Word: skis
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...started to talk to women who were successful in every area of their lives, and they just couldn't seem to get it when it came to skiing," says Claudia Carbone, a Denver writer whose groundbreaking book Women Ski was first published in 1994. "It ran from skiing on poor equipment or equipment designed for the male body to classes taught by men who didn't understand a woman's approach to sports...
Seeing aging baby boomers abandon the sport and the younger generation ignore it in the 1990s, a panicky ski industry finally realized that many women control the finances in families and relationships. Belatedly, if not reluctantly, skiing adopted the mantra "Whatever women want, women...
This year's venue at Heavenly, for example, will feature the Feb. 2-4 Her Turn Ski and Snowboard Clinic--baited with multiday family ski packages for as little as $1,300--while Breckenridge's Park & Pipe Camps are expected to draw large crowds to the Colorado town in February and March. Virginia's Wintergreen Resort puts together wine tours in the nearby Charlottesville area. Vermont's Stowe Mountain Resort holds Wednesday ski clinics as part of its For Women, By Women series. And at Keystone, Betty Fest has become the industry's best-known program for women...
Another issue involves equipment. About 10 years ago, it dawned on ski- and bootmakers that, because of their build, women need lighter, more flexible skis to carve turns, handle bumps and stave off fatigue, as well as boots that better conform to their soles, heels, ankles and calves. With that, a knot of female designers hit the workbench with one thought: the days of shortening a set of men's skis, slapping some pink paint on them and palming them off on women were over. "We don't design jockstraps, so why should men design women's skis?" jokes Alison...
Proving that function and style can go hand in hand, Head, Rossignol and Dynastar have developed women's skis (some with rhinestones and other flourishes) that run from a few hundred dollars up to $1,000. Today they account for about 10% of the total ski market. But manufacturers say that could very well jump to 50% in the next five years, considering two points: sales of women's ski equipment climbed from $159 million during the 2004-05 season to $175 million last year--a 10% increase--while overall women's ski-related sales jumped an impressive 18%, from...