From a small liberal arts school in Ohio to starting a retail store in Vail, Colorado Kim Walkers has always found herself drawn to the mountains. But, the ski industry has often failed to recognize women in the sport, especially in terms of gear. Walker, the owner and founder of Outdoor Divas, is on a mission to change that. 

 

“We’re not all gonna like the same gear just like we’re not all gonna like the same jeans,”

 

Walker said. Outdoor DIVAS mission is to allow women to find the proper gear, like skis, that can potentially help to fix that. 

How did she get here? It all began when Walkers decided to trade the nine-to-five lifestyle for the slopes post college. 

 

“I knew I wanted to do something that had to do with the mountains,” Walkers said. “I worked in a ski shop for a little bit and then I was a director of operations for a high end furniture and design store. Then I kind of realized, well, I’m doing all this retail for furniture and design and it's fun and all but my passion is being outside and playing.” 

 

After working in Vail for 11 years, Walker and her now husband saved up enough money and moved to Boulder, Colorado to open up the first Outdoor DIVAS store on Pearl Street. Even though the two wanted to stay in the mountains, Vail’s market was not supportive enough at the time for their brand. 

Walker noticed how there was never any good gear options for women back then and wanted to change that. 

 

“When we launched on Pearl Street in Boulder there was not enough ski equipment for women to do womens skis so we were more focused on outdoor retail with a small selection of skis,” Walker said. “I would say 70% of the manufacturers that we pitched our store to said no because they didn’t believe that women needed their own store and their own outlet for soft goods and hard goods.” 

 

But, despite the odds, two years after launching in Boulder, Outdoor DIVAS began to gain more attention from brands in the outdoor industry. After seeing their online business thrive, Walker and her husband realized that they could live their mountain dream life sustainably with just the website and Vail location open. So, they closed their Cherry Creek North location in 2017 and closed their Boulder location in 2020 to then move to Vail and continue Outdoor DIVAS full time. 

 

“We’ve always focused on hard goods as well as soft goods,” Walker said. “That is one of our differentiators from other womens outdoor stores.” 

 

Soft goods are products that many would see in most women's stores like: clothes, shoes, accessories, etc. Walker wanted to change this trend and add hard goods to the mix. Hard goods consist of things like: skis, bindings, bikes, etc. One of the big issues that Walker noticed back when Outdoor DIVAS was getting started was the lack of proper skis that were produced for women. Many companies would just “shrink” the size of a mens ski not thinking about the fact that all women are different too. 

 

“There are fundamental physiological differences between men and women. Fit and function are the primary points of differentiation. Products that are “shrinked and pinked” are no longer an option,” Walker said. “I believe that with proper staff and training, most gender-neutral stores could provide women with the ideal equipment and experience they enjoy, however the women-centric training is where I ultimately see the breakdown.” 

 

Outdoor DIVAS aims to solve this issue by providing women with a broad selection of products designed for their unique needs. 

Walker was also on the Board of Directors of the Outdoor Industry Association for nine years making herself a prominent figure and role model for women in the outdoor industry. According to the Outdoor Industry Association women now make up 51 % of outdoor consumers. 

 

“The most critical and important thing for me, for Outdoor DIVAS, is that women enjoy what they’re doing and to enjoy that they need to have apparel that fits properly,” Walker said. “But also to have gear that makes them have more fun outside and to make them feel comfortable and confident and keep them in the sports they love.”