If you rent skis for a winter trip, or write about who rents them, this article shows how often women’s ski models are chosen: ten seasons of alpy.com booking data and 15 countries. Women’s ski gear is a growing part of what people rent, and the figures show how renters’ choices have recovered since the pandemic and where women’s skis are most popular.<\/p>\n
One in five skis rented through alpy.com is a women’s model. In the 2025\/26 season the figure was 22.1%, level with 2017\/18 (22.0%) after a dip to 20.1% in 2021\/22, the first season after the pandemic. Part of that recovery comes from a new women’s model we added to the range in 2024\/25. Without it, the 2025\/26 share would be about 20.7%.<\/p>\n
One country has stayed ahead of the pack throughout. In every season we compared, renters from the Netherlands chose a women’s ski more often than everyone else combined.<\/p>\n
This comes from our own booking data, the rentals made through alpy.com’s partner shops in the Alps, not a generic survey or a third-party study. We counted adult alpine skis, leaving out kids’ mini skis and cross-country skis, and asked how many were women’s models. In this article, women’s ski gear means women’s ski models, because in 2025\/26 no item other than skis carried a women’s label. “Country” means the customer’s country, not where the rental shop is.<\/p>\n
What makes a ski a women’s model depends on the brand. One ski maker says<\/a> its women’s and men’s lines differ only in graphics, apart from one lighter, softer model. One retailer’s 2014 guide<\/a> describes well-designed women’s skis as lighter and softer, with the bindings mounted about two centimetres further forward. We haven’t compared the construction of the models we rent, so our figures describe the label, not the build.<\/p>\n Women’s models as a share of skis rented<\/strong><\/p>\n Bar lengths are drawn to a 25% scale. 2020\/21, the pandemic season itself, is left out because there were too few bookings to compare.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The share peaked at 23.0% in 2016\/17, eased to 22.0% in 2017\/18 and slid to 20.7% by 2019\/20. It bottomed out at 20.1% in 2021\/22 and has risen every season since, reaching 22.1% in 2025\/26.<\/p>\n The last two steps are not all customer choice. A women’s Blue\/Bronze (3*) ski joined the range in 2024\/25, and it accounts for about 1.4 points of the 2025\/26 figure. Take it out and the share is about 20.7%, which is above the 2021\/22 low but still short of 2017\/18. The recovery is real, and it is partly built into the range.<\/p>\n Alpy Tip:<\/strong> You can update sizes and other details on your alpy.com booking until a few days before your rental starts, so you can book your gear early and adjust later.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Women’s models exist in five of our ten ski grades. In 2025\/26, where they exist, they are chosen often.<\/p>\n Women’s model as a share of skis rented in each grade, 2025\/26<\/strong><\/p>\n Bar lengths are drawn to a 40% scale.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n More than a third of Red\/Silver skis rented were the women’s version. Rookie, Champion and the other grades have no women’s model at all, which is one reason the overall share sits near one in five instead of one in three. Our guide to how ski rental grades work<\/a> explains what the grade names mean.<\/p>\n Women’s models as a share of skis rented, by customer country, 2025\/26<\/strong><\/p>\n All customers combined: 22.1%. Bar lengths are drawn to a 30% scale. *The US figure rests on far fewer bookings than the others, so it is less certain.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Netherlands (26.2%) and the United States (26.9%) are level at the top, though the US figure rests on far fewer bookings. Sweden follows at 24.8%. Germany, Denmark, Belgium, the UK and Austria sit within 1.4 points of each other, between 22.4% and 23.8%. France and Spain share 18.0%, and Israel (16.5%) and Italy (16.1%) come last.<\/p>\n Counting skis is only one way to measure it, and the middle of the table moves depending on the method. We also looked at bookings with exactly one pair of skis, and at the four grades that have always had a women’s model. The UK, for example, ranks 7th when counting skis and 10th on both of the other counts.<\/p>\n Two things don’t move. The Netherlands is first or second every time, at 26.2%, 34.2% and 25.4% on the three counts. Italy and Israel stay near the bottom on all three. Everything in between is close enough that we wouldn’t put weight on any single position.<\/p>\nThe dip and the climb back<\/h2>\n
Where women’s ski gear is chosen most<\/h2>\n
How women’s ski gear compares by country<\/h2>\n
How much of the order is real?<\/h2>\n
The Dutch lead is not new<\/h2>\n