Snowboarding

ARPRO sports helmet offers protection from multiple impacts

By Jude Garvey

02:22 July 7, 2009 PDT

It’s a fact of life that when you engage in certain sports you need to wear protective gear. Obviously, your head needs to be protected from any accidental impact and that’s where sports helmets come in. If you’re a keen sportsman, you’re likely to be frustrated by the fact that every sport requires a different helmet, which are not always comfortable or particularly cheap. Worse, if you happen to come to grief on your bike, snowboard, or other thrill seeking conveyance, you’ll be forced to buy a new helmet every time it's subjected to an impact. That could be about to change - Tatoo is a new sports helmet that is designed for comfort and can still be used even after multiple accidents. Read More

Slegooning: snow sledding for speed demons

By Noel McKeegan

21:22 December 28, 2008 PST

December 29, 2008 Flipping upside down on a snow sled usually puts an abrupt end to your downhill journey and leaves you with - at best - a face full of the white stuff and a short slog to retrieve your errant steed. Enter the Slegoon, a concept design from Londoner Spike Reid which puts a new spin on sledding by seating the rider in a semi-enclosed pod that can continue its run even when upside down. Read More

The Whip promises a revolution in Snowboard design

By Noel McKeegan

21:28 December 14, 2008 PST

Developed in the 60s and 70s and first appearing as a Winter Olympic Sport in 1998, snowboarding has now well and truly taken a hold on the ski-slopes. But despite the growing popularity of the sport, slicker graphics and better board construction have been the only notable innovations in recent times, with the core design of the snowboard not undergoing any major changes since steel edges were added two decades ago. That's the argument put forward by Cheetah Ultra Sports, a company that is set to reveal what it calls the most advanced snowboard ever - "The Whip". Read More

Flaik snowsports tracking device

By Emily Clark

00:18 June 2, 2008 PDT

Flaik is a personal tracking device for skiers and snowboarders that fuses GPS & GSM/GPRS technologies to monitor personal performance criteria including speed, distance, altitude and airtime. Read More

Snowboarding on the pavement: the T-Board

By Loz Blain

16:47 March 26, 2008 PDT

March 27, 2008 Rotating casterboards like Razor's RipStik and the Essboard are fairly well established as hyper-manoeverable alternatives to the skateboard, letting riders fishtail their way around and even climb hills without putting a foot down. Tierney Rides are now offering a totally flat casterboard with two fully rotating caster wheels - and the company claims its carving T-Board is the closest experience you can get to snowboarding on pavement. Read More

Snowter: the BMX of the ski slopes

By Loz Blain

22:50 January 21, 2008 PST

January 22, 2008 The winter sports market is proving a little conservative it would seem. Inventors looking to push beyond skis and snowboards in search of new ways to enjoy the ski slopes aren't getting much enthusiasm from major companies – but those that have the vision and means to bring their own ideas to the market are coming up with some very interesting results. We recently covered Venomsnow's Switchboard, essentially a snowboard with a suspended steering bar – and now there's the Snowter, which looks something like a seatless BMX with two mini skis replacing the wheels. You split your feet between the front and rear pedals as you like, then steer it with the handlebars at slow speeds, and dig the rear in to carve turns or drift it like you're power-sliding once you've got some pace up. Read More

Twice the fun: Cozy Cruiser Double Baby Sled

By Jude Garvey

17:18 January 5, 2008 PST

January 6, 2008 This winter, grownups might be maneuvering down the slopes on a Ski-Doo snowmobile or even a Snoxcycle, but the kids will have a safer trip careering down on a Cozy Cruiser Double Baby Sled. This nifty sled is inflated by air pump in about five minutes and is comfortable but sturdy with three-sided security enclosures and tough, welded-on rubber handles. It is made from crack-and-cold-resistant PVC and is light enough to drag through the snow using the extra-long tow rope. Read More

Venomsnow’s Switchboard hits the ski slopes

By Loz Blain

03:41 November 7, 2007 PST

Venomsnow’s Marcel Jonker hopes his company’s double-hinged Switchboard will open up a new segment in the winter sports market alongside skiing and snowboarding. The Switchboard is made up of two short woodcore boards joined end-to-end on a double hinge, with lightweight footstraps on top, twin skates underneath the rear board, and an aluminum steering bar on a pogo stick-like suspension unit mounted on the front board. Is it the evolution of the snowboard, or the kick-scooter of the ski slopes? Whatever your opinion, it’s hard not to be fascinated by this innovative product from the Netherlands. Read More

