As we all know, Kelowna has more than its fair share of ski and snowboard enthusiasts.  Personally, I’m still pretty new to snow sports.  I only started snowboarding last season, but I gotta say, I’m hooked.

This week, I scoped out some really cool gadgets you can use out on the slopes.

The first one is really a no-brainer when you think about it.  They’re ski goggles with a built-in camera.  The Liquid goggles have a five megapixel still camera that also has the ability to record videos with sound.  It’s got a decent battery life - it’ll take over two hours of video before dying.  And you can get a memory card to hold as much memory as you need.  I know a lot of people like to take cameras out onto the slopes (I’m one of them).  These goggles will do double duty and mean one less thing you need to bring with you.

Now, as I said before, I’m still fairly new to snowboarding - by no means am I considered a skilled rider.  So this next item isn’t for me, but for those more advanced, this will peak your interest.  Head - a familiar brand name to snowboarders - has a new, technologically advanced snowboard.  It’s called the Intelligence, and it uses material called Intellifibre in the board itself.  The material works with a microchip to read how much vibration is happening through the board, and the Intellifibres will actually stiffen, or flex the board according to your needs.  The result is a stiffer board when you’re looking for speed and grip… and a more flexible board when you’re in soft, powdery conditions.  How cool is that??

Now, imagine you’re sitting on a chair lift, you’re enjoying the scenery as you head up the mountain, when suddenly your phone rings.  You scramble to pry off your gloves (making sure you don’t drop them off the lift) and then you and your freezing hands try to figure out which pocket you put your phone in.  You finally find it, answer… and it’s just your friend calling to say he’s on the lift behind you.  And all you can think is, “I went through all that trouble just for that?”  Well, a set of bluetooth gloves have been developed to avoid all of that.  It’s exactly like your bluetooth headset, only it’s in your glove.  You just press a button and talk.  I was ecstatic when I heard about this gadget.  Unfortunately, Swany, the company that started selling these gloves have completely sold out, and there’s no word when - or if - they’ll make more.  But I’ll keep an eye out for ya!