From roughly T-giving until Memorial Day (or as late as possible) DH, DS (13) and I ski every weekend, long weekends whenever possible, and two weeks at Christmas and Spring break and with most of those days on the road, we need to be efficient. I am hoping to hear about gear you use to save money, take care of your equipment, or just generally make life easier, even a little and likewise what has failed to help as much as you'd hoped.
For me, the failure this year was the SkiTrax things that slide onto your boots to grip and protect the soles of your boots while you are walking. They fit fine but after you take them off they are pretty unwieldy and I can't stand them in my pockets. If I have a locker, I'm changing into my boots there anyway so wouldn't need them and the other option is just to shove them somewhere and hope nobody takes them. For me they were just more of pain than they were worth. Fortunately my boots have replaceable and very grippy soles so it's not a big deal. But I hate wasting money.
The winner, well winning combination, this year was my new pink "air jordan" helmet and wireless bluetooth speakers that drop right into the ear pockets on the helmet. The Solomon Icon Custom Air helmet is awesome- it is really light, has adjustable venting, audio ready, and has a feature that allows you to pump/drain air into the liner while it's on your head for a custom fit. My new Outdoor Tech CHIPS wireless helmet audio speakers fit into the ear pockets perfectly and connect wirelessly to my phone so listening to pandora on my phone is a cinch. I can pause just by tapping the right ear of my helmet, no need to take out my phone, and all of the controls are as simple as tapping my left or right ear. I can answer the phone the same way - I actually took a call from work on the chairlift and they had no idea I was even outdoors. Maaaybee I was playing hookey. Somehow magically the sound transmits from your mouth to the mic in the ears of your helmet and the people on the other end say the sound is great. I don't know how, but it's great. I have gone three days between speaker charges with no problem, but I usually try to charge it after each day of use. Not wrangling with a cord is part of its greatness but the speakers do come with a cord if you want to listen to some non-bluetooth musical device like an MP3 player which I still use at resorts without cell service. I'm really happy with the setup so I might sound a little like a salesperson but I have no stake in either product.
For me, the failure this year was the SkiTrax things that slide onto your boots to grip and protect the soles of your boots while you are walking. They fit fine but after you take them off they are pretty unwieldy and I can't stand them in my pockets. If I have a locker, I'm changing into my boots there anyway so wouldn't need them and the other option is just to shove them somewhere and hope nobody takes them. For me they were just more of pain than they were worth. Fortunately my boots have replaceable and very grippy soles so it's not a big deal. But I hate wasting money.
The winner, well winning combination, this year was my new pink "air jordan" helmet and wireless bluetooth speakers that drop right into the ear pockets on the helmet. The Solomon Icon Custom Air helmet is awesome- it is really light, has adjustable venting, audio ready, and has a feature that allows you to pump/drain air into the liner while it's on your head for a custom fit. My new Outdoor Tech CHIPS wireless helmet audio speakers fit into the ear pockets perfectly and connect wirelessly to my phone so listening to pandora on my phone is a cinch. I can pause just by tapping the right ear of my helmet, no need to take out my phone, and all of the controls are as simple as tapping my left or right ear. I can answer the phone the same way - I actually took a call from work on the chairlift and they had no idea I was even outdoors. Maaaybee I was playing hookey. Somehow magically the sound transmits from your mouth to the mic in the ears of your helmet and the people on the other end say the sound is great. I don't know how, but it's great. I have gone three days between speaker charges with no problem, but I usually try to charge it after each day of use. Not wrangling with a cord is part of its greatness but the speakers do come with a cord if you want to listen to some non-bluetooth musical device like an MP3 player which I still use at resorts without cell service. I'm really happy with the setup so I might sound a little like a salesperson but I have no stake in either product.
