standard of womens’ snowboarding isn’t as high as men’s (in this hugely male dominated industry) but it must be hard not to ‘ride like a girl’ when the fact that you are a girl is being constantly shoved in your face."

Haven't got a chance to read more than th excerpts yet, but I'm gonna go ahead and say stop shrink and pink!!

^double post :o
That's why I ride men's skis/ rode men's boards when I snowboarded. Women's equipment generally blows in comparison. So stoked for on3p's new line tho..

marketing to the masses and making that bottom line $$$

Katrinamarketing to the masses and making that bottom line $$$

It really is. The absolute WORST part to me, is that a lot of women believe that they need to buy the fluffy pink crap because they actually think they're bad skiers/ riders. I was talking to a women ski lesson group at work, and all of them think they're terrible skiers and have no confidence with it. They're all kinda new at it sure, but they're learning quick and progressing really well. They should be proud and aren't!

Also, funny and relevant story: I also was running a wicked old stihl chainsaw up in Quebec last summer, and made the mistake of saying "Damn this thing is heavy." (yes its old, made entirely out of metal and is very very heavy) I then was asked "when are they going to make tools more suited to women?"

UM WHAT?! A tool is a fucking tool, the thought of "womens tools" makes me gag.

This marketing crap has gotten into our heads so badly, a lot of women think they need it. Skiing is different in the sense that our bodies are different so sometimes shorter skis, with different shapes can be very good. Yet they're marketed to us often like everything else is, pink coated crap that we get convinced we need to make ourselves better.

it's a brilliant marketing tactic used to attract novices, as an experienced skier/snowboarder is gonna understand what they really need.
I hate how there are things specifically eared words women, but not altered to a women's body.
One thing I like is having skis named after bad ass female musicians. they're not sugar coated, or overly girly, but fit my needs exactly.

i kind of see this everywhere too. i had a hard time and still do have a hard time finding a women's hockey tshirt or jersey that would actually fit me. all the women's stuff fits like a baby doll, has sparkles, or is pink... and just let me understand why i can't just have a loose fitting habs shirt?

as for women's tool, there was a kit released with pink rubber in place of black or whatever... i could maybe see from the standpoint of getting young girls involved, but women? no. and even then, the problem itself is the notion that we need something to be made to fit our gender roles in order for us to feel like it's ok for us to join in, rather then it just being okay.

it's an interesting standpoint as well looking at how women riders feel misplaced or unaccepted because of their level or capabilities. i for one ride well below the level of the group of guys i ride with, and usually end up skiing with my bf because of it. and i think maybe that's a big issue women have in progression in sports. we ride alone or with other women because we feel like our lower levels are inadequate, and we continue perpetuating the notion that we shouldn't take up space.

over all, the idea of the products sold to us are simply designed by people who have no real concept or knowledge about a market. there's no real research done it seems. it's just kind of as if dudes were designing our gear, who've never even met a girl, or have blonde barbies for girlfriends or something? things will sell because at the end of the day if we only have pink skis, most of us will still buy them... but we don't want anymore pink skis. for shorter girls like myself finding a good length in gear was a tough issue until recently, and now i'm happy to know i can ride more guys skis that come now in 157, instead of being stuck with feathers and rainbows.

This is such an interesting article!!! really summed it up!!!

When I went to buy my men's lobster board, the guy who was selling it to me literally said, "I can tell why you love this board, the graphic is so pretty."

No you twat. I demoed it, I love it, and technically, it's the perfect board for what I want. Then while I was walking over to the cashier, some guys walked over to me because his friend was looking at the board too and asks me, "You think we can talk you into buying that flowery capita instead, you know those colors would go a lot better with your outfit." I love mount snow, it will always be my home mountain, but the amount of New York and Jersey douchewads it attracts is unbelievable.

I hate how things are marketed towards women in the sports industry. Even on the Nike snowboarding website if I'm remembering correctly, to get to the men's side of the website, you clicked on this awesome shot of guy backsiding a huge handrail and to get to the girls side, you clicked on one of the gorgeous pro snowboarding ladies just posing with her board. She could've easily been doing something just as sweet to model the Nike gear. It's one of those things that really got me mad.

connecticuntWhen I went to buy my men's lobster board, the guy who was selling it to me literally said, "I can tell why you love this board, the graphic is so pretty."

No you twat. I demoed it, I love it, and technically, it's the perfect board for what I want. Then while I was walking over to the cashier, some guys walked over to me because his friend was looking at the board too and asks me, "You think we can talk you into buying that flowery capita instead, you know those colors would go a lot better with your outfit." I love mount snow, it will always be my home mountain, but the amount of New York and Jersey douchewads it attracts is unbelievable.

I hate how things are marketed towards women in the sports industry. Even on the Nike snowboarding website if I'm remembering correctly, to get to the men's side of the website, you clicked on this awesome shot of guy backsiding a huge handrail and to get to the girls side, you clicked on one of the gorgeous pro snowboarding ladies just posing with her board. She could've easily been doing something just as sweet to model the Nike gear. It's one of those things that really got me mad.

YUP! women's gear is always a lifestyle shot! seldom chicks ripping.

