TOP GEAR
1) Swatch Snowpass Watch
Do you find lift passes annoying? Hate having to shuffle around trying to get the right pocket up to the scanner? The Swatch Snowpass is designed to help – it includes a RFID chip rather like the ones in most lift passes. The idea is that when you buy your pass, you get it scanned into your watch – so you can just fly through the scanners. Pointless? Undoubtedly. Cool? Yes.
www.swatch.com
/zz_en/snowpass
2) Zeal Optics GPS goggles
If there’s one problem with skiing, it’s that you can’t tell how fast you are going. That’s clearly what Zeal think anyway – these goggles include an actual GPS based speedometer. There’s a tiny screen mounted in the bottom right corner which, at any moment, you can just glance down at and see not only your exact speed, but also the temperature, altitude, record speed and any thing else you might want to know. Crazy but brilliant. www.zealoptics.com/transcend
3) Wipe-out piste map
A piste-map that’s also a goggle wipe. The genius is that it doesn’t fall to pieces in the snow, or crumple up in your pocket, so you won’t be forced to replace it every day. Also, you can keep your goggles clean. Or use it as a face wipe after a particularly gnarly run.
www.wipe-out.eu
4) Avalanche airbag system
Venturing out into the backcountry? The first thing you need is an avalanche transceiver, a probe and a shovel. But lots of pros are also taking these trendy backpacks. As well as carrying all your gear, it also includes a gas canister and a giant airbag. Pull a cord and instantly it expands around your head, helping to pull you to the top in an avalanche.
www.snowpulse.com/en