Perhaps you’d like to ski smoothly all day without fumbling around changing skis. Five pairs would ready you for any snow or slope imaginable, but you’d have to keep track of them all. Not to worry. Rossignol has come up with Alpine skis whose rods can be switched to maximize performance for either short- or long-radius turns. That means you can pick tea cups off gates as you zip between them, and take the wide-powder path to visit trees on each side of the corduroy, without looking like an indecisive dork by constantly changing your gear. Slip-proofers
a/k/a 65 mm ascension skins by Black Diamond ($35)
Feel free to get excited — we have a new favorite piece of equipment on the market. Climbing Skins, which look like little seat belts, fasten to the bottom of your skis, and provide a smooth surface facing uphill and a rough surface facing downhill (like the nap of an animal skin or a lint brush). The result: one-way traction that allows ski tourists to scale hills with ease. Essentially, this product makes the impossible look simple. If you’re into skiing in the wild, it will function like an electric assist on the velomobile, chains for snow tires, or accountants, all rolled into one. It does the dirty work so you don’t have to, allowing you to emerge at the top of a hill without sweat balls dripping off of your chinny-chin-chin. Best of all, the grippers are based on a tried-and-true method that got great-grandpa up the hill without a lift — definitely a good investment. The inebriator
a/k/a Custom Brew Bindings by Burton ($160)
Neglecting no part of the ski-weekend experience, outfitters have devised a way to incorporate beer into your downhill escapades. That’s right, your vacation just reached new heights: Burton produces snowboard bindings with bottle openers on the heels. We won’t go into the potential for trouble here. Needless to say, neither Burton nor the Phoenix encourages you to blunder down the slopes in a drunken haze. The openers will work for soda and water bottles too. The 365-degree human-defense shield
a/k/a d30 flexible armor (estimated to cost more than a small house in Brookline)
While skiing the snow off of the slopes, you’ll also want to . . . stay alive. A suit of d30 body armor, choice of the US and Canadian Olympic ski teams in 2006, might do the trick. The armor is made of flexible material that hardens on impact and protects you from breaking anything crucial. While we’re on the subject of safety, a staffer at the EMS store on Comm Ave confessed ominously, “I never used to wear a helmet until I cracked my head.” Umm . . . Then he added, “It’s not goofy anymore; it’s part of the sport itself. People do all kinds of stuff to their helmets.” Such as? He’s seen stickers and stenciling and murals painted on boards and helmets alike.
Related:
Chills and thrills, The other side of the mountain, Steep, More 
- Chills and thrills
Heading north in winter is counter-instinctual. The mere thought of it elicits a warning from the dark parts of your lizard brain. It’s cold. It’s icy. There’s no food.
- The other side of the mountain
If you don’t ski or snowboard, winter is the longest, loneliest season.
- Steep
“Mountains have the last say,” explains his stoic wife. “Sometimes they swallow you up.”
- Stars on snow
Anyone who’s spent a day skidding along the ice-plagued trails of a New England ski resort knows that the snow around here can be hard to love.
- Insane fun
You don't have to go to the Rockies or the Alps or jump out of a helicopter skis-first to get a chilling thrill this winter.
- If we had our way . . .
However tempting, I do not wish for movie stars.
- If looks could thrill
The world of snow sports merges with the world of art in completely unique way.
- The poseur’s guide to skiing and riding
My life as a poseur began when I joined an after-school skiing and snowboarding club my sophomore year of high school.
- Technically improved
Snow sports shred the space-time continuum this winter, with new styles that push technological boundaries for form and function.
- Life on the level
At the tippity-top of my teetering list of irrational neurosis? Skiing, of course.
- Downhill economy
Thrills, generally speaking, aren't cheap.
- Less
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Lifestyle Features
, Science and Technology, Technology, Sports, More
, Science and Technology, Technology, Sports, Audio and Video Devices, Consumer Electronics, Electronics, Snowboarding, Winter Sports, Digital Music Players, Skiing, Less
