Tracks: Great gear to fit every wallet

By Brian Metzler, Special to the Rocky

Published October 20, 2008 at 6 p.m.
Updated October 21, 2008 at 9:21 a.m.

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Photo by Marie Griffin © The Rocky

Photo illustration of ski goggles and slopes at Breckenridge Ski Resort.

Photo by Chris Schneider / The Rocky

Mik Baker, of Rochester, N.H., rides a rail at Arapahoe Basin on opening day last Wednesday.

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The economy is swirling the drain. Ski season is just around the corner. Which fact will affect your life most? That depends on your outlook.

The day the stock market dropped nearly 800 points, Bridger Bowl ski area in Montana sold a record number of season passes. And so far, Front Range ski shops have reported above-average sales. It just shows people tend to sacrifice last that which they love most.

Are you going to ski or ride on your old gear, or are you considering laying down your cash for some new stuff? We picked the brains of local ski and snowboard shop managers to get this quick rundown of cool new gear, current trends and ways to save money.

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COOL STUFF

Opedix S1 Ski and Board Tights

Tested and proven functionally effective by the Steadman Hawkins Sports Medicine Foundation in Vail, S1 tights ($190, opedix.com) have been designed to unload and stabilize the knee joint during the dynamic movements of skiing and snowboarding. Using a combination of soft and semi-rigid fabrics, the tights keep the knee positioned correctly while improving stability and function and reducing the stresses that can cause long-term damage. Need more proof? The National Ski Patrol has endorsed the tights for their professional patrollers.

Haber Eliminator goggle fan

Fogged-over goggles can ruin a great day on the slopes, no matter if you're a beginning snowboarder or a lifelong skier. The Eliminator is an ingenious accessory from Golden-based HaberVision ($55, habervision.com) that uses a humidity sensor to activate a miniature fan to keep condensation from forming on goggle lenses. It runs on an AAA battery and can be easily retrofitted to just about any pair of goggles with a pair of thumb-twist screws.

GoPro Helmet Hero Wide video camera

Want to capture your epic powder runs, a new trick in the halfpipe or a family ski day on video? This palm-sized 5-megapixel camera ($189, goprocamera.com) can be strapped to your helmet or even a ski or snowboard to capture unique footage from a 170-degree vantage point.

Additionally, it can shoot still images automatically every two or five seconds while you're cruising through the trees.

Marker Kamaleon goggles

The Kamaleon goggles ($229, markerusa.com) feature three sets of "double cylindrical" lenses that offer UVA and UVB protection while also acting like a double-pane window in keeping fog at bay. The choice of three lenses allows a skier or snowboarder to adapt to varying light conditions and assures optimal visibility in flat light, cloudy skies or bright sunshine. And unlike other interchangeable goggle systems that can be cumbersome, lenses in the Kamaleon can be easily interchanged with the release of three clips on the frame.

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TRENDS

Reverse camber buzz

The buzz in skis and snowboards this year is "rockered" profiles, or skis and snowboards with a reverse camber (that curve upward instead of downward) for greater floatation in deep powder and easier turning.

K2's Pontoon powder ski ($850), which debuted a few seasons ago, has the most dramatic upward curvature among skis, but new hybrids this year, such as the Salomon Czar ($925) and Volkl Chopstick ($875), have a more moderate shape that make them viable all-mountain skis. K2's World Wide Weapon Rocker ($360), Lib Tech's Skate Banana ($470) and Burton's Hero ($399) are among the most prominent "rockered" snowboards.

Custom gear

If you're going to shell out a lot of money for new skis or a snowboard, you might as well get some sticks tailored exactly to your kind of skiing. The emergence of custom skis and snowboards is a small but growing trend, and one of the first in business was Wagner Custom Skis (wagnerskis.com) in Ophir.

Entrepreneur Pete Wagner, who formerly worked in the custom golf club business, determines the type of skier and preferred terrain of each customer through an elaborate questionnaire and interview process. From there, his small high-tech shop can build skis to the exact length, width, weight, flex, sidecut and torsional rigidity of a skier's profile.

