Quality outdoor camping, hiking, climbing and skiing gear

Women's Outdoor Gear

A couple of seasons ago, I had the chance to spend a day ripping around Mammoth Mountain with a posse of female competitors in that year's freeskiing (a.k.a. 'extreme') competition. Three of these fortunate souls were sponsored pro freeskiers: Anik Demers, Jessica Sobolowski, and Jamie Burge. Each and every one of them was on a women's ski, and every one left me struggling to keep up.

Traditionally, you'd see rippers like Jamie and Jessica on shorter men's skis—innate abilities aside, the stereotypical women's ski of old didn't provide the performance attributes athletes need. In order to utilize high-performance gear, women had to purchase ill-fitting equipment designed for men. The same held true for almost every other piece of outdoor gear on the market.

For decades, companies in the action sports industry didn't seem to notice (some still don't) that women buy gear too. They buy hiking boots, backpacks, snowboards, and clothes. If women wanted to explore the mountains on their own, they were forced to wear high-cut boots that dug into calves, excessively long pants, sleep in mummy bags too narrow through the waist, and careen down the slopes on ill-fitting snowboards and skis.

Over the past few years, most manufacturers of outdoor gear have done the math: half the population is female, and more of them are heading into the wilderness every day. Today's women's-specific gear is built to fit the unique proportions of the female body, and as a result, every step in the backcountry has become more comfortable and more enjoyable for ladies everywhere.

Check out this sampling of some of the latest innovations in women's equipment:

Women's Packs:

Weekend to week-long packs feature shorter torso lengths (less than 17 inches), curved shoulder straps to accommodate a woman's narrow frame, and a curved hipbelt to follow the contours of your body. Sternum straps are positioned above the breasts but well below the collarbone.

The Osprey Ariel 60 features one of the best curved hipbelts in the business. Gear testers at Backpacker Magazine raved about the larger Luna 75, which features the same system.

The North Face Badlands 65 features a harness system designed specifically by and for women touted by many backpackers as the best on the market.

Women's Sleeping Bags:

Women get cold more easily than men. You'll stay warmer and more comfortable in a women's sleeping bag of equal temperature rating to a unisex bag. A narrower cut in the shoulders and a wider one through the waist increases thermal efficiency, while more insulation in the footbox and chest traps heat where you need it most. Check out The North Face Blue Igloo (20-degree down) and the Marmot Teton (0-degree down) bags.

Women's Hiking Boots:

Female-specific lasts with narrow heel widths and plenty of room in the toe box make traditional break-in periods a thing of the past. Lower volumes for thinner feet further accommodate the feminine form, and a notch in the cuff allows for women's longer and wider calf muscles. The Salomon Adventure Trek 7 GTX is an incredible hiking boot for inclement climates, and the La Sportiva Makalu will take you absolutely anywhere you want to go this winter.

Women's Clothing:

Companies like prAna and Horny Toad cater specifically to women, while they do still sell men's clothing. Check out both of these companies for flattering all-mountain wear that's great for everything from climbing to kicking back on the couch after work.

Women's Skis and Snowboards:

Yep, it's already time to start thinking about winter. Skis like K2's expert-level T Nine Spire typically feature a lighter swing weight for easy turn initiation, a more forgiving flex, and a slightly forward mounting point optimized for the female form. Women's snowboards offer a narrow width for quick edge-to-edge transitions, are lightweight, and forgiving in the turns. Check out K2's best-selling board, the K2 Luna.