dryad Posted February 28, 2003 Posted February 28, 2003 I'm curious - what's the deal with these skis? What makes them women's skis other than the flower graphics and the availability of shorter lengths? Someone once said that women's skis are softer under the assumption that they ski less aggresively - pretty damn sexist assumption IMHO. The whole concept of a women-specific ski seems pretty suspect in general. What do you think? Quote
Dr_Flash_Amazing Posted February 28, 2003 Posted February 28, 2003 http://www.k2skis.com/skis/telemark/shespiste.asp Quote
snoboy Posted February 28, 2003 Posted February 28, 2003 Maybe softer because women are often lighter than guys. Quote
dryad Posted February 28, 2003 Author Posted February 28, 2003 snoboy said: Maybe softer because women are often lighter than guys. Â There is a lot of size overlap between men and women. Lots of little guys out there too. Having a wider range of sizes and stiffness available, especially on the smaller end, would be a wonderful thing. But is there an actual gender-based difference in skiing? Â Just wondering. I'm no ski expert. Quote
snoboy Posted February 28, 2003 Posted February 28, 2003 I'm not an expert either. Â Note the quailifier "often" in my previous post. Â I bet there aren't that many 105/5'-0" guyus out there, but I wonder if the She'sPiste would work for someone that little? Â What guy, especially a little one, is gonna want to ski on a flowery-girly ski??? Â They only go down to 160? WTF is up with dat? Â Anyone small tried these skis???? Quote
Dr_Flash_Amazing Posted February 28, 2003 Posted February 28, 2003 There's gender-based difference in everything. Seems like the feminist idea that women are people too (perfectly valid) has grown into the femi-pissed ideal that men and women are the same. But there's nothing fundamentally wrong with being different, is there? And if you look at the majority of women in sports as compared to men, in general women are less aggro. Obviously, there are plenty of exceptions, but it's typically true. But just because they're less aggro doesn't mean they're less adept. Witness the male climber powering his way through long moves and dragging his feet along like so much ballast, while a woman climbing the same sequence will use a bunch of tiny crimps the man wouldn't even stand on, and finesse her way through the sequence. Likewise, you see far fewer women hucking off jumps on their snow toys, etc. So if, in general, women are less aggro about the way they ski, why not a softer ski? Don't fancy yourself to be one of those less-aggro woman types? Buy the man ski and go rip! Â Jeez, DFA must be bored ... Quote
dryad Posted February 28, 2003 Author Posted February 28, 2003 Why not just market a gender-neutral "softer" ski? I'm sure the experts could make up a better-sounding name for it. Quote
fern Posted February 28, 2003 Posted February 28, 2003 snoboy said:Â They only go down to 160? WTF is up with dat? Â Anyone small tried these skis???? Â *sigh* ... I miss my 175s ... some people say you should ski you wight in lbs Quote
proper Posted February 28, 2003 Posted February 28, 2003 Hey snoboy, don't think there are many 105lb female skiiers out there either. Regarding the mechanical difference between male and female skiiers might be found in the angle between hips and knees which would tranlsate into maybe a small difference when edging the ski. Big deal, so women and men might have to ski a little differently. Personally, I think the 'female' ski is a marketing thing. Also, they tend to be more narrow than the 'male' skis. If you like skiing the powder, which is where it's at!...I think you can do much better with a fatter ski. Quote
Dr_Flash_Amazing Posted February 28, 2003 Posted February 28, 2003 dryad said: Why not just market a gender-neutral "softer" ski? I'm sure the experts could make up a better-sounding name for it. Â If you had read the link to K2's website, you'd see that "experts" did make up the name for it. Specifically, K2's women's ski team, or one of the team members, at least. Quote
