Women's Skis May be Having an Identity Crisis. We are not.

Longtime outdoor DIVAS friend Krista Crabtree knows women’s skis from nearly every angle. A former ski racer, coach, instructor, SKI Magazine editor, and director of the magazine’s women’s ski test, she has spent more than 25 years testing skis and helping women understand how equipment affects the way they ski.

So when Krista recently asked a question in SKI Magazine that the ski industry has been circling for decades, we paid attention: Do women actually want women’s-specific skis?

Some brands are investing in skis engineered specifically for women. Others are moving toward unisex collections, offering the same construction in a wider range of lengths and graphics. The result, as Krista so aptly describes it, is a bit of an identity crisis.

We understand the confusion. We have been in the middle of this conversation since we opened outdoor DIVAS in 2002.

But after more than two decades of helping women choose skis, testing new models, and watching trends come and go, our own point of view is clear:

A ski does not need a women’s label to be right for a woman. But women do need real options, thoughtful design, and expert guidance. That has always been our standard.

We Remember “Shrink It and Pink It”

When outdoor DIVAS opened, much of the outdoor industry still treated women’s gear as an afterthought. Take a product designed for a man, make it smaller, soften it, and add a feminine graphic. Done.

We called it “shrink it and pink it.”

The phrase was funny because the reality was not. Women were serious skiers, but too often the equipment marketed to them was built on assumptions rather than meaningful research, female testing or thoughtful engineering.

One of the earliest and most influential people to challenge that thinking was Jeannie Thoren, a true pioneer of women’s ski equipment. After discovering that adjustments to her own boots, bindings and skis dramatically improved her skiing, Jeannie made it her mission to help other women stop fighting equipment designed around men. She advocated for better-fitting boots, forward binding positions and skis engineered around women’s physiology, size and weight distribution. In 1986, she helped develop the Blizzard Fame, widely considered the first truly women’s-specific ski. Through decades of traveling gear clinics, product development and industry advocacy, Jeannie helped establish a principle that still guides this conversation today: the equipment should adapt to the skier, not the other way around.  Jeannie was inducted into the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2014 for her pioneering work, which included developing women’s equipment and bringing her gear clinics to thousands of women across North America.

Thankfully, the category evolved. Women became more involved in product development. Brands created women’s design teams, athlete groups and on-snow testing programs. Engineers began considering details such as mounting position, flex pattern, materials, weight distribution and the relationship between a skier’s size and the way a ski performs.

The best women’s skis became easier to access without becoming timid. They could initiate a turn more naturally while still delivering edge grip, stability and power. They were not lesser versions of men’s skis. They were well-designed skis built for a different range of skiers.

That distinction matters.

A Women’s Graphic Is Not Women’s-Specific Design

In Krista’s article, outdoor DIVAS Managing Partner Lauren Williams points out something we see clearly on the sales floor: brands making genuinely distinctive women’s skis tend to outperform brands that simply put a more feminine graphic on an existing model.

Women notice the difference.

Changing the topsheet does not change how a ski flexes, where it is mounted, how quickly it enters a turn, or how much energy it asks from the skier. A graphic can be beautiful, bold, quiet, floral, or completely neutral. That is personal style. It is not engineering.

If a ski is described as women’s-specific, we want to know what actually makes it so. Was it developed and tested with women? Is the construction different? Is the mounting point different? Who is the intended skier, and what problem is the design trying to solve? Women deserve the “why,” not just the marketing.

Unisex Is Not a Dirty Word

Here is where the conversation gets more interesting: we do not believe every woman needs a women’s-specific ski.

Some women are best served by one. Others will be happiest on a unisex ski. A strong freeride skier looking for a longer length and a powerful construction should have access to it without being told she is buying a “men’s ski.” A lighter skier, or someone who wants quicker turn initiation with less effort, may feel more confident and ski better on a thoughtfully engineered women’s model.

Neither choice is more legitimate. Neither says anything about how serious, athletic or adventurous a skier is.

The right ski depends on the person standing in front of us:

• Where and how does she ski?

• What terrain does she love?

• Does she prefer quick, nimble turns or a damp, powerful ride?

• How tall is she, what does she weigh and how does she pressure a ski?

• What has she skied before, and what did she love or fight against?

• Does she want one versatile ski or another ski for her quiver?

Those questions tell us far more than a category label ever could.

More Choice Is Progress, If It Is Real Choice

We agree with where Krista lands: there may not be one universal answer, and perhaps that is the point.

Women are not a single type of skier. We do not all have the same bodies, goals, technique, style, or relationship with the sport. Some women care deeply that a ski was designed and tested specifically with women in mind. Some want the exact same construction as a unisex model, offered in a length that works for them. Many will happily own both.

That can be progress, but only if “more choice” does not quietly become fewer meaningful options.

If brands eliminate women’s-specific skis solely to simplify inventory or save on development costs, that is not liberation from a label. If they offer a unisex ski only in lengths or flexes that exclude a large part of the women’s market, that is not inclusivity. And if they call a ski women’s-specific when the only difference is the artwork, we are right back where we started.

Real choice means a broad range of well-designed skis, transparent information about how they differ, and enough sizes and constructions to serve different skiers.

Our Identity Has Never Been About Pink Skis

outdoor DIVAS was founded to give women something the outdoor industry hasn't consistently given them: a place where their gear, bodies, ambitions, and questions are the starting point.

We are not attached to a label for the sake of the label. We are attached to women having a seat at the table and skis that truly work for them.

That is why we test. It is why we ask so many questions. It is why expert bootfitting and ski selection matter. And it is why we will keep carrying women’s-specific and unisex skis when they earn a place on our wall.

So yes, women’s skis may be having an identity crisis. We are not.