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Coalition Snow's prototype all-mountain ski on the slopes of Lake Tahoe last winter.
Word around the post-ski tailgate
session
is that the lady skiers don’t want that soft pink ski. She wants a
stiff ripping ski with the stability to rally icy groomers, the width to float
through nipple-deep pow, and the snap for those last-second line changes.
Coalition Snow was founded to deliver just
that.
“You
spend enough time skiing and snowboarding with women and these themes start to
emerge like ‘My gear sucks,’ or ‘I bought these men’s skis because the woman’s
stuff was too soft,” said Jennifer Gurecki, founder of
Coalition Snow. “It
became really obvious that there was this opportunity to become part of this
grassroots movement where woman were taking ownership over their experiences in
the mountains.”
Coalition Snow founder Jennifer Gurecki at a Lake Tahoe fundraiser for the S.A.F.E. A.S. clinic.
At
first, starting a ski company was just an idea, a topic to throw in
conversation around the campfire, but it continued to grow. The more women she
talked to, the more Gurecki began to envision an actual product. People were
responding to the idea in such a positive way that Gurecki knew she had an
opportunity. By the end of summer, she
developed some samples–two pairs of skis and two snowboards to take to the
hill and put to the test.
“I
was going to Kenya in the fall, and I thought what a great opportunity to
launch the company by taking our skis and snowboard up a 16,000-foot mountain
and skiing the glacier,” said Gurecki. This wasn’t her first trip to Kenya and Coalition Snow wasn’t
Gurecki’s first project working towards woman’s empowerment.
Jennifer Gurecki and Meghan Kelly on the summit of Mount Kenya.
During
grad school, Gurecki had travelled to Kenya to research bottom-up approaches to
social change. What she found was that many of the women in the country lacked
access to capital. Gurecki founded
Zawadisha, a non-profit organization that
provides microloans, business training, and preventative healthcare to help
women in the region raise themselves out of poverty.
Through what she named
Summit for our Sisters, Gurecki raised
$16,355 for Zawadisha while launching her second company, Coalition Snow, on
the 16,355 foot summit of Mount Kenya. There was a product and interest, but a
lot more work had to be done.
Meghan Kelly skiing from the summit of Mount Kenya on Coalition Snow prototypes.
“From
there, it’s just like starting any other business. You need to figure out what
is it that you’re really about and who are you trying to target,” said Gurecki.
So it was back to the drawing boards for more research.
“I’ve spent an incredible amount of
time looking for data that women need a softer ski,” said Gurecki. “It seems
the predominant narrative in the industry is that women are at a disadvantage
physically. It’s not just like that in skiing and boarding, I think that women
are perceived like that in all athletic endeavors–that they’re just weaker than
men, and because of that, companies try to make gear that somehow compensates
for that weakness.”
I’ve spent an incredible amount of time looking for data that women need a softer ski,” said Gurecki. “It seems the predominant narrative in the industry is that women are at a disadvantage physically. It’s not just like that in skiing and boarding.
It’s not just about advocating
feminism or men versus women, but it doesn’t take more than a few days on the
hill or a trip to the local bar to know that the mountain lifestyle and the ski
and snowboard industry are generally a man’s world. Coalition Snow isn’t about
building radically different ski design or creating an exclusive woman’s club –
it’s about proving to more women that there is plenty of room in the mountains
for all voices.
Coalition ambassador Jillian Raymond pedaling towards the California backcountry.
“We didn’t create anything drastic.
We started with what women wanted rather than building something first and
marketing it to women,” said Gurecki who spend a year talking to different
women, having them test ski designs and give feedback and figuring out not just
a solid product but building a community.
Looking for women's specific mountain bike apparel? Check out our profile of Colorado's Shredly!
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“As far as what
makes it womens’ specific, I think that is more about the company’s founding,
vision, and sisterhood then actual specs. I have had multiple dudes see my
boards, get stoked and want to ski them–and they can!” said Jillian Raymond, a Coalition
Snow Ambassador. However, the focus on what has become the “Sisterhood of
Shred” has not detracted from creating a quality product based on what women
are asking for.
Swedish Slopestyle Tour champ Sandra Dejin putting some airtime in on Coalition's all-mountain ski.
“I don't think there are real differences,
technically, between a ski that’s perfect for women and one that’s perfect for
men. Every skier wants something different in their ski of choice,” said
Lauren Bello Okerman, one of the ladies on the product research team. “The fun,
progressive skis with torsional stiffness and interesting rocker profiles being
churned out these days can be slightly out of range for women because of their
length.”
Coalition's snowboard, the Myth, which comes in 147 and 151 cm lengths.
After
recruiting a team of women to put a variety of ski and snowboard shapes through
the ringer, Gurecki chose a limited run of designs to build for the
2014-15 season.
Rachel Graf rips spring groomers at Mammoth on Coalition's prototype snowboard.
“I ride really surfy. I grew up
surfing in New Hampshire, so I like rocker boards a lot, but I also used to
race snowboard cross, so sometimes I like something stiff and fast,” said
Rachel Graf, whose input helped design the Myth snowboard. The skis come in two
styles: a 105 mm-width all-mountain ski with rocker in the tip and tail (the
SOS) and a 114 mm-width powder ski called the Abyss.
Coalition's powder ski, the Abyss, with dimensions of 129-114-119.
With a design in place and the
support of a growing community, Coalition Snow still had to face the challenges
of putting a product into production. Gurecki chose to start with a limited
amount of skis and boards during the first production season to ensure that she
is able to provide a quality product without over-stretching her resources.
Jillian Raymond skinning towards the summit of 14,179' Mount Shasta.
As a small company with no track
record, it’s a difficult balancing act for Gurecki to incorporate certain
production practices while keeping the end product cost-effective for herself
and the end consumer. For example, she chose to work with a factory overseas to
build the skis, rather than building the ski locally, because the cost would
have made the skis and boards less accessible and the materials are still
sourced from overseas. However, as the company grows and evolves, Gurecki
continues to search for the best manufacturing processes.
Look for the first batch of
Coalition Snow skis and boards at
coalitionsnow.com or goodpeople.com beginning
this fall. Coalition Snow will also be hosting the premiere of
Pretty Faces in
San Fransisco this October.