Women’s Gear Guide went to our first Snowsports Industries of America (SIA) “2013 Snow Show,” last week. It’s the nation’s largest snowsports trade show, and we’re still recovering. We met with so many brands that we were cross eyed at the end of the day. Leah Fielding was there to check out next season’s women’s ski gear, while Dayla Robinson was holding it down for the snowboarders. There are so many amazing products in queue for next season, we had a hard time narrowing down our list of “important stuff.” Here’s what’s trending, new and cool for ski and snowboard women.
OUTERWEAR
Streetwear style meets high performance features and fabric in 2013/14. The color palates have mellowed from past year’s blindingly neon to more muted, earthy hues. Mustard yellow stands out as the color of the year. Bursts of yellows are paired with muted teals, greens and tans. We also noted a presence of organic textures —Roxy’s waxed twill jacket (pictured to the right)— and asymmetrical designs and body flattering cuts—most dominantly by Orage.
Patagonia, TREW, Burton, Obermeyer and Arc’Teryx were also standouts, as brands that are applying the female-specific fit, technical performance and style to outdoor women’s apparel.
“Fashion is next to performance,” says Lauren Myatt, women’s product line manager for Obermeyer. Myatt says she looks to Stylesight—a fashion trending website resource—to stay on top of new styles and colors.
SNOWBOARD
Female participation in snowboarding is growing significantly for the 18-34 year-old crowd and the industry is taking notice. The new generation of Millenials doesn’t think snowboarding is just for the boys anymore – and there are many more options in apparel and equipment just for these women, according to a press release by Snowsports Industries of America.
“Hybrid camber rocker snowboards seem to have the biggest draw — they give women riders from beginner to expert a versatile ride for any condition,” commented Richard Leto of Ski Barn in Wayne, NJ.
Snowboard boots with a stiffer flex and those with hiking or crampon-compatible soles, and lighter, stronger more efficient splitboard bindings were testament to snowboarding’s rising backcountry renaissance. So it comes as little surprise that female-specific splitboard models are on the rise too. Burton came out with the first option for the 2012/13 season and many other manufacturers are following their lead, including K2.
ALPINE
Just like snowboarding, there’s a charge into the backcountry for skiers. Whether it’s accessed through a resort, a trailhead or hiking, backcountry was definitely the talk of the Snow Show and the alpine category is responding with more backcountry-focused features that also provide downhill performance. Skis are also about 15-20 percent lighter on average than previous models, according to a press release by SIA.
“Consumers are looking for boots and bindings and gear that allow them opportunities. They want the option to go bigger and deeper,” says Aaron Provine of Backcountry.com.
We saw a surge of women’s alpine ski boots with walk-mode features. Among the most notable were Dalbello and Lange. Dalbello continues to create a legacy around high performance boots that kick ass in the comfort and warmth department, especially when combined with the Intuition ID liner. Lange, who is has a history of stiff, high performance race boots, has reinvented themselves, and their boot design and are now back at the top of their game, with an extremely comfortable boot liner and softer flex options.
“We’re seeing a fusion of many ski disciplines. Freeriding blending into frontside skiing blending into alpine touring and ski mountaineering,” commented Kurt Hoefler, VP of sales at Rossignol.
In general, rocker technology continues to be the up and up trend. “Manufacturers have realized that rocker isn’t just for freeride, but when judiciously applied, it can make even a carving ski more versatile. We’ve also seen skis trending towards more girth – 95-115 underfoot where the tip rocker seems to be the sweet spot for most people,” said Tom Winter, VP of marketing at Liberty Skis.
For women’s skis, we noticed more and more manufacturers are filling gaps in their all-mountain and freeride lines. For example Volkl, Rossignol and Salomon added new models with waist sizes that were previously unaddressed. Rossignol’s new Savory 7 and its male counterpart the Soul 7 received “Best of Show” for its revolutionary design. The ski is 106 mm underfoot with a more gradual tip rise than year’s past and a stiffer tail. Honeycomb technology reduces chatter in the tip.
