womens skis

[treebunny]

in reading tht reviews from this site as well as the mags it seems the womens skis are only reviewed by women but all the rest are reviewed by both sexes. the reviews fo the womens skis would have more validity if they were also tested by men. it would show if the ski is really the same i would think as the uni ski or if it is dumbed down and give the skis more credability if they were reviewed by all the same people. and don't answer that womens skis are targeted for women so they should be reviewed by women. most advanced women skiers are shy of girly skis cause they dont trust that they aren't intermediate skis. and if they are intermediated skis, advanced women shouldn't have them sold to them. give them a fair review!there is so much nonsense in the ski industry that needs to be cut through.

[jim-ratliff]

Treebunny:

WOW, a real post instead of all of the spam.  I disagree with several of your conclusions.

1. I don't believe that women's skis here are only reviewed by women skiers. Peter relies upon employees of multiple ski shops to write reviews when the manufacturers introduce the next years models.  Which employees ski which skis is actually up to the shop owners or the employees themselves.  I remember seeing reviews where Peter's assessment was that "even the guys liked this ski."  Having said that, I would certainly understand why any shop owner that has any women techs would ask them to focus on evaluating women's skis.
2. It's pretty well accepted, I believe, that the skis aren't the same nor are they merely "dumbed down".  Jeannie Thoren (who has nothing to do with this site) has been running camps and evangelizing for years the fact that womens physiology is different than men's and that women benefit from different binding mounting points.  The biggest difference between men's and women's skis is the default mounting point and the fact that the skis are more easily flexed (because, in general, women weigh less than men).
3. Having said that, obviously a match between the flex of a ski and the weight of the skier can be matched with womens or mens skis used by either women on men.  I know of lightweight guys that are ecstatic about the womens skis they use (but not the flowery "wild thang" names, and there are lots of women happy with the flex patters and performance of men's skis.
4. At least in the K2 and Head lines, there is nearly as much variety in the ski types as in the men's skis.  Those two manufacturers have made serious efforts for several years to truly design skis for women.

However, as with ALL ski recommendations, the ultimate advice is demo, demo, demo.  Also, personally, I find the names of the K2 and Head women's skis disgusting, but I assume that their marketing people have done their homework.