minx Posted February 28, 2003 Posted February 28, 2003 dryad said: Why not just market a gender-neutral "softer" ski? I'm sure the experts could make up a better-sounding name for it. Â my understanding from recently buying my downhill set up is that the women's skis are softer based b/c of weight and are slightly different b/c the conformation f women is somewhat different than men. Â hey i'm all about equality but if someone's going to address the practicle reality that women are different then men, i'm all for it! Â i bought the men's model b/c i like a stiffer ski and a fatter ski as well. Quote
COL._Von_Spanker Posted February 28, 2003 Posted February 28, 2003 It's all a tool to sell more skis. By introducing a "womens specific" ski to the market K2 is hoping to grab sales from other companies who do not sell womens specific skis. Â Â Quote
snoboy Posted February 28, 2003 Posted February 28, 2003 I would guess it is marketing too. Â There might not be many 105 lb skiers out there, but I know one at least, and I bet there are a few more hiding out. Those are the people who would most need a different ski. Quote
hakioawa Posted February 28, 2003 Posted February 28, 2003 Its marketing. My guess is this is exaclt the same ski as one of the "men's" skis. A few years back K2 marketed the "Gyrator" a hard core mogul ski and the LTP "Ladies top preformer" a softer all mountins ski for women. Â The catch, they were identical skis. Only the colors had changed. The idea that women need a softer ski is generally false. The stifness of a ski is usually related to length as well. So if you weigh 100lbs you'll get a shorter (and softer) ski than a 200 pounder. Â Some women like to then need a ladies specific ski. So K2 put some flowers on 'em. Quote
snoboy Posted February 28, 2003 Posted February 28, 2003 K2 said: They had carte blanche when choosing between dozen's of sidecut, profile and construction combinations. In the end they chose the Super Stinx sidecut for all-around versatility, with a slightly softer, lightweight Heli Stinx construction for quickness and agility. Â Maybe not quite the same ski... Quote
Beck Posted March 1, 2003 Posted March 1, 2003 She's Piste is definetely a softer ski- next year k2 introduces a new womens ski, the IN STINX also softer than the mens counterpart ski have ski tested them both I would love to have skis with a big flower print(i guess its the hippy showing thru) for a non k2 "womens friendly" ski, look to the Tua SUMO, nice softer flexing ski lots of women are happy driving. Quote
Geek_the_Greek Posted March 3, 2003 Posted March 3, 2003 I've actually seen a couple of guys skiing the She's Piste at lift areas. Apparently you can demo them at Steven's for $39 a day... Quote
snoboy Posted March 3, 2003 Posted March 3, 2003 The ttips.com take on this issue is here: Â But it doesn't add much... Quote
icegirl Posted March 4, 2003 Posted March 4, 2003 5' tall 105lb skiiers? not many of them? uh think outside the box, I saw tons of them up on the slopes last friday, they show up in hordes in big buses, sometime after school gets out... Quote
proper Posted March 4, 2003 Posted March 4, 2003 icegirl said: 5' tall 105lb skiiers? not many of them? uh think outside the box, I saw tons of them up on the slopes last friday, they show up in hordes in big buses, sometime after school gets out... Â Hmmm...don't think K2 is marketing to highschool kids. And how many highschool kids teleski? Quote
gregm Posted March 5, 2003 Posted March 5, 2003 sierratradingpost is selling some 160 cm atomics dirt cheap Quote
allison Posted March 5, 2003 Posted March 5, 2003 Women's skis have traditionally been softer and lighter than men's skis. The vast majority of women are smaller and lighter than men, and ski less aggressively. Â Boots have been similarly softer flexing, but also are cut to the female foot, making fit issues less of a problem. Â In the case of skis, but what you like, but for boots, if there is a women's boot that is stiff enough for you, get that. Since reaching full size, I have been cursed with having to ski on men's gear, and the boots never fit right. I've had retailers try to tell me that women's boots are just the same as mens in terms of performance, but it simply isn't the case. Â Now I am coming at this from the perspective of an alpine skier, so if there are big differences in the world of tele, please feel free to correct me. Quote
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