Gender Labels On Skis Are Meaningless

A former racer who grew up in Government Camp, Oregon, Keree Smith, 25, likes to ski fast. She wants to rail turns and feel the energy explode out of her ski. She is an aggressive skier and, at 5-foot-7, she’s looking for a ski between 179 and 182 centimeters long.

The skis Smith is looking for exist. In fact, she skis on them. But they aren’t women’s skis, or at least they are not skis expressly marketed to women. By industry standards, Smith skis on men’s skis.

“I’m not an extreme case—there are a lot of women charging out there—but no, I can’t find that in a women’s ski,” she says. “Just because someone is a woman or a man doesn’t mean