SheJumps Associate Editor Leah Fielding has spent the last year interviewing women in the ski industry that have broken through the glass ceiling. Every other week, she plans to highlight those women right here at SheJumps.org.

“The WEAK LINK in a women’s skiing is usually her equipment,” –Jeannie Thoren

Everyone in the industry generally agrees that the late 90s was when proper women-specific skis were created. Sure, softer, shorter, tulip-clad skis were being manufactured before that, but they weren’t designed to truly address a woman’s physique. But a decade before the “shrinked and pinked” attempts at women’s skis and two decades before what we now consider women’s skis, there was Jeannie Thoren, the original women’s gear crusader.

Thoren was always a strong skier; in fact she qualified for the men’s ski team at Northern Michigan University in 1968, but wasn't allowed to join because of her sex. Yet, despite her expertise, knowledge and consistent effort to improve, she still could not master certain techniques. She would tuck one knee behind the other, she couldn’t quite get her skis on edge, she had trouble making quick slalom turns, moguls threw her into the back seat and she often felt like she was skiing out of control. That was Thoren before, before she started piecing it all together.

Thoren quickly identified the problem, it wasn’t her lack of training or misunderstanding of technique, but rather, the gear she was using.

“Women don’t use the same golf clubs as men,” said Thoren. “The companies that manufacture tennis rackets, running shoes, bowling balls and bicycles make special gear for women. Why should women use men’s skis?”

This—ah ha—moment occurred in the late 70s and from then on out she never looked back.

“Anatomy is destiny,” said Thoren, “You can’t be as good as you could be if you have alignment issues.

So in keeping with that vein of thought, Thoren started tinkering with her boots and bindings, looking for ways to improve her alignment. And for every female anatomical “problem,” Thoren found a solution.

For knocked knees—a common problem for women, including Thoren—the solution was to cant the boots, which would re-align the knees and thus flatten the skis.

For prone feet that tended to rotate inward, which was often a side effect of knocked knees—and made getting the skis on edge challenging—Thoren created orthotics.

For the toilet-sitters, as ski instructors abound affectionately call it, Thoren developed a half to one inch heel lift, which she inserted between the boot liner and shell. This allowed for women to get their weight forward.

Thoren was also the first to address binding location.

“Boys are pears standing on their noses while girls are pears sitting on their bottom,” said Thoren. This was her way of explaining the difference of weight distribution in men and women.

Since women have a lower center of gravity, getting more forward on the skis, allows for increased control. So, Thoren moved the bindings further up on the ski.

Nearly all of Thoren’s adjustments were implemented years later when manufacturers finally took the hint. Her boot modifications and forward binding settings are especially prominent in the contemporary ski world. Customized foot beds are very popular; it’s no secret amongst seasoned skiers—male or female—that properly fitted boots make a world of difference.

But, the realization was slow, nearly 20 years in the making. Thoren, who was the first woman at Sun Valley to get a job in the race department as a course patroller, said—as is the case with most new and unfamiliar ideas—that she faced some tough criticism.

“You’re crazy, you can’t make a different,” male co-workers would tell her.

But she persisted, like the crusader she is.

“The guys were saying you’re wrong, you’re wrong.” she said, “But I knew I was right because I was.”

And right she was, Blizzard hooked up with Thoren in the early 80s to create Fame, the first women’s ski with a forward mounted binding.