More women on the ski slopes - with Nordica

Last September, our head chèvre Pascale went to Park City, Utah to take part in the Nordica 2022 North American Women's Summit and it was quite an adventure.

A 6 hour layover in San Francisco, an unreachable rental car upon arrival, no luggage on the way back to Montreal, all this with a 4 month old baby and a 4 year old boy. This will be the subject of another blog (literally), but we can say that this trip was full of twists and turns.

Pascale was invited on behalf of herself and Les Chèvres to participate in this second edition of the North American Women's Summit. This weekend brought together ski leaders from various backgrounds: pro-skiers, ski marketers, instructors, and representatives from the initiation communities, much like the Chèvres' initiative.

The goal of the summit is to leverage the group's knowledge and expertise to better tailor product development and brand evolution. They fueled discussions on:

• the place of women in the industry;
• inclusiveness;
• products adapted to the specific needs of women;
• the brand, its mission and its history.

It's crazy to think that our little Chèvre community that started in 2015 has evolved and is now able to share its expertise within these discussions.

Nordica and les chèvres

Nordica has been a partner with les Chèvres for three years now. The company contributes directly to facilitating access to backcountry skiing by providing a fleet of skis each winter for use by our participants. Charles, a representative for Nordica, takes care of everything! He contacts the ladies who rent skis, prepares them in advance according to their measurements and skill level, and is present in the field during the initiations as technical support. Nordica is a partner that believes in the mission of the Chèvres and helps the community grow in the field. This precious partner is committed to the place of women in the ski world.

Why for women and between women?

We notice that more and more players in the industry want to put the female segment forward: to better understand their needs, to create adapted products and to evolve in a more inclusive way. Women learn differently and have different needs. After almost eight years of building the community, it's even easier to see why. Being in the field with you and having many discussions with you allows us to lend our voice and share different points with industry players who want to make a difference for women.

We leave this summit with our heads full of thoughts, projects (ski trip?) and discussions that we can't wait to share with you on the ground this winter.

Fun facts about Nordica

• They have been making skis for only 23 years (since 1999)
• At the very beginning, it was a brand of boots only
• They were the first to develop the flex index in ski boots (for non-skiers, the flex index is the stiffness index of the boot in forward flexion, depending on weight, size and level, we will choose a different stiffness. It's all about finding the balance between comfort and performance, another blog topic here too).
• They developed a technology for women's skis that they now use on their men's and unisex skis