Why don't more women ski?

Let's face it -- there are far more men than women on the slopes. It's one of the reasons I launched TheSkiDiva.com -- to give women skiers a place to connect with one another.

So what's keeping women off the slopes? I already posted about this a while ago (go here). But here are a few more thoughts about this from some of the members at TheSkiDiva.com:

When I was in college a lot of my friends skied. But as I got older, they got fewer and fewer. For some it was kids, and the whole process was too difficult. For others, it was money. And for others, it was just lack of either time or interest. I'm the only one of us who's managed to keep at it.

I think as woman age their priorities change. High School age and younger, they have no responsibility, and are able to enjoy skiing without guilt. College age there's more responsibility with school, but no families or children yet. After graduation there's jobs, thus less time for skiing, more dedication to climbing the corporate ladder etc. Finally marriage, kids, lots and lots of responsibility less and less time for skiing. Skiing isn't a priority any longer and goes by the way side.

Part of the reason women fall into supporter roll is because of the way we're brought up, but I think another part of it is that "we" reorganize our lives and reprioritize our lives all the time. We tend to reinvent ourselves when things happen in our life, and adjust our priorities. If a guy is a skier when he's single, he'll likely be a skier when he's married, and when he becomes a dad..............(you get the idea), When an average woman makes those transitions her her life, I think she tends to adjust priorities more readily, and thus the lack of enthusiasm for a given activity.

It seems women get distracted from skiing by the parenting and total family expense; unfortunate more fathers don't step up and insist on hanging in the lodge and encouraging mom to get back out there. I don't live in the land of make believe -- couple of my friends husbands did encourage them to get back out there and take turns in the lodge. It makes the difference, for these friends they are still skiers -- with and without family.

Be sure to visit TheSkiDiva.com, an internet forum especially for women skiers, where women skiers can connect with one another to talk about everything and anything ski-related.