Sports evolve, but technology evolves even faster. From Sweat Coins to NASA gel, the 2017/18 season is set to be more high tech than ever… and yet, the fashion has come full circle.
Oh, how far we’ve come with skiing on a couple of planks of wood with leather boots – nowadays there’s self-heating gloves and airbags to protect your back!
Today, the biggest advancements have come thanks to our vanity! Back in the eighties, if you wanted to film something you’d have to lug around a Super 8 camera…these days there are gadgets a-plenty designed to record yourself and others in cutting-edge ways.
Here we’ve selected our “great eight” new technologies for skiing and snowboarding this winter 2017/18.
Top Ski Tech 2018
1. GoPro Fusion with OverCapture
A picture says a thousand words and GoPro says the Fusion “marks the beginning of a new creative era”. The Fusion camera will double the price of a regular GoPro and ship in November, arriving just in time for Christmas. With dual lenses on either side of the device you can film in 360 degrees but, instead of just shooting and posting in 360, “OverCapture” allows users to reimagine all that visual information in a more traditional flat video.
2. The “Poor Man’s Drone” AER
Last season all the cool kids had their own drone… This season, all the smart kids will have an AER: a plastic GoPro holder with aerodynamic foam fins. By popping your go-pro into an oversized “Nerf” you can have a lot of fun capturing video and photo images. Designed to be thrown and fetched by hand, the AER was launched on Kickstarter as a low-cost alternative to camera drones. If everything goes to plan they will start shipping in December.
3. Helly Hansen introduces The LifePocket™
Having your mobile phone battery die in a non-emergency situation can mean the difference between an awesome selfie and nothing to show off on Instagram. But having your phone battery die following an off-piste injury can mean the difference between life and death.
With this in mind, Helly Hansen has designed a special pocket into their latest jackets which use NASA technology to thermoregulate the pocket’s temperature and extend the battery life of your phone when compared to cold pockets and sub-zero conditions. Trust us, LifePocket™ is going to be the new Goretex – all the top brands will be on this buzz by next season.
This stylish new promo video says it all:
Remember all Chamonix All Year guests get exclusive discounts at Chamonix’s Helly Hansen store – your Resort Team will give you a voucher to claim your discount in-resort.
4. New App: SNOWW
According to their website “Snoww is a socially integrated ski tracking app that allows you to follow friends and compare your vital ski statistics, or compete with other skiers and climb your way to the top of your mountain’s leaderboard.”
We can’t wait to try it out this winter and having met this enthusiastic team at the Telegraph Ski and Snowboard Show 2017 we’re expecting big things from them. Think of it as a Strava jazzed up for millennial skiers!
5. Forever wax with Phantom by DPS
The product of a successful Kickstarter campaign by Utah-based ski company DPS, this season sees the launch of a game-changing innovation in ski waxing. DPS’s new glide treatment — called Phantom — will make your skis slippery for life!
The trick is in the application: instead of just coating the skis’ bases, Phantom actually gets absorbed into them. It’s a multi-step process where you clean the ski, then apply two different liquids to the base, allowing each liquid to cure in the sun (UV rays activate the compound) — and voilà! DPS says you’ll never need to wax your skis again.
6. Reissue line by O’Neill
New ski tech meets retro in the new winter collection by O’Neill inspired by original outerwear from the late 80’s and early 90’s. From bibs to onesies, discover old school style with new school materials and a modern mentality, such as using exclusively recycled materials. That’s right, we have come full circle in style but with added features that include pockets that are actually useful, waterproofing that actually works and a choice of fits for all body styles and slope styles.
It’s the best of both worlds with Reissue by O’Neill and we officially want it all! O’Neill’s surf heritage goes all the way back to 1952. They brought warmth to surfers with wetsuits and continue to keep snow riders warm with technical outerwear. For 2017/2018 they’ve launched a new liner fabric called Firewall Magma, which has a special zinc coating and pattern to absorb and retain body heat.
7. Ember MK1 Phoenix Gloves
Keep your sausage hands or twiggy digits toasty even during sub-zero January ski conditions with rechargeable battery-heated gloves! The Ember MK1 Phoenix Gloves aren’t the only heated gloves on the market, but they are our favourite and feature four heat settings and, of course, are touchscreen-enabled. Another team we saw showcasing Ski Tech 2018 at the London ski show, creative Brits following their passion warms our hearts… and hands!
8. POC Spine VPD 2.0 Airbag Vest
Designed to save users from injury, including high-speed racing wipeouts, this Airbag Vest is really smart… but also rather expensive at over £1000! Considering it certainly saves lives, though, it could be worth your investment. If you or your kids are racers, or you’re just really clumsy, you’ll be protected by integrated sensors and a precise algorithm which detects unavoidable falls and inflates in less than 100 milliseconds. The specialist vest protects sensitive areas such as the neck, chest, spine, abdomen and hips with more than four times the absorption capacity of a standard back protector and neck support. Take a look at the minimalist design that has been developed from initial models on show at the ski forums as early as 2016, which can now fit under almost any jacket.
Let us know which ski tech 2018 development has got you the most excited – we’ll see you on the mountain!
