I hate smokers. They infringe on my enjoyment of clean mountain air. I stand in a liftline, ride a chair, make a left through the trees and cross a puff of cough-inducing smoke and I want to instantly petition the state to ban smoking at ski areas. You can’t smoke at Disneyland; at Lagoon (Utah’s own little amusement park); why can they not send smokers to the maintenance lot to pollute the air around the snowcats and snowmobiles? Resorts are marketed toward families yet I’m horrified when my six-year- old sees the liftie on break taking a drag. “Mommy, what’s that?” she asks. “That’s gross,” I respond. So the last thing I thought I’d want to write about was PAX. The new palm-sized device debuting at this year’s Sundance Film Fest has found love among smokers in the entertainment industry. It’s a super portable vaporizer that has only three parts and it’s destined for the pockets of skibums. It heats quickly and easily – even in freezing temps- and even if you’re fumbling on a chair lift you have a slim chance of dropping things. “The old vaporizers (used by those who smoke pot) sent a stoner message,” Said Sarah Richardson. “We’ve taken that technology and brought it into the tobacco space.” You can now have ‘attractive’ tobacco alternatives without the combustion that gets into your throat and chest. Pipe tobacco, nicotine and yes, that other substance. You can use it to smoke indoors and it won’t make your house, car, clothes or my chair ride smell like an ashtray. It works off an internal rechargeable battery (no butane). There’s a pop-up mouthpiece that turns on the device, the body and an ‘oven’ on the bottom where you pop off a magnetic lid and stuff your poison. The cloud you see coming off the PAX is vapor not second-hand smoke. If it keeps my mountain air clean. Hurray, sell more of these. Once again a true “Sundance find.” $249. www.ploom.com. P.S. If there’s a rider/smoker in your life, please, for my sake buy him this for Valentine’s Day.
It’s finally starting to warm up- if you can call a high of 20 degrees warm. But it beats -2 which is what Park City’s seen over the last few weeks. Several times I walked into the ski lodge to find little kids screaming for Mommy as their tiny toes began to thaw and the ‘pins n needles’ worked their evil magic.
This week in Park City I’m betting there will be enough moans and groans to rival the party cheers as thousands of Los Angelinos descend on the mountain town for the Sundance Film Festival and experience temps so cold their liquor stashes will freeze in the car.
Staying Warm
It’s pure science to get the right balance of comfort and warmth in the winter. You can’t just wear a cotton T-shirt and big puffy coat and call it good.
Starting at the feet, ditch the gym socks. A thick cotton sock is a pure sign of beginner. You don’t wear cotton socks in the mountains. Period. Wear a ski or snowboard sock in your after ski boot even if you’re aren’t on the slopes to keep your toes are toasty as possible. Chemical toe warmer packets are also a good idea but they don’t last very long in an oxygen deprived environment in the super cold. When they do die, yank them out or they will suck away any heat your own body is generating.
Lorpen’s Tri Layer Ski Socks use a Primaloft Eco next to skin layer to wicks moisture, a middle layer of merino wool for effective evaporation and warmth, and an outer layer of nylon knit on high friction areas for extra durability.
Most of the time the warmest boots are not the prettiest. But if you’re wearing a sweet pair of jeans or ski pants, no one will notice. The Greenbay4 from Kamik will keep your foot warm to -40 degrees.
For a more fashion-forward look that still retains warmth, I love my Sorel Joan of Arctic’s:
I can’t tolerate wool- even merino- on my bum – so on extra cold days I’ve got a thin layer of fleece between my and my Calvins. Polarmax makes everything you need under there.
Let’s start with the AYG 4-way stretch bikini brief. The poly and Spandex with Acclimate antimicrobial keeps your long johns fresh to wear throughout your entire trip. It’s a lot easier to wash these quick-dry, silky undies in the sink than your fleece pants and they don’t ride up.
Under ski pants I slither into the Quattro Fleece; under street pants it’s the 4-way stretch tight for warmth without the bulk. BTW, jeans are a ‘don’t’ in subzero temps. There’s nothing warm about them. Cords or a knit dress with fleece leggings will keep you warmer.
On top, I wear the Joy Fleece Sport Bra from Sportees under ski clothes and the Isis Sport Bra with street clothes (regular bras aren’t warm enough).
Over the bra goes either a wool baselayer like the Lifa Dry Classic top from Helly Hansen.
or, if can’t stand the itch, a synthetic cotton top from Sport Science. Feels like cotton, wicks like poly. I layer these with a street shirt of choice or a mid-weight fleece and top them with a wool sweater like the gorgeous Lucia sweater from Prana or the wool/nylon/poly Sera pullover from Sherpa Adventure Gear. Both sweaters have that thick wool feel on the outside but a soft, fleeciness on the inside so you won’t itch.
For ultra cold days, I’ve got my Obermeyer Kassady down sweater.
I seal the deal with a full down jacket and scarf (or fleece neck gaitor for skiing). Companies like Mountain Hardwear, Helly, Sierra Designs even Timberland make coats that are both warm and stylish.
