The spending power of female skiers and snowboarders continues to grow, a phenomenon the industry is taking to heart.
This week, Boulder-based Mountain Sports Media is launching a new magazine called Women’s Skiing. Outdoor Divas, a female-focused gear and apparel store in Boulder, recently expanded with a second outlet in Cherry Creek North, and ski resorts continue to court the female consumer.
“We feel that there has never been a better time to be a female skier,” said Tracy Ross, editor of Women’s Skiing. “There is strong demand now for women- specific products, and companies have realized it.
“Women have a different build. They’re looking for something different in their ski gear.”
Women’s Skiing will be mailed as a bonus to the 100,000 female subscribers of Mountain Sports Media’s popular Skiing magazine.
In the past year, women spent $240 million on ski gear and apparel, according to the company.
Since the 2001-02 season, total dollar sales volume has grown by 64 percent, according to Boulder-based market-research firm Leisure Trends Group.
During the same period, men’s snow-sport equipment and apparel sales declined by 3.4 percent.
“Women are spending a whole heck of a lot more on equipment and apparel,” said Leisure Trends president Jim Spring. “Women are becoming much more of a powerful force.”
In 2005, 49.4 percent of all downhill skiers were women, up 5 percentage points over 2004, according to Lakewood’s National Ski Areas association. Female snowboarders accounted for 25.8 percent of the sport, down less than 1 percentage point from 2004.
“There has never been a better time for the female consumer,” said Lisa Voorhees, who opened The Sporting Woman in 1991. “Stores from independents to REI understand the growing importance of the woman’s market.”
Voorhees closed her store this summer, for personal reasons.
Growing demand helped convince Mike Callas to open a second outpost of his four-year-old Outdoor Divas. The flagship store in Boulder specializes in women-only adventure gear and classes. A second store opened in Cherry Creek North last month.
“Our business definitely ramped up faster than we expected,” Callas said. “The ski industry is finally catching up to its customers, in that they’re building equipment specifically for females.”
On the slopes, women-only events are also growing in popularity. Telluride Ski Resort started the trend in 1981 with its first “Women’s Ski Week.”
“That year we had one woman sign up, but it has become very successful,” said Annie Vareille Savath, who coordinates the program. “The whole goal of the program is to keep women skiing, because then they bring their families to the ski resort.”
Telluride now sells out three, 60-person Women’s Ski Weeks each year.
Other Colorado ski areas have launched similar programs – from “Sisters in the Steeps” at Silverton Mountain to “Betty Fest” at Keystone.
Women also now control much of the nation’s travel budget. “They are making 70 percent of travel decisions, for the family, for their own getaways or for people at work,” Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants’ officer Niki Leondakis recently told the New York Times. “It’s surprising that more people are not including women in their marketing.”
Count Mountain Sports Media among those that see an opportunity for growth. It hopes to publish up to four issues of Women’s Skiing next year.
The inaugural issue features a women’s gear guide that tests 62 women-specific skis, along with profiles of female athletes and an expanded fashion section.
“Our women readers charge on the hill, but they want to look hot while they’re doing it,” Ross said.
The new magazine has already won advertisers not typically seen in Skiing, including Aveeno Moisturizing Lotion. Industry staples like Chevy, Jeep and Grand Marnier also signed up for the new publication.
“It’s a great product because we’re getting new business, and we’re providing a new outlet for our existing partners to speak directly to women,” said Stefanie Luciano, vice president of marketing for Mountain Sports Media.
Staff writer Julie Dunn can be reached at 303-954-1592 or jdunn@denverpost.com.
This story has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, due to an editing error, it misstated the reason that Lisa Voorhees closed The Sporting Woman in Cherry Creek this summer. She closed the store for personal reasons.
