Ski Confidence for Women: Why Women Stop Skiing (And What the Ski Industry Is Missing)
- Sarah Gilbertson
- Dec 2, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 19
How nervous system literacy - not more confidence coaching - will transform women's retention in the £1 billion UK ski market
Every ski school and tour operator in Britain has asked the same question for years:
"How do we get more women skiing?"
There's just one problem. We're solving the wrong problem.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
The UK ski market generates over £1 billion annually with 1.12 million British skiers taking to the slopes in 2022/23. Yet the fundamentals haven't budged:
70% of active skiers are male (Ski Club of Great Britain, 2024)
62% of UK women say fear impacts their skiing (The Fear Project, 2024)
33% report their fear has increased over the past five years (The Fear Project, 2024)
Market recovery from COVID is nearly complete - 95% of pre-pandemic numbers. But the female participation rate isn't budging. More fear. More drop-off.
The industry's main answer? More confidence coaching clinics, retreats, mindset courses, and positive psychology campaigns.
The Evolution That's Still Missing Something
Confidence coaching has evolved - today's programmes include mindfulness, NLP, even some body awareness. But here's what often gets overlooked:
The frameworks we use were designed in the 1980s boardroom, for men, by men.
No one's fault - it's simply how things developed. Like medical research and crash test dummies, most frameworks were built around male norms.
The language and approach reflect this:
"Let's set some goals". "Push through discomfort". "Visualise success". "Overcome obstacles". Linear problem-solving. Outcome-focused, not process-aware. Assumes consistent baseline confidence.
All entirely male-oriented.
These models spread into sports coaching, then into "confidence coaching" for everyone - including women. Even the shiny new versions with yoga and breathwork are built on the same foundation.
But women's reality is different:
Confidence is cyclical, not linear - affected by hormones, injury, life transitions
Perimenopause impacts proprioception, balance, and nervous system responses
Social conditioning creates different relationships with risk and that inner critic that shouts about "not being good enough"
Life complexity - caring responsibilities vs. personal risk-taking - that male frameworks never considered
The Real Problem: Where Fear Actually Lives
Last week, I overheard two women in a café: “I’d like to go skiing again, I used to enjoy it but I don't really anymore - even after all those years and lessons”.
No one ever asked what would make her love it. The gear changed, the slopes changed, the instructors changed. The framework didn’t.
Because fear doesn’t live in your thoughts. It lives in your nervous system.
When someone comes to a rigid stop halfway down a red run - legs locked, breathing shallow, saying "I'm ok", whilst not being able to make that first turn to get flow going again - that's not a mindset issue.
The thinking brain has gone offline. The vagus nerve has shut down social engagement. The sympathetic nervous system is flooded with stress hormones. The dorsal vagal response has locked the muscles in protective rigidity. This is survival mode - not learning mode.
Traditional coaching response: "Just relax! Take your time, you can do it"! It's well-meaning, but misses the point.
You can't reason with a nervous system in protective overdrive.
What Creates Real Ski Confidence for Women (Beyond Great Instruction)
Most instructors are skilled and caring. But even excellent technical teaching can miss the nervous system piece.
What women actually need: To feel Safe, Seen, and Supported - and to rediscover the joy, playfulness, and those magical feelings that skiing can give: the rush, the flow, the sense of freedom.
For most women, it's not about "conquering the mountain". It's about reconnecting with the feelings that made them fall in love with skiing in the first place - the exhilaration, the flow, that sense of being fully alive.
But what gets in the way?
Fear of losing control (speed, ice, crowds, heights)
Fear of injury or re-injury
Fear of looking silly or being judged
Shame, not just danger
Fear of not keeping up, of "not enoughness"
Here's the key: Fear is useful. It's not an enemy to get rid of. It's information - about ice, about speed, about boundaries, about old hurts. We don't need to resist feeling fear. We need to work with it, wisely.
Because when fear takes over, we lose access to choice and joy. It's not about "get rid of fear"—it's about "feel fear, and still access the feelings you love". (That's what real confidence actually is).
What helps?