I found out last night that Line isn't making a women's park ski next year. I've been riding Line Teases this year and have loved them. I was happily on my way to becoming a dedicated Line customer (helps that my bf works for them...) but now I won't be able to buy a women's park ski from them. Their men's skis are out of my size range. I am feeling a lot of angst about this right now.

pizza_LIBREI found out last night that Line isn't making a women's park ski next year. I've been riding Line Teases this year and have loved them. I was happily on my way to becoming a dedicated Line customer (helps that my bf works for them...) but now I won't be able to buy a women's park ski from them. Their men's skis are out of my size range. I am feeling a lot of angst about this right now.

I think they are just running the tc ski in smaller sizes

KatrinaI think they are just running the tc ski in smaller sizes

I'm pretty sure they aren't making TCs next year either!

^yeah word on the street is no more TC's. I'm bummed I love them

So, low down on Line. Grabbed the catalogue.

true: no more women's park skis, I asked them the reasoning and it was that they don't make men or womens park skis. Just park skis in general (unisex). So the park specific skis now go all the way down to 155 in some.

true: no more tc
however they have added a few new skis

blends* - park, backcountry and back, 100w
chronic - OG
future spin - light park ski
afterbang - something about ollies
Tigersnake* - same width as afterbang, a little bit lighter ( the bio says "the most techy, affordable and lightest all terrain freestyle ski on the market)

* = new

I think the biggest issue with women's gear and marketing to women in general is that it's men doing the marketing. You can't really blame them because how the fuck are they going to know what a women wants.... honestly how often do we know what we want ;)

There's this idea that women's skiing will never thrive because they don't throw down as hard as women, but I feel like this is wrong. I get equally as stoked watching Maddie Bowman throw down in pipe as I do watching Henrik Harlaut drop into a slope run. They say there is no audience for women's skiing but you know who likes watching women ski? OTHER WOMEN!

I don't think the ski industry purposefully excludes women. There is definitely an imbalance in how much women contribute to backend of the industry (insert innuendos here). It's like we're all standing around waiting for someone to tell us that women's skiing is cool too. It's not going to happen that way.

An anecdotal example... this weekend I had the opportunity to shoot some photos during the training runs for the Grand Prix at Mammoth. At the end of the day I looked through my photos and it became obvious to me that most of the male skiers made a point to very purposefully throw tricks right in my face so I'd get the shot. The ladies on the other hand skied away from the camera. At the end of the day I had some pretty decent photos of dudes and a whole bunch of photos of ladies who got lost in the background.

The best way to fix this is for more women to step in and speak up in the industry. Women should be designing women's skis boards, women should be handling the women's side of the market and women athletes should obnoxiously promote themselves as well as the men or we all get lost in the background.

Considering I ride these skis:

I can safely say that graphics have no bearing on what ski I buy. If it is a good ski, I will ski it, even if it's hideous.

Heck I've gotten cred for skiing my hellbents, when skiing with guys that don't know me their initial feelings are to not want a woman in the group, but when they find out that I ski hellbents they are suddenly much more open to the idea.

The longer I ski the more I shy away from any product marketed towards women, because functionality is never at the forefront, looks are. Until something changes drastically in the industry I'll deal with being that woman in all men's gear.

I won't name names but recently at the SIA on snow I got in a fight with a rep because he tried to put me on some 162 soft as shit women's skis. This was after I went in specially asking for 180 men's ski. He literally refused to give me these skis "because it would be too hard for me to ski and as a girl I need to ski shorter, softer skis regardless of my height and ability". I'm 178cm tall ex world ski cross racer (which I told him). I wouldn't ski a 162 if you paid me. And he was like look, I know it's a little short but all the 165's are out and I wouldn't put you on anything longer than that anyway. It was so patronising. It's things like that in the industry that make me so mad.

On the opposite end of the spectrum I went into On3P and they were telling me all about their new girls range which seems to be actually made for girls rather than just the top sheet and they were like look, they're probably too short for you and with your ability level you should try the 181 Wrampages. They had the exact opposite attitude. They were stoked to see a woman who was tall and could ski rather than being patronising arseholes.

Great contribution from everyone. I personally would love mens gear, but at 5 feet tall my options were very limited. Men's clothing is too big and women's in too small. I can't find a jacket this year! And only recently have men's ski models been available in my size. I obviously don't like my top sheet, maybe never will. I'm a punk metal gal to begin with, so when I see skis that don't fit, it's disappointing. Kids skis looked more appealing but the specs are just inefficient.

Brooke that guy sounds like a real tool.

neutralzombieBrooke that guy sounds like a real tool.

That he does. I've had similar experiences in shops, but nothing quite that bad. At copper earlier this year this dude was pushing these massive pow skis on my boyfriend who is not exactly a great skier, yet tried to shove me on 151 noodle skis that I said I didn't want.

caroline.That he does. I've had similar experiences in shops, but nothing quite that bad. At copper earlier this year this dude was pushing these massive pow skis on my boyfriend who is not exactly a great skier, yet tried to shove me on 151 noodle skis that I said I didn't want.

that's kind of what i felt happened with my ski boots. i wanted another pair, but the guy actually sold me a cheaper pair. i hate my boots, they feel like shit. you'd think he would've just sold me the more expensive ones.