by Doug Schnitzspahn
The focus on women's ski construction has finally moved away from building a ski that is easier for a woman to ski. The new models hitting the show focus on women who can rip and want aggressive boards.

(Editor’s note: You can read even more about next year’s gear by checking out the SIA SnowPress Show Dailies – just click on the ‘Mag’ button at the top of this page).

That's good news for women who are sick of having to use smaller versions of men’s skis. There are still fundamental differences in men's and women’s bodies. So, while manufacturers have learned—finally—that women’s skis can be just as aggressive as men’s, they have also made efforts to make skis lighter or use flex that makes sense for differences in female biomechanics.

Here, a peek at some of the new attitude in women’s skis.

Elan
Elan W Studio models women’s skis are made in conjunction with World-class skiers Kim Reichhelm and Urska Hrovat, who collaborated with Elan engineers to create an aggressive collection of women's skis in two lines. Built for the frontside and some all-mountain action, the Magic Series runs from 65 mm to 78 mm underfoot, and includes Elan’s integrated binding systems in most models. The Black Magic is the flagship ski in the series – a ski that capitalizes on aggressive sidecut at 119/72/100 and employs Elan's WaveFlex technology and Fusion Control System, which creates solid edge hold with a flex designed for female geometry. Add a Trulite wood core and you have a women's ski that’s perfectly tailored, but just as aggressive as a dude’s. In the Spice line, the beefy Deep Spice rings in at 130/105/122 and is built with slight rocker to tackle big mountain lines like a big boy's board, but—and we love this—it features classy graphics inspired by artist Gutav Klimt—he of famed painting “The Kiss.”

Salomon
Last season Salomon introduced a series of aggressive, rockered skis with male and female counterparts—The Lord and The Lady. The company did the same this season, adding the 100-mm-underfoot Shogun to its range of rockered boards as well as a women's version, The Geisha. It's a full wood-core ski with a 350-mm rockered profile, with added bamboo and basalt fibers built into the core, which make it light and snappy yet still stable. Salomon also made upgrades to its Origins line of women's all-mountain systems. The idea was to provide the same performance in a range of skis for different ability levels yet to employ lighter materials.

Rossignol
As Rossignol has expanded its brand into active sports, it has also rethought its view of its female segment beyond skiing. The manufacturer’s latest women's skis were designed with an eye on women who ski hard but also love the mountain lifestyle—trail running, mountain biking, rock climbing, hiking and backpacking. The best example of this “girl-who-doesn't-mind-getting-dirty” ski is the new AttraxionXII. At a quick-turning 124/70/112 with a 12.3 radius it uses World Cup sandwich construction alongside Rossi’s Oversize Technology for a ripping carver. Its sister, the Voodoo Pro BC110 was designed for pro LynseyDyer. At 140/110/118, it combines early-rise tip and tail rocker, sidecut camber underfoot, and reverse sidecut in the tip and tail.

Völkl
Völkl rethought the way skis are engineered for women through what it calls Bio-Logic, which also reduces stress on a woman's knees. In conjunction with Marker bindings, the manufacturers built a new Motion ski-binding system that provides a more balanced stance with the toe and heel at nearly the same height. That improved stance takes strain of the quadriceps at the end of a turn, providing better protection for ligaments and tendons. The company also rethought sidecut and flex t go along with the improved stance and both improve performance and protect the knees. The technology will appear in seven new women's skis.

K2

K2’s top selling T:Nine skis are designed with women’s-specific Bioflex cores featuring powerful fir underfoot and more forgiving spruce at the tip and tail resulting in skis that are easier to initiate. Additionally, the T:Nine collection is detailed with a women’s specifically designed MOD vibration damping system. The new T:Nine Free Luv is the perfect all-mountain tool for the advanced level skier. A 76mm waist width combines with a new ERS (Energy Response System) binding technology with integrated hubs developed by K2 and Marker to give the ski incredible versatility without sacrificing hard snow performance. As shown by the pink ribbon on the bases of all T:Nine skis, K2 Sports donates $100,000 annually to the U.S. Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Nordica
Nordica’s new Nemesis sounds like one of the many versatile powder-yet-deep-sidecut men’s skis we are seeing at the show. At 135/98/125, it’s got guts both in untracked and on piste. Furthermore, Nordica has also developed what it calls Efficient Dynamics Technology or EDT in collaboration with biometrics researchers at Italy's University of Padova, which specializes in sports biometrics. The advance has been dubbed Efficient Dynamics Technology or EDT. The concept involves attaching a high-quality aluminum sole to the boot's shell with four screws, completely eliminating movement between the shell and the boot.