Motorola and Burton Snowboards launch second generation of Audex wearable electronics

By Mike Hanlon

August 4, 2006 Motorola and Burton Snowboards this week announced the expansion of their joint Audex wearable electronics collection at the 2006 Burton New Zealand Open Snowboarding Championships. Available at select Burton Authorized Retailers this month, the new 2007 Audex collection offers the ultimate blend of technology and snowboard function, enabling easy wireless communication and music entertainment for consumers on the move. New for 2007, the Audex Bluetooth Stereo System allows consumers to stream downloaded music wirelessly from a compatible Bluetooth enabled mobile phone to the Audex jacket allowing users to listen to music and make calls with a push of a button on the jacket sleeve. Outerwear styles that feature this system include built-in DJ-style speakers in the hood and/or an integrated headphone jack. Read More

More wearable electronics: the ‘FAT CONTROLLER’ Snow Glove

By Mike Hanlon

October 16, 2005 O’Neill Europe recently announced the latest addition to the H.2 Series range of wearable electronics with the arrival of the ‘Fat Controller’, a snow glove that incorporates a wireless remote control for Apple’s iPod MP3 players. A limited number of the new gloves will be distributed throughout Europe this coming winter at a retail price of EU139 Euro. The ‘Fat Controller’ uses radio frequencies to relay instructions to a module installed on top of the iPod. Tune selection is managed from a small, thumb-controlled joystick woven in to the top of the right-hand glove that mirrors the behavior of the iPod’s scroll wheel. By nudging the joystick to different points of the compass the wearer can play/pause, adjust volume and skip tracks without having to remove the iPod from the inner sanctums of a snowboard jacket. Read More

Yolk ski and snowboard helmet

By Mike Hanlon

Yolk is a soft helmet designed to overcome the unfashionable image that helmets seem to have with the young-at-heart on the ski slopes of the world. ‘Yolk’ under regular use is flexible and conformable to the user’s head but when subjected to an impact it instantaneously forms a rigid shell dispersing and absorbing the energy . This is achieved utilising a semi- rigid liner and a Kevlar skin which is impregnated with a shear thickening fluid. ‘Yolk’ allows the user to plug in a two way radio, music player, or mobile phone to the integrated headphones and controls thereby creating a convenient and seamless transition.

‘Yolk’ can be fitted with of a choice of skins which can be stretched over the liner to match the user’s personal style. With similar safety standards across bike riding, inline skating, skateboarding, there are vast opportunities to develop different skins for these sports using the same liner. Read More

BRP's Ski-Doo partners with Burton Snowboards

By Mike Hanlon

March 16, 2005 Snowmobile manufacturer Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), has signed an agreement of cooperation with snowboard manufacturer Burton Snowboards, with a view to expanding their product line to appeal to the snowboarding community. Burton is very savvy youth marketing company that we've written up several times in Gizmag for their innovative approach - in January the company unveiled a Bluetooth snowboarding jacket, helmet and beanie - and the benefits to both parties might yiled some highly innovative products. Read More

Motorola and Burton unveil Bluetooth Snowboarding Jacket, Helmet and Beanie

By Mike Hanlon

LAS VEGAS 9 January 2005 Next winter, the world's snowboarders will add another "trick" to their repertoire with the ability to switch between their iPOD playlist and incoming calls in mid-air thanks to three new products from Motorola and Burton Snowboards. Launched at the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show, these Bluetooth-enabled jackets, helmets and beanies will provide wireless, high-performance connectivity and playability on the slopes for the 2006 winter season. Read More

Snowboarding on the street

By Mike Hanlon

Snowboarding and skateboarding are very different, mainly because a skateboard doesn't have that sharp edge for carving and the same degree of drift or controlled sliding behaviour. Until now! Two innovative Californian companies have designed skateboards offering the ride of a snowboard on tarmac. Read More

Bluetooth MP3 Snowboarding Jacket from O'Neill

By Mike Hanlon

Infineon Technologies and O'Neill Europe unveiled the result of a joint product development project on January 14 - their first 'wearable electronics' snowboard jacket with functions such as an MP3 player and mobile telephony by Bluetooth.The jacket will be known as "THE HUB" and technologically clued-in snowboarders will be able to purchase the jacket when O'Neill's 2004/05 winter collection goes on sale later this year. Read More