Where are all the female ballers/skiers?

[SusanT]

Where are all the female skiers hiding? I don't think I have seen any other women posting on this site. Are you all out there? Do you slalom, trick, jump, wakeboard, barefoot or just cruise around on combos with your family?

[LeonL]

They're out there all right. I couldn't name many from memory, but they'll report in.

[Than_Bogan]

There are, in fact, a handful of fairly regular female posters. But I'm confident this site would be even better with a lot more of you!

 

Maybe for those who do "report in" you can make some comments about what would help get more female participants?

[RazorRoss3]

I know we have @Mrs_MS‌ out there somewhere.

[6balls]

@waterskigirl‌

@The_Krista‌

@SkiNGurl‌

 

[mwetskier]

this is a forum devoted to a testosterone driven sport with members who snicker and giggle at any riske innuendo or photo of a hot chick in a bikini. why oh why wouldnt the women of this sport want to jump right into that kind of a party? inquiring minds want to know.

[BrennanKMN]

They are all out skiing. They don't have time for website's when there are buoys to round.

Or at least that is what I tell myself...

[walleye]

@Susan T Sunperch is to busy doing dishes, maybe this march she will have time to try out her new xt @ firebird with Ed. I think she went to SanTan for set last year. I would not make any contact with her she is a real buoy hound. Her and the pups visit G-Pa & G-Ma in Phoenix every march while dada goes fishin.

[The_MS]

@Mopowpow

[Mrs_MS]

I've been busy! LOL ;)

 

[gator1]

Asked and answered in the post title: "......female ballers.....".

[thager]

@Mrs_MS I've never seen you so happy!!! Is it Spring yet?

[T-fromTO]

@mwetskier kinda got it right as there can often be a frat party atmosphere on here. That said, I do appreciate Horton's efforts over the last couple of years to tone down the frat boy thing. I think it is working.

[T-fromTO]

@efw More like beer without a frat party.

[6balls]

OK, so here goes. BOS certainly is dominated by posts from guys...what changes would make it more interesting to the gals...those that are listed above and for those graduating college programs and the like? I would love to see more participation from women on BOS.

 

Are there topics that would promote more inclusion? We have a big bunch here at this point. Definitive sections such as exercise, diet, healthy but tasty recipes(I'd love that), non-healthy but really tasty recipes(I'd love that, too), drink recipes, family photo section, fun stuff to do as families in various parts of the country. Just brainstorming here as a lot of the above is not strict skiing, but may be enhancements to the BOS community.

 

As usual...I may be mis-guided just throwing some ideas out there since whatever content we have out there now is by and large attracting males only.

[wtrskior]

they're out there... Didn't get into this sport for the money!

[jmvana1]

I'm a female skier from SC. I don't post much but I do enjoy this site!

[mopowpow]

@mwetskier‌, it takes a lot to offend me. All us girls all know waterskiing is a sausage fest.

[SusanT]

@6balls Thanks for making the effort to reach out to women skiers. I believe we want to talk about skiing, training tips, gear...the same stuff the guys as far as skiing goes.

[MattP]

@SkiLady‌ @skimom‌ @skimom634‌ @waterskigirl‌ are out there as well. @SusanT‌ you are not alone.

[Moggie]

Let’s not forget that skiing is one of the few sports that I believe recognises the accomplishments of female athletes just as much as males. So much has been said on this forum about the achievements of Regina and never is this belittled because of her sex. I must have watched the slow-mo video of her more than any other skiing video out there.

 

There are loads of recreational female skiers out there; the challenge is turning them into addicts who then come on this site for a ‘fix’.

[skigirl]

@SusanT, we are here! Now if only we could get a Kilo Kai ad with a hot guy in it.

[SusanT]

@Moggie One of the male skiers at my lake that organizes the tournaments had a thought. Do you think we would get more women to get tournaments a shot if we offered a free entry at the smaller local tournaments to get them going. Heck, many of them are already with the family. Thoughts???

 

[SusanT]

@‌skigirl

 

[SusanT]

 

[SusanT]

@skigirl Does this work? ^^^^^^

[Stevie Boy]

Am I wrong, to me it's a bit like, how many women do you see fixing a car, on this forum there is a lot of theory, technique, people seeking technical data, settings, information on new skis, etc.

Also a lot of people wanting, to understand, the more in depth aspects of the sport,

I maybe wrong but the majority of lady skiers, I have come across, have not got a clue about their fin settings, etc, but some become very good skiers, for that very reason, they just ski.

