If you’re a serious skier or snowboarder, you’ve probably been waiting for great snow conditions since Halloween. Now that it’s January, you’re in luck, as snow’s covered most major resorts in the Northern Hemisphere. Your boards are waxed, your new boots are fitted… you’re ready to go. Or are you? Some new tech toys might make that epic trip a little more, well, epic. Check out these five cool finds:
Goggles are goggles, right? Not anymore. Oakley just redefined the category. The goggles have a heads-up display, GPS, Bluetooth, accelerometer, barometer, and gyro sensors to display all your stats on your Android or iPhone. Yes, we’re talking about a pair of goggles.
You just stuck the biggest cliff drop of your life but your buddy was so far behind you that no one saw it. That’s the beauty of the GoPro action cameras—they capture your adventures and do it from your point of view. Other spec highlights include 720p/960p/1080p shooting options, built-in Wi-Fi and an app (Android or iPhone) that turn your smartphone or tablet into a handy remote for the camera.
3. House of Marley Zion In-Ear Headphones
Some skiers and snowboarders like to ride with rhythm. Look under their helmets and you might find a pair of Zion in-ear headphones. These gems fit great under the confines of winter sports helmets, feature soft silicone tips and deliver the highs, mids and bass you expect. Cool details include three button controller and a four-foot braided cord that allows you to stuff your tune player in your pants or jacket.
4. Ullr's Mobile Avalanche Safety Tools
Not a fan of lift lines and crowded, groomed trails? Prefer the backcountry? Sometimes scoring backcountry “pow pow” comes with the risk of avalanches. Ullr's Mobile Avalanche Safety Tools turns your smartphone into the backcountry buddy that increases your avalanche knowledge and awareness, and ultimately helps you make better decisions. Download and read the most recent avalanche forecasts for your area; review conditions recently reported by other users; and record location, elevation, slope angle and a photo of the area and more. Available for Android and iPhone.
The backcountry has a certain allure to hardcore skiers and snowboarders. But sometimes the most remote areas don’t have cell coverage, making that new smartphone useless (we hate to say it). The next time you pack your avalanche gear, bring along the inReach, a two-way satellite communicator that gives you SOS and text capabilities where cellphone coverage is zilch. This cool device was in a select group of Best Adventure Tech of 2013 by Outside magazine. Works on Android and Apple phones and tablets.
Qualcomm provides the Wi-Fi chip in GoPro's Hero3 camera.
