maggie198
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I've noticed that many ski shops tend to underestimate the length of ski that "the little lady" might enjoy. Several shops have told me they don't stock lengths longer than 160-162 because there isn't much demand for the longer skis from their female customers. Then they try to sell you the ski you're interested in in a shorter length (heaven forbid if it's rockered...) that they have because they don't carry the size you need, instead of sizing the ski properly for your height and weight. I've been told by one ski shop employee, a young man, that I must be "hardcore" because I told him that his 150 cm ski in a model I wanted to demo wasn't really appropriate for my size. I am not petite! I don't consider myself hardcore - I certainly know my ability limitations, but I also know that I should not be sized to a beginner length. This does an injustice to both the skier, and the ski, because you're not getting the true experience of how the ski is meant to feel. I guess what bugs me is that so many shop employees (usually male) downgrade the abilities of female skiers, assuming we are all novices. And have stomped it into our heads that we should be skiing short skis, that we can't "handle" a longer ski. I've seen many ladies in my ski clinics sized down to a fairly short ski when they've just bought new skis.
I was demoing some skis at an on-mountain shop, and was requesting to try a few longer length models. A woman was there getting her performance demos handed to her, and she asked the shop guy why one would want longer skis than she was being given (very short). The guy told her because longer lengths are generally more stable. She said, "well stable is a good thing, isn't it? Why wouldn't I want longer skis?" Exactly. Because she has been used to skiing some little ski that a shop guy hands her and says it will do.
Do they do this to the male skier? I don't think so. Partly because men usually overestimate their abilities when talking about equipment. They are all great, lol. I know several guys who have gone out and bought
xpert skis, both model-wise and lengthwise, when they're low intermediates at best. But they will never admit that to the salesperson. Women, on the other hand, tend to underestimate their abilities, and often our cautious natures prevent us from just going out there and charging down the mountain without knowing what we're doing, whereas many guys I've known, family members included, do just the opposite.
Obviously there's a market for the shorter length skis, for your truly petite and lightweight skiers, and beginners as well. But if a company makes a range of lengths in a female specific ski, they've made them because that's the typical size range of your average female skier. Shouldn't a shop carry those lengths to accomodate that range?
What has brought this rant on is the range of comments I've heard recently from ski shops while looking for a particular rockered ski in the next size up from 162. More than one shop has said they never brought in the longer length because women don't want a ski over 160 cm. Oh, and several shops don't carry the more advanced models because women don't want them either. But they had Volkl V-werks in a full range of sizes ($1500 ski). Really? I've left these shops shaking my head. I know it's a matter of them spending their money on stock that they think is going to sell, but I bless the knowledgable shops that take a risk and carry the higher end models for women, and in the full range of sizes.
Rant done.
I was demoing some skis at an on-mountain shop, and was requesting to try a few longer length models. A woman was there getting her performance demos handed to her, and she asked the shop guy why one would want longer skis than she was being given (very short). The guy told her because longer lengths are generally more stable. She said, "well stable is a good thing, isn't it? Why wouldn't I want longer skis?" Exactly. Because she has been used to skiing some little ski that a shop guy hands her and says it will do.
Do they do this to the male skier? I don't think so. Partly because men usually overestimate their abilities when talking about equipment. They are all great, lol. I know several guys who have gone out and bought
xpert skis, both model-wise and lengthwise, when they're low intermediates at best. But they will never admit that to the salesperson. Women, on the other hand, tend to underestimate their abilities, and often our cautious natures prevent us from just going out there and charging down the mountain without knowing what we're doing, whereas many guys I've known, family members included, do just the opposite.
Obviously there's a market for the shorter length skis, for your truly petite and lightweight skiers, and beginners as well. But if a company makes a range of lengths in a female specific ski, they've made them because that's the typical size range of your average female skier. Shouldn't a shop carry those lengths to accomodate that range?
What has brought this rant on is the range of comments I've heard recently from ski shops while looking for a particular rockered ski in the next size up from 162. More than one shop has said they never brought in the longer length because women don't want a ski over 160 cm. Oh, and several shops don't carry the more advanced models because women don't want them either. But they had Volkl V-werks in a full range of sizes ($1500 ski). Really? I've left these shops shaking my head. I know it's a matter of them spending their money on stock that they think is going to sell, but I bless the knowledgable shops that take a risk and carry the higher end models for women, and in the full range of sizes.
Rant done.