So, after not having a paid much attention to the snowboard industry in the past, oh seven or eight years, I am pretty disappointed to find out that it doesn’t really seem like there are that many more ladies out on the slopes killing it. Yes, there are women out there and they are kicking ass. But it doesn’t seem like the numbers have evened out fifty-fifty between guys and gals.
One example:
I was reading an article on the new Stance film in Transworld Snow Business and was getting more and more irritated.
First off I want to give the filmmakers credit for creating a film in such a tough media environment. The whole media distribution model has completely flipped due to the ease and ubiquity of duplicating electronic media. So the only way they figure they can make money is by selling ad spots for sponsors. That’s fair. Especially when they have to compete with great (free) videos like those that the guys from The Knife Show create.
However, both Jeremy Miller and Stan Evans, the filmmakers, reported that in informal surveys men responded that they wouldn’t pay to watch a film of women snowboarders and women say that they would only see it if it was good. Evans continues, “Guys will shell out to see what new maneuver Travis Rice invented but not women.”
Also, they commented that most of the riders were inexperienced in the backcountry. Why were they shooting a film of riders in a terrain that they weren’t that comfortable in? There has got to be fantastic backcountry riders out there. Who’s the next Barrett Christy or Victoria Jealouse?
So come on ladies. Where you at?
