Winning a woman over with skis

The chocolate muffins are on steroids, the size of a moose’s head with overflowing tops oozing cocoa. They sit next to puffed up apple turnovers and more Danish doughy goodness sprinkled with cinnamon. Clearly I have come to the right place.

This is the Rossignol Ladies Day, from mastermind event organiser Mary Lou Alvarez. Details matter here the most from the array of sugary goodness served up with coffee and cream as an ice breaker for twenty plus women who will spend the day together to the gift bags of La Roche-Posay sun and skin care products (you can WIN a gift bag at the bottom of this blog).

Then there’s the Mumm champagne in ice buckets in a private mid mountain dining room at lunch and the ski in ski out barista coffee and hot chocolate pit stops at the Rossignol demo tent filled with both female focused ski hardware and Jet Totemeier, the man with the screwdriver ready to set you up on any ski of your choice.

I am at Thredbo for the annual oestrogen fest on skis, a chance for women to ski with women and test drive the latest Rossignol product designed with those same women in mind.

Though don’t be fooled by the hues of pink ski boots filled with faux fur lining, the ski gear here doesn’t just look good, it makes you a better skier or so the Rossignol sales rep tells us when explaining the technical thought process behind the design.

For a moment I think he’s just going to describe the colours on offer and I fear a mass walk out of women but  instead we are presented with a plethora of styles of skis, each with an accurate description of how that ski will attack the mountain from racer ready to big mountain powder.

No condescension, just good humour and good information provided to those who make the real purchase decisions in any household, women.

There are two ‘honorary’ females in the day’s proceedings, Craig ‘Daf’ Daly and Rob Fuleky, both armed with extensive technical knowledge and product know how. This is a Rossignol day after all so some product push is expected, but really it is just about trying out different skis throughout the day and getting around the mountain with a smile.

Australian Olympic skier Manuela Berchtold takes one group, Thredbo’s top female ski instructor Andrea Bishop takes another and ladies man Daf guides another group. So you can ski with your friends or make some new ones.

All the women here already know how to ski, it is not a ski improvement camp, it is a fun ski day out. There’s no ‘grading’ of skiers, you just choose if you want to fang it with Manuela or take a laid back approach with Daf or want to work on some technique with Andrea.

Then it’s game on, rip up the mountain, have a laugh, connect on the chairlift and swap demo skis every couple of hours. Lunch then repeat. Hit the champagne, get on it then continue on with new found friends or hit the hay after a mammoth thigh burning day.

For some women it’s the first weekend off from the kids in months, even years, for others it is a chance for mother and daughter bonding, for others still it is a chance to mix it up a bit away from home.

I am a Rossignol ski convert from a few years back. I, like many, had thought them to be racing obsessed and not the ski for me. Having taken up skiing later in life I learned the ‘new school’ not the ‘old school’ technique of skiing and feared my feet would be locked together if I jumped on a Rossignol ski.

That is until I discovered the S7 big mountain fat boys in Deer Valley a few years back. Yes, I realise now how common I was, the ski racks of Whistler, Jackson, Telluride and Red Mountain were infested with these grand daddy of skis. But they were full for good reason.

This year I was converted to the new Soul 7, an uber light 106mm under foot ski that’s a fusion of backcountry, free ride and freestyle technology. It took me a while to ‘get’ them but each day I spent on snow on my Soul 7’s was another day falling closer to love. So much so I refused to part with them on the Ladies Day.

The truth is these skis just want to go and you have to let them and trust. Trust has always been an issue of mine. So the ski has challenged me to break patterns and has rewarded me with some seriously fun fun fun riding, and yes there is a female version available if you prefer a minuscule less grunt.

But, as Daf would say, back to the women.

This honestly has to be one of the best value day’s out in Thredbo.

Each woman has paid $149 for a day’s skiing in small groups with an Olympian, two course lunch with champagne and wine in the private room at Kareela Hutte, pre ski day coffees and pastries, mid afternoon coffees, chocolate Lindt ball energy throughout the day and an apres drinks event with more Mumm champagne AND a La Roche-Posay cosmetic gift bag of over $200 worth of products.

And yes, the day’s fee also includes your lift pass.

I challenge you to find better value for money on the slopes of Australia and New Zealand. Yes it is effectively a sales day but there’s no pressure to buy anything, just an understanding that once you try you will discover what does and doesn’t work for you and you may surprise yourself in the process.

WIN a La Roche-Posay gift bag

Sadly for you dear reader the event is over for 2014 but there is talk of extending it to two days for 2015 and we’ll keep you posted.

But lucky for you dear reader I have a La Roche Posay goodie bag to giveaway. The very same goodie bag given to each of the women at the Rossignol Ladies Day of full size 50 SPF + creams, sprays, tinted moisturisers and more. Worth over $200.

How do you enter?

Just tell me what you love about love skiing with women.

Winner announced here on Tuesday, August 12.

Disclaimer: Rachael was a guest of Phoenix Leisure Group for Rossignol and Thredbo Alpine Village