Wintertime Goodies

If last winter was a precursor for the one now approaching, there will be snow this year. Lots of it.
Now is the time when outfitters are stocking up with fantastic gear and killer package offers. So if you dropped your glove on the lift last season or damaged your skis during an attempted 100-foot gap jump switch, now would be a good time to visit your local dealers.
One of the newer novelties in the snow world is the reCurve Magne-Traction technology from the characters at the environmentally conscious snowboard company Lib Tech. Playfully refusing to acknowledge that it was actually going to make some skis in response to requests from skiers, Lib Tech responded with NAS (NAS standing for Narrow-Ass Snowboard).
“Skiers were bugging Lib Tech to make some skis, so they said, ‘Well, we don’t make skis. So we’re gonna make some narrow-ass snowboards,” says Wintersport employee Eli Coski.

The Magne-Traction technology entails seven bumps resembling the edge of a serrated knife on the edge of a pair of skis or snowboard, thus providing more edge contact points than just the tip and the tail. Instead of two contact points, you get seven. Coski describes this technology as the most sought-after in the snow world.
Hugely popular in the snowboard department is the Skate Banana from Lib Tech, topping the sales of any other snowboard for Wintersport. The Banana also sports Magne-Traction technology that enables boarders to really bite the ice but float like a surfboard in deep powder. And unlike a regular board’s camber, the middle of the Banana dips in the opposite direction to meet the snow “so you don’t have to fight it,” says Coski.
If you’re goggle hunting, Mountain Gear is a great place to start. They’re carrying the newest model of the Heiress goggles for women by Smith Optics, which have been re-designed for women’s specific requirements — smaller and more rounded for better peripheral vision. So instead of simply slapping the color pink on a product, Smith actually gave its model a facelift. Also cool are the I/O goggles from Smith Optics, which boast full interchangeability, a rimless design, a spherical Carbonic-X lens and a QuickFit strap adjustment system. They have two sets of lenses that easily clip in: a sensor mirror for overcast, gray weather and an igniter mirror for sunny, bright weather. Versatility never looked so sexy.