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The success of Blizzard's Black Pearl skis echoes what athletic women have been claiming for years: women's gear matters.
The success of Blizzard's Black Pearl skis echoes what athletic women have been claiming for years: women's gear matters.

Wake Up, Gear Brands. Women Want High-Performance Gear.

One sliver of evidence? The number-one selling ski last winter was the women's Black Pearl, from Blizzard

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The success of Blizzard's Black Pearl skis echoes what athletic women have been claiming for years: women's gear matters.

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Last winter, Blizzard鈥檚 Black Pearl was the number-one selling ski in the U.S., besting more than 1,200 models in both units and dollars sold. The coolest thing about the Black Pearl? It's a聽women鈥檚 ski. And its bestseller status should serve as a wake-up call to the many gear companies聽that still consider women as secondary market.听

This isn鈥檛 even the first time that a women鈥檚 ski outsold everything else. did it back in 2010/11 with its聽, which was probably the first women鈥檚-specific model to become the industry鈥檚 overall sales leader. The Black Pearl鈥檚 success is no fluke. Here are a few lessons brands can learn from its success.听

(Courtesy of Blizzard)

#1.听Women Spend Money on Skis聽

It鈥檚 widely believed that 鈥攎eaning that even when women don鈥檛 plunk down their own cash for stuff, their preferences are still steering the sale. Knowing that, companies in all sectors are scrambling to attract female customers. There鈥檚 a big profit incentive: we spend handsomely on things we like.

Yet the outdoor industry can鈥檛 seem to shake its skepticism about women鈥檚 products. When companies debut聽razzle-dazzle new technologies, they鈥檙e typically offered only in the men鈥檚 product lines that first season. It takes time for the innovations to trickle down to the women鈥檚 models. (There are some exceptions: I applaud Head for its Joy collection of skis, which integrated an exceptionally light yet strong material called graphene into the current women鈥檚 models; the guys get theirs next year.)聽

Typically, gear companies are fearful of making significant investments in women鈥檚 gear, claiming there aren鈥檛 enough interested buyers to merit the expense. Women, meanwhile, can鈥檛 buy things that don鈥檛 exist and they鈥檙e understandably reluctant to buy anyone鈥檚 halfhearted effort.听

What the Black Pearl proves, with its chart-topping sales ranking, is that women will spend money on exciting gear that serves their needs. By making such products, companies stand to profit.

#2. Women Have Skills

News flash, gear companies: not all women are beginners in their sports and manufacturers that conflate the two miss the mark. Sure, some women are best served by entry-level gear, just as some men are. Despite what gender stereotypes would have us believe, lots of men are聽tentative on skis and bikes鈥攁nd lots of聽women rage. This should be obvious.听

But most women鈥檚 skis continue to be beginner, intermediate, or, euphemistically,聽鈥渁ccessible鈥 models designed for cautious athletes. The Black Pearl, meanwhile, is an all-mountain plank for actual rippers. It鈥檚 easygoing enough to feel fun when you鈥檙e revving at a lower RPM, but it鈥檚 intended for skilled drivers.

#3. Women Want Respect

There鈥檚 nothing patronizing about the Black Pearl. The graphics aren鈥檛 overtly girly. There are no flowers or swirls to make it trinket-pretty. Its聽poplar/beech core with carbon overlay and full, tip-to-tail sidewall聽isn鈥檛 dumbed-down, and is perfectly adequate聽for even advanced skiers. (The strongest will still likely want something even stiffer, with metal.) Is popularity confirms that companies don鈥檛 have to play the glitter card to get women鈥檚 attention.听They do, however, need to make fun tools for a variety of ability levels.

Appealing to a spectrum of users is key: there is no one 鈥渇emale,鈥 and offering just one or two women鈥檚 options looks like a token attempt at selling to that market. That鈥檚 what drives some shoppers to . 鈥淚 make a lot of skis for women,鈥 Pete Wagner once told me.听And those that do are聽paying $1,750 and up for the perfect boards.听

Companies need to聽acknowledge the existence of female pros by making high-performing gear. (Take Blizzard鈥檚 2017-18聽, which will spank all but the strongest skiers.) They also need to recognize聽that current intermediates may progress to the elite level. Beginners and intermediates like respect, too. That K2 winner from 2010? It offered a forgiving ride, no apologies. By making gear that鈥檚 truly fun for its intended user, companies don鈥檛 have to gloss it up with girly packaging.

#4. Women Will Talk

I鈥檒l hazard this guess: a聽lot of those Black Pearl sales were fueled by word-of-mouth testimonials from skiers who already owned and loved those skis.听

Women poll one another about great finds鈥攅specially gear. We want to know what works for other women. And when we find something we love, we鈥檒l hype it more passionately than any marketing department. In other words, we not only buy great gear鈥攂ut we sell it, too.

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