Ski accessories can play a key part in your time on the hill, whether they be headphones to jam out with, a face mask for when the weather is brutal or shades for warm spring days. To help you choose from the large selection on the market, we’ve brought together the best of the best, naming the top ski accessories of 2017-2018, below.
Booster Strap World Cup
Stock power straps are adequate for some people, but others demand elevated drive and control in their skiing. Booster’s dynamic power bands replace a boot’s stock strap, cinching the upper cuff ultra-tight or a stiffer flex which generates increased power transmission and handling—like Ken Block-style handling. Additionally, Booster Straps provide a bit of cushioning to prevent dreaded shin-bang.
G-Form Pro-X Compression Shirt
The Pro-X Compression Shirt is here to provide you with protection from unexpected encounters with rocks, thick tree trunks, out-of-control skiers, chairlift towers, etc. The shirt utilizes impact-absorbing pads of flexible foam—placed in the shoulders, collarbone, chest and ribs—that bind together upon impact to absorb and disperse energy. (I.e. the foam might save your precious bones from breaking.) After impact, the foam returns to its original state, hugging your body in an unobtrusive manner and moving with you. It’s sort of like a Spidey-suit of defense.
Slytech Flexi Vest Back Protector
What happened when Slytech took its 2nd Skin XT protective foam (allowing for multi-directional impact energy dissipation), slimmed it down and also made it more pliable? Flexi was born. This back protector conforms to the movements of your body, providing a crucial line of protection from impacts with snow, rocks, trees, etc., while hardly impeding your movement or bogging you down. Without Flexi, the rock always wins. With Flexi, however, you stand a fighting chance.
Poc Layer Protective Shirt
Getting struck by a rogue ski or toppling over a fallen-off ski whilst tomahawking is something all skiers would like to avoid. (Trust us, we’ve seen freshly sharpened ski edges do some nasty, nasty damage.) The POC Layer utilizes ultra-strong, abrasion-resistant Dyneema fabric to form a barrier against those potentially blood-spilling scruffs with skis and other sharp objects. Layer up this season and enjoy your aggressive alpine skiing worry-free.
GoPro Hero5 Black
There are times when an iPhone camera just doesn’t do the trick. When we crave that perfect, high-res summit selfie, we turn to the GoPro HERO5 Black. This tiny camera makes capturing ultra-high quality footage (4K video and 12MP photo) a walk in the park. It’s waterproof up to 33 feet without a housing unit (an upgrade from its predecessors) and its two-inch touchscreen enables speedy and intuitive operation as well as instant playback. It has voice control capabilities allowing for hands-free operation and it also works seamlessly with the GoPro and Quik apps, allowing you to quickly create video edits for mobile viewing and sharing.
Julo Vermont Classic
Julbo celebrates its 125th anniversary by bringing back the fan-favorite Vermont Classic, an icon of mountaineering culture that dates back to the 1950s. Hand-made in France, these glacier glasses utilize burly yet beautiful lenses along with a leather nose-piece and side shields to block out angry high-alpine UV rays. Rubber, hooked arms keep ‘em comfortably on your ears at all times. As part of the re-release, the “VC” now comes in three eye-catching colorways.
