Skis for Women
We design skis for individuals, not for classes. When you come to Wagner Custom for a tailor-made ski, we'll make no assumptions about "What Women Need." We're only concerned with what you need.
It's become fashionable at the big factories to make "woman specific" skis. These often have lightweight cores, which can be a good thing. But they also often have forward—located bindings and thick heel lifts, which are a bad thing.
There's a myth that a woman's center of gravity is lower than a man's. It's not true – we've measured it. Male or female, your center of gravity sits a couple of inches behind and below your navel. There's also a myth that when the knees flex, a man's center of gravity moves forward, while a woman's center of gravity moves back. That's supposed to be the reason that women should be tilted forward over the tips of their skis.
But your center of gravity moves back only if, when you flex the knees, your ankles don't flex. If you bend your knees and your ankles don't flex, your butt goes aft into what ski instructors indelicately call the "toilet position." If you're sticking your butt out and riding the tails of your skis, it's not because of the way you're built — it's because your boots are too stiff.
The solution isn't moving the bindings forward and raising your heels. The solution is simply to buy a smaller, softer boot shell.
The problem with moving the binding forward is that you wind up with too much tail riding along. This long tail functions like a straight rudder. It hangs up in moguls and makes it very difficult to complete a round turn in powder. So, while moving the bindings forward makes starting the turn easier, it often makes the end of the turn into a skidded, awkward recovery. Moving the bindings forward puts a glass ceiling on your level of expertise. You cannot master steep, deep, bumpy or icy snow with an extra inch or two of tail hanging out behind, trying to straighten out the end of each turn.
Watch an expert woman ski, or better yet, a top woman racer. She stands centered in the middle of a ski with a round, moderately soft flex pattern, flexing her soft boots with every turn. If there's a difference between what she does and what her brother does, it's in the way she handles her ski poles, not her boots and skis. Her pole plant in moguls isn't as powerful, because she doesn't have his massive shoulders. That's the only difference.