Being met where they are, without tokenism
Recognition that nervous system responses are information, not weakness
Instructors who understand that fear isn't drama - it's data
Coaching that accounts for hormonal and life-stage impacts
Space to 'feel the feels', without being immediately 'fixed'
Boundaries respected, not by-passed with "encouragement"
Permission to trust themselves and go at their own pace
Most importantly: Understanding that confidence isn't a destination - it's a nervous system state that fluctuates with life circumstances.
You’re not just teaching skiing - you’re helping women reconnect with the mental and emotional feelings skiing gives as much as skiing itself
The Evolution: Nervous System Literacy for Ski Pros
The therapeutic world already knows trauma lives in the body - somatic experiencing and body-based therapies are mainstream. We're just the first to apply this science specifically to skiing fear.
Whole Body Listening: Reading nervous system signals, not just words:
Nodding but not moving? → Dorsal vagal shutdown
Talking fast, shallow breathing? → Sympathetic activation
"I'm fine" but all the body language, tone of voice, gestures say otherwise? → Social engagement offline
Self-Regulation Before Technique: Help the nervous system settle first:
"What would help you feel safer right now"? - Grounding techniques
Notice breath patterns, muscle tension, postural changes - get curious about what's going on with your client
Create predictability that calms the system
Use co-regulation - your calm nervous system helps theirs settle
Working WITH Fear: Not eliminating it:
Fear as information, not pathology
Micro-wins that build nervous system confidence
Permission to go slow, without feeling 'not enoughness'
The Business Case No One Mentions
We don't just have a retention problem - we have a growth opportunity hiding in plain sight.
While margins tighten post-Brexit and post-COVID; chalet capacity down from 38% to 13%, 33% of skiers saying rising prices will significantly impact their skiing - the industry that gets nervous system literacy right will make real inroads into the women's market and everyone will benefit.
Smart professionals are learning this because:
Women drop out much earlier than men (retention crisis)
Traditional confidence coaching plateaus (they're looking for what comes next)
This isn't just better coaching - it's better business
What Comes Next
This isn’t about fixing women - or even fixing the industry. It’s about evolving the system.
Other sectors are finally redesigning for women’s needs: Healthcare is learning to recognise women’s heart attack symptoms. Car safety is using crash test dummies that actually reflect female bodies. So why are we still tweaking a male ski framework and calling it progress?
The ski schools and instructors who lead this evolution - by mastering nervous system literacy - will set the new standard on the slopes. Those who don’t will keep wondering why their “confidence” programmes never retain female clients.
I work with private clients alongside ski schools, instructors, and operators ready to move beyond mindset coaching and bring real, science-backed nervous system literacy to skiing.
Because when you work with women using nervous system literacy, you're not just teaching skiing. You're teaching self-trust.
And that changes everything.
For Ski Professionals
If you're a ski instructor, coach, or ski school operator ready to bring nervous system literacy to your teaching, I'm developing resources specifically for you.
Sign up below to get free instructor resources:
✓ The Frozen Moment – a free guide to understanding nervous system states on snow
✓ Early updates on upcoming workshops and courses for ski professionals
✓ One practical tool you can use on snow tomorrow
For Women Skiers
If this resonates and you'd like nervous system tools for your own skiing confidence:
Nervous system resets for overwhelm, recovery, and transitions:
About Sarah
Sarah Gilbertson is a Therapeutic Coach for women, a BASI qualified ski instructor (alpine, adaptive), Snowsports England Qualified Coach (race and moguls) and a certified Pilates teacher. With 8+ years' experience in the European ski industry - from running a chalet for Crystal Ski, managing hotels and operations for Mark Warner, to working in Chamonix - Sarah knows mountain life from every angle, on and off the slopes.
After recovering from back surgery and navigating the 'joys' of perimenopause, she learned first-hand that real confidence isn't just mindset - it's nervous system literacy. Now, she helps professionals and ski schools move beyond outdated frameworks and bring real, science-backed support to women in the mountains.
Website: flourishwell.coach
Speaking: Northern Snow Show 2025 & 2026
Sources:
1.12 million UK skiers 2022/23: Le Ski/YouGov survey, 2023
70:30 male-to-female split and 62% of women report fear impacts skiing: The Fear Project research by Kimberley Kay & Dr. Carol Porter, supported by Snowsport England, 2024
Post-Brexit/COVID chalet decline (38% to 13%), pricing concerns: Ski Club of Great Britain Consumer Research, Spring 2024
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