Personalized fit

If you're spending $250 for snowboard boots or more than $400 for ski boots, you don't want to have any nagging sore spots after a few days on the mountain. Paying an extra $50 to $200 to have a trained boot-fitter work his magic is usually worth its weight in gold.

Most ski shops offer custom service as an add-on purchase. Other specialized bootfitting outfits include Larry's Bootfitting in Boulder, The Custom Foot in Englewood and several Surefoot locations in resort towns.

Green gear

Eco-friendly, or "green," gear is all the rage in the ski and snowboard industry, especially when it comes to apparel.

Steamboat-based SmartWool is a leader in wool apparel made from wool derived from sustainable sheep ranching operations in New Zealand. Its Hybrid line of apparel marries two weights of merino wool to alternately provide breathability and additional warmth where it's needed most.

Also, Boulder's Teko Socks has unveiled new over-the-calf ski and snowboard socks this season made from organic wool processed with chlorine-free, shrink-resistant treatments.

Electronic compatibility

Today's world seems to be controlled by our electronic devices, even on the slopes. It's no surprise that jackets, helmets and even gloves have built-in compartments for mobile phones and mp3 players.

The 180s Powder Glove ($50, 180s.com) is an insulated, waterproof ski and snowboard glove with a "Tec Touch" feature that allows users to operate an iPod without having to remove their gloves.

Meanwhile, numerous helmets, including the K2 Crossfire ($120, k2skis.com) and the Giro G10 ($290, giro.com), have a built-in audio systems that can seamlessly connect to a MP3 player or a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone.

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SAVE MONEY

Look for deals

Although the early season sales have come and gone, most Front Range and mountain ski shops have a lot of inventory of last year's gear, and it's marked to move. That means you can get last year's new skis, boards and boots at half the price you might pay for this year's new models.

"Right now, the carry-over from last year is still available and the sale racks are all pretty full at all of our stores," said Dennis Meeker, manager of Christy Sports in Boulder. "There's still deals to be had."

One of the biggest ski and snowboard sales of the season will take place Nov. 7 to 9 at the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Expo (onthesnow.com) at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. If there's a place to find screaming deals before the season begins, that's it. (Colorado Ski & Golf also will repeat its recycling program, allowing attendees to drop off old and unwanted skis, snowboards, boots, bindings and poles.)

Seasonlong rentals

Can't afford to cough up $500 to $1,200 for a new ski or snowboard package this year? You're not alone, but you can still have a good season of skiing if you consider opting for a season-long rental package. Prices range between $150 and $250 for adults and about half that for kids at local shops, and many stores offer discounted tune-ups throughout the season, no-hassle trade-ins (to get shorter or longer skis, for example) as well as an option to buy the gear. Some shops offer high-end demos or brand-new rentals, so it makes sense to visit a shop sooner than later.

Adjustable ski boots

You can't stop your kids' feet from growing, but you probably can't afford to buy them new ski boots every year, either. Roces innovative IDEA adjustable ski boots ($130, rocesusa.com) offer a solution to that dilemma with the ability to expand to accommodate a range of sizes as a child's foot grows. With three easy steps, the length, width and cuff height can be adjusted for maximum comfort and performance. The boots come in three sizes, and each can expand to cover six sizes, which should cover a child's growing feet for at least three seasons of skiing. Several companies, including Boulder-based Spyder, also make adjustable jackets and pants for growing youngsters.

Preserve your gear

Even if you're not buying new gear, you can do a lot to preserve what you already have, Meeker says. Getting your skis tuned and waxed before the season starts (and again during the season) is a good start. Keeping your boots buckled when you're not wearing them will help preserve their shape. Washing your jacket and pants with a technical detergent additive or spray-on solution can maintain breathability and moisture resistance better than traditional detergents. NikWax (nikwax.com) and ReviveX (revivex.com) make products engineered for down, softshell and waterproof apparel for about $6 to $10 per bottle.

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