Women’s skis in 2013/14 will see the continuation of lighter materials and design, amongst them are Liberty, Armada, Volkl, Black Diamond and DPS. But, the most exciting news in ski innovation for women came from 4FRNT, who’s beefed up the materials and construction under the heel, creating a cant, if you will. This allows women to better engage the tip of the ski, and carve, because their weight is more forward.
Dynastar came out with whole new women’s line the “Cham,” a tip rockered ski with a traditional tail, making it highly maneuverable in tight trees, and maintains stability at high speeds.
NORDIC
The Nordic industry is predicted to experience exciting product developments with lean snow years propelling innovation. The lines between alpine touring and cross-country skiing are blurring, more companies are offering high-performance skate boots and there are increased options in metal edge touring skis for recreational skiers, according to an SIA press release.
Though snow levels are low, optimism is high. “I find this to be an incredible opportunity to try to find compelling reasons for retailers to sign up for my brands and instigate market-share shifts,” said Isaac Wilson, product manager for Salomon Nordic and Atomic. “Here at the Show we have access to some of the most important dollars in the Nordic industry. It is an opportunity to check out what is out there and what is relevant to the marketplace.”
ACCESSORIES
Helmets
Trend for the coming season in helmets include new technologies in multi-impact protection materials, impact-absorption materials taken from body armor, fully integrated goggle-helmet systems and more adjustable fit options.
For women with smaller heads and faces, looking for a lower profile helmet, newcomer Pret made a great showing. Bern helmets had some cool new updates with wireless, bluetooth headphones, that you can control with your smartphone. We also liked helmets, like Bern and Scott, who have multi-seasonal use, ie mountain biking in the Spring.
Hats
As with apparel, the color palette for hats adopted more muted earth tones like olive, moss, taupe, grey and brown. Pops of brighter colors appear with lime, chili, pacific blue and yellow, could be seen at Pistil’s booth. The biggest hits at SIA were chunky hand-knits, multi-colored marled yarns, plush fleece linings and bandana balaclavas.
Goggles/Sunglasses
For next year, many brands are embracing a simple and classic styling of goggles with cylindrical or flat lenses. These near-frameless goggles have a clean, simplified look but also state of the art technical features such as improved venting features and techy integrations like cameras, such as Zeal and Oakley. Bluetooth connections and adjustable lens tint. For sunglasses a retro style, with mid-size silhouettes and translucent frames are dominating the category.
“Designs are moving toward sleeker, lower-profile dimensions overall,” said Andy McSorely of Oakley.
The lower-profile trend in unisex models means more options for women with smaller faces.
Gloves/Mittens
The market has a continued demand for touch-screen technology. Backcountry is also touching this category as consumers need a glove that does more than just keep their hands warm and dry.
“We’ve seen steady growth in our technical glove category. With more skiers/snowboarders traveling in the backcountry, the demand for a glove that can be used with ropes and tools has been a big request in the marketplace,” said Adam Green, of Scott Sports.
On the innovation side of things, Gordini introduced their new mitten/glove model that uses silk as its insulation.
Baselayers
There were more insulated mid-layers at the Snow Show than ever before. Many companies are developing base/mid-layers that are meant to be worn together as a system and worn on their own as lifestyle pieces, including Patagonia, Roxy, Arc-Tery’x and Orage. Polartec’s uber-popular waffle grid fabric continues to dominate the baselayer scene. But there was also a big emphasis on natural fibers — especially wool.
2013 SIA Snow Show – Daily Dose – It’s a Wrap! from SnowSports Industries America on Vimeo.
SIA On-Snow Demo. Made by the Industry for the Industry. from SnowSports Industries America on Vimeo.
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[…] rockered technology for both powder and all-mountain skiing. And, from what we at WGG surmised from 2013 SIA “Snow Show” that technology isn’t going anywhere, it’s only being further developed with each […]
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