Women in rec: manufacturers and retailers looking to woo female shredders.

• Author: Stewart, Heather
• Position: Business Trends

There was a time, recently, when a 1 woman who wanted to snowboard would have to brave a terrain park mostly full of men. "It could be intimidating," says Gina Duffy, founder of SheShreds. co. "There would be a line of guys waiting to take their turn, and a woman could be nervous about them watching her. It's like, 'Let's see what she can do."

Those times are quickly changing. Women are hitting the slopes--and mountain trails, rock faces and lakes--in ever-increasing numbers. According to the Outdoor Foundation, 45 percent of outdoor recreation participants are women. And while young men's participation is slowly declining, young women's participation is on the rise.

In 2006, the Outdoor Foundation found that 60 percent of men aged 18-24 participated in outdoor recreation. That number slid to 58 percent by 2012. Young women's participation, on the other hand, increased from 51 percent to 56 percent during that same time period.

For outdoor recreation companies, this gender shift represents exciting new opportunities--if they can get the products and the messaging right.

What Women Want

SheShreds.co, according to its website, "is hell bent on helping ladies find the very best functional and fashionable gear and apparel." SheShreds.co offers its own signature apparel and partners with other retailers to help women find well-designed gear.

The company has affiliate partnerships with Dogfunk.com for snow and skate equipment, BoardCo. corn for wakeboard and surf gear, and Backcountry.com for adventure and outdoor equipment. Duffy says these three companies--all based in Utah--were very interested in reaching out to women through SheShreds.co.

Black Diamond, an outdoor industry heavyweight, has also stepped up its efforts to design equipment and apparel for women. The company is experiencing growth across all its demographic segments, says Ryan Gellert, Black Diamond brand president. But women represent its fastest-growing segment.

"For the last tour or five I years, the female segment has been outpacing the male segment, and I expect that to continue," he says.

Black Diamond approaches product design for women with care. "There's the old adage of 'shrink it and pink it,' and that's definitely not what we're doing," says Gellert. The company works to understand the user experience in order to design functional equipment for women, from packs to ski boots to trekking poles and everything in between.

In addition to gear, the company is now...