About
About Gold Snow. ̌
Women’s Snowboard Reviews. Written by Women. Duh.
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Subversive. Explicit. Femme. That’s us, and perhaps you. It’s also the kind of snowboard gear reviews we provide for lady shredders in search of women’s snowboard gear guides not written by dudes (we heart you, bros).
Why give birth to Gold Snow? Many of us on the Gold Snow Squad have been snowboarding for over 20 years, and got tired of being fed reviews of women’s snowboards, boots, and gear by (mostly white) guys. Seriously, that doesn’t even make any sense. And it doesn’t make us want to buy what’s being sold. Mostly, it elicits an eye roll.
While there are some really good resources for snowboard gear reviews and gear guides online, like The Good Ride and White Lines (both of which have a few female reviewers), we wanted to go in a slightly different direction with this project.
Instead of continuing to roll our eyes and allow ourselves to be mansplained to about which snowboard boot or park board or backcountry setup to buy, we created Gold Snow, an online space for women’s snowboard gear reviews that’s owned, operated, and run by mujeres who ride. Period (uhhuh, every month).
In addition to women’s snowboard gear reviews, we also have the Hi/Lo, an art-based snowboarding journal for those who identify as women (cis, trans, non-binary, queer, yes) and/or gender-fluid. Fuck, everything on here is for those who identify as such. So…
Let’s grow this thing in prismatic, riotous, femme-centric, avant-garde ways.
P.S. TypA Co. did a podcast with Gold Snow founder Laura Winberry (Pigpen)! In it, Laura talks about gender constructs, race, snowboarding, family, entrepreneurship, poetry, and more. Give a listen to the episode HERE, subscribe to the podcast (all about the intersection of womxn, entrepreneurship, and social impact!) and give Talia over at TypA Co. a follow on Insta.
How Gold Snow Works.
1. How do Gold Snow reviews work?
Our Gold Snow Review Squad is comprised of women who ride. After one of our reviewers spends 5-10+ days riding a specific board, pair of boots, or bindings, they (some of our reviewers id as female, but prefer non-binary pronouns; we like to respect this) then submit a detailed review form. From this review form, we write a review. In other words, our women’s snowboard gear reviews are collaborative. Oftentimes, we’ll even combine several review forms (for one specific product) in order to write a more comprehensive review of the thing at hand. We’ll always tell you when we do this.
We do not receive any product or $$$ in exchange for positive reviews. Our women’s snowboard gear reviews, gear guides, and content are our bread and butter, our pride and joy, and they’re our views and our views only. While some products may be retained for further testing, use, and enjoyment, we do not allow this to persuade our reviews in any way. That would undermine everything we stand for.
We like what we like, and we don’t like what we don’t like. Bottom line: we write women’s snowboard gear reviews and gear guides you can trust, and want to keep it that way.
2. Why does our women’s snowboard gear review company, every so often, write about “men’s” snowboard gear? Pigpen, take it away.
Except for two sticks (the Burton Shannon Dunn pro model, my first snowboard ever and a secondhand one at that; and the K2 VaVaVoom, which I loved and which still sits in my garage, battered and binding-less), I’ve ridden men’s snowboards and bindings for the entirety of my twenty plus years on snow. Why? Aside from a few rad chicks, my riding crew was all bro, all the time. I loved them, like family. Still do. And because they were the folx with whom I discussed board, boot, and binding selection every season, it makes sense that I ended up on men’s boards and bindings year after year.
In addition to riding-crew influence, there was also always this feeling that women’s snowboard gear just wasn’t as aggressive or progressive as I wanted it to be. Besides, I desired things like skull and crossbones graphics on my boards, not butterflies or swirling purple lines or hearts and flowers (so many fucking hearts and flowers). If you’re going to give me butterflies, at least give them fangs. I digress.
Things have come a long way, indeed. And there are even some (one?) women-owned companies building entire women’s snowboard lineups out there (Coalition Snow!). It’s been awesome to not only witness the progression in women’s snowboard gear, but also in women’s snowboarding itself. Bitches is on some next level shit, and I love it.
Still, whether out of bro-crew roots or personal preference, every so often we will review a snowboard, boot, or binding that’s designated “men’s.” When we do this, though, you can bet it’s a fucking good product. Something we love, much like the Bataleon Magic Carpet.
And really, the thing is we’re not here to sell you on ”women’s specific.” Because that term can mean “we’ve put a lot of time, money, and research into actually creating a solid product for women,” or it can mean “we just took our men’s products, changed up the graphics, and called it women’s specific so you’ll buy it.” What we are here to do, is offer honest reviews of snowboarding gear that we believe to be the gold standard in women’s snowboarding. Period.