Lady Ballers do add a different view point and should be encouraged.

[sunperch]

@mwetskier I agree, the frat boy stuff doesn't offend me, just makes me laugh.

@6ball‌ , @walleye‌ find your own dishwashers, cooks, recipes and things to do with families outside of skiing. (Other than winter) I'm too busy skiing :D

[Than_Bogan]

@SusanT While I appreciate you posting that picture of me, I wish you had chosen one where I'm not wearing such a dorky life jacket.

[SusanT]

@Than_Bogan Unfortunately, we all have that one non-flattering photo of us out there. I'll find a better one next time.

[skigirl]

@SusanT.... thanks!

[T-fromTO]

@Stevie Boy , you are not wrong. You guys just LOVE all the super techie stuff, boats, gear, settings, gadgets. You can't get enough of it! For example, there is a popular thread on here that has over 3000 views and over 100 comments about a gadget. That just blows my mind, I didn't make it through 2 minutes of the video before I was bored to tears.

 

I think a big part of why guys are so attracted to this sport is because of all the "stuff" that goes with it. Not saying that there is anything wrong with that, but it is one of the differences between the sexes that men can find gear so endlessly fascinating and that women (in general) don't.

 

I personally just want to ski. I am of the set it and forget it mindset. I do read a lot of the theory and technique threads as I am interested in improving my skiing but I pretty much skip all the boat engine and fin setting stuff.

 

PS And thanks for setting up our skis for us!

[Wish]

Wow lot of posts were put up since the last time I checked. Was busy using my d3 wing gauges along with my digital slot calipers on my carbon fin with front mini vental and the rear ventral dialing it all in on my ski doc table and recorded it with my GoPro. What did I miss?

[Skoot1123]

@wish - you missed a great unboxing video of @horton unwrapping a new GPS device that can data log at a 10kHz speed. Way cool!

[A_B]

So instead of just thinking I skied like crap, I could have empirical GPS data to substantiate it, great...

[Horton]

This is an interesting subject for me. Over the years I have wavered on what the tone of this forum should be. There was a time when I considered pushing it more like a boys club and (a little) less family friendly. Most of the readers of BallOfSpray are in fact men 35 to 55 and web forums in general tend to skew male.

 

Now that the forum has matured a little it makes me nervous when advertisers send me banners that are a little sexy. I lean more family friendly every day. I say the more Lady Ballers the better. What do I have to do to attract more?

 

[Brady]

@Horton that is the question men have been asking for generations? "What do I have to do to attract more?" If you figure it out, let me know.

[Wish]

Post more pictures of Buford Danger..

[The_MS]

Cut your hair

[SkiLady]

Thanks for tagging me @MattP. A lot of the comments above I agree with. I like browsing this website and the forum. I am not technically minded - characteristic of my chosen field - so some of the discussions get me bogged down in the physics/technique/theory - the shop talk. It also seems that few discuss the longer line lengths (-15, -22, -28) - how to navigate them, progress through them and transition between them, which is where I am.

 

I have an "equipment manager" (ie my husband @Craig‌ ) that decides what ski would work best for me at the given point in my progress and sets it up accordingly. That sounds very stereotypical to not know about my settings and why he does what he does, but I trust his judgement and he knows my skiing better than I do.

 

I personally like reading some of the theory/application posts. I like reading about how each of you teach others how to do things and what you think about while you are skiing, things of that nature. I have been told by ...certain individuals... that a lot of my problems are between the ears. Maybe you could say I like talking about the softer aspects of skiing.

 

Just my two cents. Thanks for listening :smile:

[6balls]

@skilady almost all of our problems are between our ears!! (well, mine anyway)

[GAJ0004]

I am asking myself the same thing all the time, especially since I am single(never married). Water ski ladies are very rare especially up north.

[T-fromTO]

@Horton Seems like no one has a pat answer to your question "How do I attract more women to the site?". The tone of the site is pretty much where it should be now so that's not the issue. Just keep doing what you're doing.

 

The only thing I can think of is to sometimes specifically address women in the titles of threads, like "Lady Ballers, what do you all think of ....?" I believe we are more likely to comment or post if we are specifically called upon/encouraged to do so. Maybe the occasional poll just for women.

 

Here's a good one: Lady Ballers-Do you set up your own skis?

 

Yes-I have mastered the art of ski set up.

No- I get my ski buddy, coach, husband or any random fin-setting-knowing-

guy to do it.

 

[mopowpow]

Pics of Tgas