Skiing
Pretty much every ski manufacturer in the history of skiing has made skis for skiers. But not MTN Approach. The company, which launched a small beta batch of its unique skis this season, builds skis for snowboarders. The skis are designed to ascend (not descend) the mountain and fold up into a backpack-sized package for the ride down. Read More
Buhel Speakgoggle lets you talk through your nose bones
Traditionally just big, goofy optics designed to protect your eyes from cold, snow and bright light, ski goggles have taken all kinds of new roles over the past few winters. Some goggles track your speed and vertical and some capture video. The Buhel Speakgoggle provides a seamless, vibration-based communications mechanism to keep you in touch with your crew. Read More
Action cams have become a ubiquitous part of ski resorts everywhere. They're great for catching your best on-slope moments and sharing them with the world, but they can be a little bit bulky and awkward to use with gloves. The Zeal iON goggles solve this problem by integrating the HD camera right into the goggle frame. Read More
The problem with the interchangeable lens systems commonly used in ski goggles is that they're tedious to work with. You have to slowly tear the frame from the original lens, line the grooves of the replacement lens up just right and then snap it back together section by section. Not only is this the type of thing you might need to get a table in the cafeteria for, it's the type of thing that could haunt you all day if you inadvertently put the lens in cockeyed. The Anon M1 goggles make switchable lenses easier and more seamless than they've ever been. Magna-Tech is a simple design upgrade that lets you remove your original lenses and snap the new ones in place within seconds. Read More
Avalanche airbags have been around for decades and have been gaining a lot of steam in the North American market over the past few years. These airbags are almost always integrated into or added onto backpacks, but The North Face has a different idea: avalanche airbag clothing. Read More
Recon Instruments and Contour have announced a new app that will let skiers and snowboarders look through the lens of their action cam right inside their goggles. The Contour Camera Connectivity App establishes a Bluetooth connection between Recon's MOD Live goggle display and the camera. Read More
Snowshoeing has long been the poor stepchild of winter sports. It's actually a really fun way of getting out in the snow to exercise and enjoy nature, but it's just not quite as exhilarating as skiing or snowboarding and, in many places, has a secondary status in the grand scheme of winter sports. One German company believes it's time for snowshoeing to step out of the shadows and share that same sense of visceral fun that skiing and snowboarding imbue. Hive (Hike + Drive) has designed a unique pair of snowshoes that double as a sort of short ski or glider. Read More
In addition to taking the tiny ego HD action cam along to Las Vegas for this year's Consumer Electronics Show, Liquid Image has also revealed two new additions to its Xtreme Sport Cams product line. Both goggle cams feature built-in video, Wi-Fi and GPS and can be controlled via a smartphone app. The only appreciable difference between the Apex and Torque HD is that the former will undoubtedly find its way onto the piste whereas the latter is aimed directly at off-roaders. Read More
Douche bags at ski hills aren't a new phenomenon. Whether it's the aggressive adrenalin junkies yelling at you from the lifts in hopes you'll fall in glorious YouTube-ranking fashion or the rich folks in $5,000 fur-lined one-piece ski suits, they're everywhere. Now there's a new kind of a Douchebag that is designed to actually make your ski day more fun. Douchebags in this case is simply a clever (it got your attention, didn't it?) name for a newly launched ski accessories company whose first product is a feature-filled ski bag that should make getting to and from the slopes - whether it be flying and shuttling to an exotic resort or just driving to your local hill - easier and more efficient. Read More
Danish based Big Architects has revealed plans to develop the Levi Resort in Lapland. Named the Koutalaki Ski Village, the futuristic development will sit on the mountain ridge of the Levi Ski center overlooking Sirkka village in the municipality of Kittila. The design seeks to create a new hybrid resort which integrates the village with roof top skiing from a man-made "peak." Read More
