If you’ve got a family full of skiers or snowboarders, and you’re looking for a Christmas present everybody can enjoy, a set of Garmin Rino 530 radios could be a fun gift. The GPS-enabled two-way radio not only lets you talk with family members (or friends) on the slope, but you can actually see where they’re at by looking at the screen. This could make mid-day meet-ups a little easier.
The downside is that the gadget doesn’t include names of runs or the location of lifts, so you’d need to take a trail map with you to figure out what exact run someone is on. Also, you have to buy the software to run the Rino separately. Still, it could be a fun toy if you’ve got money to spare and like playing with GPS gadgets. The retail price is $499 (though it was closer to $400 when I checked at Amazon):
If you spend a lot of time in the terrain park and take a number of falls every time you go out (hey, it’s not your fault… it’s the lousy snow conditions), then these padded snowboard shorts might be something to look into. The Pro-tec IPS Halo Papa Hip Pads are similar to the padding football players wear beneath their pants. They provide some extra protection for those rough landings. They can also be a smart idea if you teach lessons, and 6 year olds are crashing into you all day long. The hip pads cost about $60 and are available at several online retailers, such as Tactics.
Looking for a way to make counting calories more fun? Well, maybe not more fun (when is it ever?) but more convenient? The Diet Buddy is a hand-held nutrition calculator that lets you access the full nutritional information (calories, carbs, fats, sugar, fiber, protein, etc.) for more than 4,000 foods. It’s small enough to fit in a purse or pocket, so you can take it with you wherever you go. It also has an alarm to alert you when you’ve hit your daily limit of calories, carbs, sugars, or fats (I’m not sure I’d be particularly thrilled with this feature… like I want to know I’ve hit my max when it’s only 11 a.m.). In addition to helping you keep track of what you eat, the Diet Buddy acts as a pedometer that automatically counts steps and converts them into miles and calories. For $25, it seems like a pretty good deal.
Do you spend all your time at the terrain park when you hit the slopes? Is every little bump on a run a potential jump? If getting air is your passion, then you might have fun with this gadget designed for skiing and snowboarding.
The Tech40 Air Pod is a $99 device that counts how long you stay in the air after a jump. Okay, it sounds a bit like a glorified stopwatch, but it also stores your “hang time” for your last 15 jumps, so you can keep track of your progress. In addition, it keeps track of the time, the date, the temperature, and it has an alarm, so if you have to meet someone at a certain time, you can remind yourself it’s time to get off the mountain by having it go off.