Skis, boots, and bindings made for women.

Often, women's ski and boot models are virtually identical men’s, just with some small changes to details to facilitate their use by an audience whose physical characteristics are in fact very different. For instance, women-specific skis have slightly softer flexes, less snappy materials, offer a smoother ride and are sold in shorter lengths, while boots in particular need to take into account women’s different leg shape. The gastrocnemius muscle—one of the pair that make up the calf—is more rounded and extends lower in the female anatomy, and a good women’s boot thus has a lower liner and cuff and perhaps a small posterior convex shaping.

But this doesn’t mean women tourers necessarily have to choose solely products bearing a ‘W’. There are brands, like Black Crows for example, that produce exclusively unisex skis. And there are also unisex skis that are widely appreciated by female skiers. In short, there aren’t any hard-and-fast rules, just suggestions based on personal tastes. With the specific aim of providing women tourers a targeted and increasingly useful tool, and thanks to the feedback received from many of our female readers who love the mountains in winter, this year the Women’s section has been completely revamped. Skis and boots are no longer put together in a single category, but like men's equipment, we’ve divided them into Race, Light, Tour and Free sections, with specific labels. This new format will allow you to navigate within categories more easily, identify the products tested, and choose your ideal tools for your next winter adventures.

Free Skis

The new-school female freerider is an increasingly prominent figure in the touring world; she loves to ride on- and off-piste with the floaty finesse of a Freeride World Tour skier. Oftentimes coming from a ski instructor background, she prefers the extra grams that come with fatter and heftier equipment and opts for shorter missions where the focus is on seeking out aesthetic lines. The maximum waist you’ll find in this category is 110 mm. But most of the skis tested have sub-100 mm waists. Because the average female freerider has no need of massively fat planks to express her skiing prowess. Indeed, a good 98 underfoot guarantees excellent float for weights and power peaks that tend to be lower than those for men, whilst also allowing for some short ascents to hunt out the best lines. We like energetic, precise skis that are responsive even when charging. Not self-driving planks, but skis you can really ride. And better too if they’re also fun and have enough pop to let you pull the odd trick on the down. This section includes some really interesting products, such as Black Diamond’s Impulse Ti Diamond, which represents a new frontier in the realm of ascent-friendly freetouring due to their light weight and ease of use.

Tour Skis

Neither one thing nor the other, but everything and nothing. The hybrid par excellence, the unique ski that we increasingly see newcomers to the sport using. In the women’s segment, this category is almost as wide as the Free products, but much lighter and easier to handle. Some only use them for off-piste descents, while others will use them to tackle classic Haute Routes. This segment is very diverse and characteristics vary greatly from ski to ski. What’s certain, though, is that it’s a growing category among women who, until recently, would shy away from tackling ascents on skis with waist widths over 80 mm. Today, however, weights over a kilo (and in some cases almost a kilo and a half) are no longer a problem. All you need is fit legs and the motivation of knowing that after a two-thousand-meter ascent at altitude with 96 mm underfoot, you have two thousand meters of pure, full-throttle downhill fun to look forward to. The major innovations in this category come from Atomic, with two freetouring models at very interesting weights and an FWT version. This category also includes some major classics such as the K2 Wayback and Blizzard Zero G, as well as some famed vintage Dynafits, and new-school models such as the Agent 2X by Faction.

Light Skis

As the main Women’s category, this remains the most interesting for female ski tourers who are not afraid of tackling long ascents and prefer a skiing style that emphasizes control and lower speeds. Lightness and maneuverability remain the characteristics that appeal to most. What’s really changed is the character. Because the ‘light means easy going’ paradigm no longer holds. Lightweight tools allow you to venture further, tackle longer ascents and face committing missions without fear, meaning also mountaineering sections, steeps and couloirs. So the ideal tool is multipurpose—one that lets you explore different terrain types and any snow conditions. There’s limited news in this section, other than some restyling, but you don’t change a winning team and the companies are certainly focusing more on the unisex market. But previous seasons’ products remain very valid choices, as they still reflect the central needs of this discipline.

Free Boots

Who are you calling soft? Let's dispel the myth once and for all that women's boots need to be overly soft to make them comfortable and warm. Or more correctly, such boots are still very popular, but just for après-ski. When arcing carved turns, tackling steep slopes at full throttle, riding pillows and dropping cliffs, it’s better to be clamped into a solid, robust pair of boots. Now technology and ultra-light materials allow for four-buckle boots that provide optimum support whilst also delivering relative comfort, and adapt well to all types of feet. This means doing away with excessive bulk, and enhancing precision, for fast descents in perfect control. Oh, and good walkability is obviously a must. Riding the lifts is fine. But if the best powder is a tantalizing 300 meters above the top station... well that’s an opportunity not to be missed.

Tour Boots

As with the Free category, no one wants super-soft carpet-slipper Tour boots anymore. The goal is fast, light and efficient ascents followed by maximum downhill performance. The super hybrids like the Gea RS are very interesting propositions: these could easily pass as a freestyle boot but feature altogether different weights and bulks. Meaning a do-it-all boot that you can use on both powder days and for long weekend backcountry missions. It’s easy to forgo comfort and super-warm liners if the gain is support and precision.

Light Boots

Lightweight plastics and intuitive buckles. Boots to really eat up the vert. There are few new entries with respect to last season, but one is the Kilo. Among the others in this category, the mainstays remain the same, including the Tecnica Zero G Peak or the Scarpa F1 GT which features enhanced support. This segment remains an excellent choice if you’re seeking a do-it-all boot, for classic missions that include some technical sections on the ascent. For exploring deep into the backcountry, kick turn after kick turn. This section also includes the main comfort-focused products for those looking for a hassle-free choice.

Bindings

Just a few words for what is one of the key elements in any setup. Because the reality is there are no women-specific bindings. For those with smaller builds and reduced power peaks, there is a need to have models that can be adjusted down to lower release values—bindings usually aimed at kids or perhaps unisex, which increasingly feature higher but also lower release values. One such example is the ATK RT 11 Evo, with a minimum release value reduced from an already low 5, to an even lower 3.