The SIA, or SnowSports Industry Americas, is the trade association for everything snow sports and the annual Snow Show is where all the industry comes together and shows off the hot new products for the upcoming season. Check out the Top 10 HOT new products from the SIA Show floor below and stay tuned for a huge ski review from the Demo and wrapup report including trends from the industry.
1: Bear Tek Gloves
$199.99 Moto/$149.99 Snow Sports Kit MSRP
Blue Infusion Technologies brought out a snow sports and motorcycle glove that integrate the same bluetooth mobile control system. There is a bluetooth module in each glove that allows the wearer to control their bluetooth enabled device through touch sensitive areas on the fingers of the gloves. Basically touch your thumb to one of the 6 touch points on the other fingers to control different features on your phone or other bluetooth enabled device. This is great for rocking out to toons or answering a phone call both while shredding the slopes or the local mountain roads on your moto.
2: Ski Retriever
$159.99 MSRP
Basically this is a small weatherproof device that allows you to find your skis or other equipment when you lose them in deep snow. The idea is that you tag your ski or other gear with a homing tag and then use the Ski Retriever handheld unit to find said gear. With a range of over 100 yards and the ability to have many homing tags linked to one Retriever unit this little gadget could come in handy across many outdoor sports!
3: Dynafit Beast 16
$1,000 MSRP
This is THE binding for the aggressive backcountry skier! It is the lightest freeride touring binding available, at only 1,850 grams per pair, with a DIN range of 6-16. It is frameless, aka now the ski can flex under foot, and pretty much takes out the competition in every way, except price and availability. There will only be 2,500 of these bindings released world-wide, and only 850 in North America, in the fall of ’13.
4: Launch Binding System
basically this new snowboard binding from Launch Snowboards acts like a bear trap as you step into it. It keeps the straps out of your way and makes it incredibly easy to strap in. Great concept that is well executed.
5: Function-Snow Backcountry Packs
Function-Snow already makes super light ski and snowboard carriers and now offers this same level of lightweight gear carrying function in backpack form. They use a new Dyneema fabric construction that is EXTREMELY light weight and durable. The two pack offerings, one for ski and one for snowboard, are very well thought out and the adjustable carrying system is quite ingenious. This pack is properly designed to hold all your backcountry essentials, be comfortable and hold up to the abuse.
6: DC Travis Rice ’14 Boot
Probably the most burly Snowboard boot ever made, and rumored to be super comfy as well. It features a double boa closure system, air venting, a thick high traction and easy to walk in sole and burly materials construction. It is designed to handle the abuse of ripping big mtn lines and getting to those lines wether it be by sled, split board or heli. If you need a boot to basically live in like Travis this is the tool for the job!
7: Helly Hanson Oden H2 Flow Jacket
Helly Hanson has been working on how to regulate the internal climate of your jacket for a few years now and their latest method seems to have the data to back it up. The idea is that the holes in the foam insert inside the back of the jacket capture body heat while removing moisture from next to skin and also allowing for that heat and moisture to be quickly expelled when you open the pit zips. Being a full featured super stylee piece helps as well:)
8: Endeavor Archetype Series Snowboards
Endeavor Snowboards has invested heavily in a full R&D lab in their Vancouver, Canada offices. They call this creative workspace the Archetype Lab. The idea is to quickly take ideas and try them on the mountain. The processes and technologies they are pioneering are quite cool and cutting edge. You can only buy limited run Archetype boards direct from Endeavor, but be sure you’ll see many of the new Archetype technologies in future Endeavor production boards.
9: Light Bohrd
Besides their own line of snowboards and helmets Light Bohrd licences its technology out to other companies. They also make a sweet longboard skateboard designed with head and tail lights integrated into the laminate. Watch for this tech on a hill near you! I’d love to do a night photo shoot with this tech:)
10: MTN Approach Skis
$795 MSRP w/backpack
A ski to get snowboarders into the backcountry. The unit is prefitted with skins, folds in thirds and comes with a backpack that is designed to carry the folded skis and all your essential backcountry gear. The idea is to be able to use a one piece snowboard while still being able to access the goods.
(I apologize for the poor photo quality. I recently got the new Nikon D600 and along with it a new high-capacity SD card. Apparently the card went corrupt and I was unable to recover the MANY photos that I took around the SIA Show floor. These photos are off my iPhone 4.)
