A Blizzard of Awesome Gifts for Powder hounds [Gift Guide 2010]

The most effective things about Winter is a fresh blanket of pristine snow. And the gear that helps you ride down it. Listed below are some gifts for the powderhounds on your life.

1. Helmet/Sport Cameras: There are two cameras which are optimum on the subject of capturing the essence of your kinetics, GoPro and Contour. Both offer many various mounts for plenty of different sports, from snow, to water, to motor. Both do HD and 60 frame per second mode and have long lasting batteries. But the profile of the Contour-and its GPS and its zero-confusion slide switch-make it better for helmet mounted activities, while the GoPro’s shape and case make it better for underwater and chest mounted shots in addition as the snow. $179 to $349 [ GoPro and Contour , Gizmodo GoPro HD Review ]

2. Waterproof Cameras : My favorite waterproof cameras come from Panasonic/Lumix by virtue of a superb combination of ruggedness and photo quality. The Pentax cameras are rated similarly in relation to freeze resistance all the way down to 14 degrees, but the Lumix is rated to 33 feet underwater, too, for summer adventure at the beach. The Pentax is more pocketable and lighter, for what it’s worth. Roughly $200 to $220, discounted. [ Pentax / Amazon , Lumix / Amazon ]

3. Gloves: There are various wonderful gloves available on the market this year. My hands get cold-probably because I take my gloves off for all time to examine my phone-and my favorite from last year was the Black Diamond Guide Glove. It’s not one of the most waterproof glove I’ve seen nonetheless it’s got wool liners, so your hands stay warm regardless of how damp they get. The outdoor mags are going nuts over these Arcteryx Alpha gloves, that are Gore Pro shell. But I’ve never tried them. And they cost $275! Hestra makes a pair of gloves with Gore Tex XCR tech (which bonds the outer and inner layers together for an improved feel) and actually beefy wrist straps. Neat. I’ll probably keep using the Guides, myself. $155 to $275. [ BD , Arcteryx , Hestra ]

4. Base Layers: Patagonia’s Capilene base layer system is my most excellent. I take advantage of R2s when its inside the high 30s and R3s on colder days, and this year they’ve updated their R4 (the beefiest base layer) to be warmer and quicker drying, by going towards an ultrafine fleece material. Decent for days in single digit temps. I also like Patagonia’s Merino base layers, which don’t wick quite in addition but are even warmer than the unreal stuff. $45 to $200. [ Patagonia ]

5. Fleece: Patagonia’s high loft R3 fleece is their warmest fleece meant to be layered under a shell, and is made with Polartec Thermal Pro polyester yarn with Polartec stretch materials under the pits and arms. I actually have an orange one. Like it. $180. [ Patagonia ]

6. Snowboard: I fell in love with a K2 board last year with a flat profile called the Slayblade. I’ll probably keep riding that board, but I’m very enthusiastic about local big mountain hero Jeremy Jones’ new line of boards with magnetraction (serrated edges good for gripping ice) and blunt noses for shorter profiles and lower swing weight, with plenty of effective carving edge length. There’s the Hovercraft, that is 156cm long but using width, has the float of a 176cm long board. And then there’s the flagship, that is a very good all around board for charging hard. $499. [ Jones ]

7. Hand Warmer: slightly something I will be able to imagine can be nice near to your chest on worse days. i’ll wrap my hands around one when my fingers got cold, too. Find out how to stay warm is to stay dry and keep your core insulated nicely, but a bit electronic or gas heater can’t hurt either. $15 to $28. [ Zippo and Sanyo ]

8. Skis: When my backcountry ski nerd friend was asked what gear they’d get if they were shopping, he responded by citing Black Diamond’s Efficient series of touring gear that’s designed for lightness and use in ” high consequence” ski areas where falling isn’t an option. The Quadrant AT Ski Boot has a boa cable tightened liner, four buckles for stiffness, and yet, 40 degrees of ankle movement in touring mode. The Drift skis are wide at 100mm at the waist, for powder, and rockered up front for added float. $620 and $660. [ BD , BD ]

9. Solar: Whether charging up gadgets inside the backcountry or in a car, I’d prefer the Joos Orange solar battery/solar charger for several reasons: It’s tough enough-bulletproof, actually-has 5400 MAh of storage, and is sensitive enough to light to charge in indirect light. And it’s only $100. [ Joos ]

10. Headlamp: For early hikes up the hill or within the glove box in case of roadside emergency, I’d choose a Petzl Tikka2 XP2 Core for its full feature set. Each has red and four white LEDs, and might be programmed by computer to adjust output for definitely the right combination of battery life and brightness, counting on your task. The rechargeable batteries will also be swapped out for AAA cells, too. And each has an emergency whistle on it. $115. [ Petzl ]

11. Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America : A coffee table book, of America’s best ass-puckering downhill runs, as told by a few of the country’s best skiers. $60. [ Wolverine Publishing ]

12. Goggles: The enormous tech goggle this year is the GPS Zeal optics model with a heads up display that shows temperature, altitude/descent changes, speed and elapsed distance, in conjunction with time per run. It’s neat, even though the goggles are a bit heavy. For a less complicated piece of eyewear, I prefer Smith Goggles with the low light appropriate ” sensor” lenses because I enjoy riding storms. Obviously, goggles must fit your face and nose before almost any other measure, so its worth trying on the proper in your face, in a store. $90 to $400 [ Zeal and Smith ]

13. Apps: There’s really only 1 app for snow recently, and it’s The North Face ‘s free ski report app. It’s free, so it’s not even a great stocking stuffer. But every powder hound needs an awesome weather app, and The Weather Channel’s Max app is my pick for excellent push alerts, radar, weekend and 10 day forecasts. I like it. The opposite must is Motion X GPS , because that you would be able to load up backcountry maps and save them locally, in addition as track your daily runs. Free, $1 [ iTunes , iTunes ]

14. Winter Tires: In the event you love someone who spends a great number of time inside the snow, and they don’t have snow tires, get them some. They’ll enjoy driving within the snow more and you’ll enjoy feeling like they’re a piece safer with snow shoes on their car. [ TireRack ]

The burning sensation that comes from holiday shopping isn’t from rubbing against the unwashed masses at malls: It’s seeking to settle upon presents for everybody in your list. Gizmodo’s daily gift guides and best gadgets list are the all-natural, non-smelly cure.

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This post is tagged: different sports, long lasting batteries, panasonic lumix, pentax cameras, summer adventure, waterproof cameras