New kit for the 2012 winter season
New toys I found at the Ski Show
Reports of snow falling across the Alps has had me excitedly running down to my ski locker to unpack my kit for the new winter since October. Some of this kit is tried and tested. Some of it, alas, is looking a little tired. So when the opportunity to go to the London Ski show presented itself I made a point of finding out if there was anything out there that could replace some of my older equipment. As it turns out quite a few people have been quite busy since last winter coming up with some very clever boards, bags, gloves, headphones and skis.
Here's my top five bits of new kit from the London Ski Show 2011:
1 - Silbaerg Jibbomat. Silbaerg have made something of a break through and it's so clever expect to see it replicated by nearly all snowboard manufacturers in the next few years. At the moment though it's only available from Silbaerg through Snow and Rock.
They call it ALD technology. The company is German and I have no idea what ALD stands for but I'm almost positive my dyslexia will not allow me to spell it. It was developed at the Technical College in Chemnitz, Germany in their Institute for Lightweight Structures. It is all very clever and scientific and has won design awards but the practical upshot of their research is a board that adapts to your riding to give you better edge control.
Simply put, when you carve the board and it flexes from tip to tail the base con-caves forcing the edges down and into the snow for better grip. If you then take the board onto a rail, flexing it the opposite way so that the tip and tail are lower than the centre of the board, the base con-vexes lifting the edges up and away from the rail giving you a smoother slide and less chance of catching a edge. Clever, eh?
2 - Celtek Touch Screen Gloves. Ok, these have been out for a while but it's the first time I've seen them and they look good. Leather outer, cashmere lined and with a special leather pad on the thumb and forefinger that allows the electrical impulses from your finger tip through the glove and onto your smart phones touch screen. Use your phone, listen to music all with warm toasty hands. Great until the pathetic battery on your phone succumbs to the cold.
3 - Skullcandy Uprock Headphones. Clean lines and a simple construction makes this a very good looking headphone but the fact that it's made from a flexible plastic with a memory means that you can stretch, twist, bend, pull and even bounce it with out damaging the frame. Perfect for all those Iron Maiden induced slams.
4 - Snowmule Backpacks. The simple solution to a problem we've all seen on the slopes. Kids. As soon as you dress a child in ski clothing they are incapable of carrying things or walking across flat sections of piste. With a Snowmule backpack you can strap the skis, poles, helmets and goggles of your little bundles of joy to the bag and carry them with your hands free. Better still come to a flat section and your cherubs can simply hold onto the retractable handle at the back of the bag and you can tow them along with your hands once again free. Or just don't take them on holiday.
5 - Whitedot Skis. Again, technically, these are not new but we like 'em. Whitedot are a small, independent Freeride ski manufacturer with close ties to Chamonix. They have five skis available and their simple graphics and complicated techie specs make them well worth looking into.
So there you have it the sum total of what I learned at the Ski Show in London. If you like the look of any of the above get in touch with the companies directly through the links to their websites on this page.