Kick off the New Year with a special toast to Alta Ski Resort. In fact, they’re helping you celebrate 75 years of skiing with their own special brew. The beer is bottled and packaged by the award-winning Wasatch Brewery and it goes down as smoothly as any of Wasatch’s popular ales. The brewmeister made it a deeper brown to represent Alta’s ‘Steep and Deep’ and fans couldn’t be more excited to tip back this nod to one of their favorite resorts. It packs a 4% kick at $7.99 a six pack. Pick one up at the Wasatch Beer Store, 1763 S. 300 West, in Salt Lake City. Also look for them in local Utah grocery stores and on tap.
Stabilicers
Move over CatTracks, there’s a more durable, pocketable option out there. The new Stabilicers make it easy to get from Point A to B when your streets and walkways are covered in snow and ice. The traction comes from aggressive cleats and tread and the Elastomer plastic keeps them in place. The best part is you won’t instantly tear them when you pull them on or off your boots. Stabilicers come in three styles depending on your activity- Sport, Lite (pedestrian) and Original for heavy-duty hiking, hunting, etc. The Lite ones are the best for commuters as they roll up and fit in a pocket or purse. $21.
Cuddle Bear
You don’t have to be a baby to love this adorable, cuddly, flat teddy bear. Everyone fell in love with these shearling creatures after Park City Main Steet’s hip store the Flight Boutique gifted them out during the Sundance Film Festival last year. The Elks & Angels Cuddle Bear is easy to clean and naturally bacteria and dirt resistant. Plus, sheepskin breathes, never smells, is flame retardant, resistant to static electricity, and hypoallergenic so it makes a fantastic gift at any age. Did we mention how cute they are?
$49.
The last thing you need when frantically searching for your best bud in an avalanche is for your beacon to switch out of search mode. Ortovox is recalling a small group of its 3+ beacons when testing revealed that they switched to transmit mode after two minutes.
The avalanche transceivers switched unintentionally and internal tests showed that the problem is part of a particular production batch shipped to vendors after October 17, 2012.
“Despite our continuously optimized quality control measures, we have now discovered a scenario that has never occurred before in our QA processes,” Ortovox announced on their website.
The glitch seems to be caused by a new internal motion sensor used for “follow-up avalanche switchover”. Apparently, the sensor fails to detect your motion while you’re searching, and turns the beacon to transmit. While you can still manually switch back to search, it’s not an ideal way to use the transceiver.
Head over to the Ortovox website and input your beacon’s serial number to see if it’s part of the recall. The 10-digit number appears on the beacon’s display two digits at a time when the 3+ is switched on.
FYI- Your beacon still does the job if you’re buried (i.e. not moving) despite this issue.
I didn’t start wearing a ski helmet until the 90s. By then I had spent more than 20 years lidfree. I wore a bike helmet but my parents wore cute ski hats and so did we on the hill. In their minds, the two sports weren’t the same thing. After all, asphalt streets are one thing, snow another. But any parent who has witnessed a group of ski kids zigging and zagging through a clutch of aspens during a Deer Valley Resort kids ski class knows, you’re damn right, it’s not the same. It’s worse. Add to that sight, the fear of Junior being pummeled by an intermediate skier racing down a steep groomer (many resorts are now even grooming black runs!) with little of the finesse required to avoid unexpected objects and, well, you get it.
If you hadn’t thought about helmets before, it’s time. It’s past time. Studies show that ski kids suffer more head injuries on the slopes than adults and several of our nation’s resorts will have mandatory helmet clauses in place for their kids’ ski school packages this season.
Rentals are available but the sizing and fit could be atrocious. (See above.) Can you tell I’m against rental helmets? I see countless instances of kids dropkicking them with their ski boots, rolling them down concrete stairs and dropping them out of the car at the parking lot drop off. I want to know that whatever helmet is on my kid’s head it’s going to function at 100 percent in a pinch.
Bonus- a helmet that fits well also keeps your child’s head warm. Not to mention, if your child is going to ski, why not let her pick out his very own cool helmet she can decorate with stickers?
Photo by Sherri Harkin
SHOP RIGHT
First- Look for the ASTM 2040 label.
It’s not good enough if the only label is from the European Committee for Standardization (CE EN 1077). ASTM standards are higher.
Try on several different brands to find the lid that fits the best. Don’t just buy on the basis of reviews or recommendations. If it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t matter how many stars it got on Amazon.
Loosefitting helmets that tip all the way back to your kids hairline, ones that sit on top of his head like a Q-tip, a dangling chin strap. All of these ‘looks’ make a helmet about as effective as a condom with a hole in it.
The front edge should be one or two finger widths above the eyebrows and cover most of his forehead. The left side of the buckle should be centered and snug under the chin- no more than two fingers should fit between skin and strap. The helmet should pull down on the top of his head when he opens his mouth wide. Small kids may complain of “choking” so get a helmet that fits tightly on his head, loosen the strap and tuck a neck gaiter under it to keep them from whining. This isn’t the safest way to wear a helmet but it’s better than nothing and much better than a screaming kid on the hill. Soon they’ll get used to the strap and you can snug it up.
Adjust the slider so that the side straps make a ‘V’ just below the ear. The helmet shouldn’t move more than an inch in any direction when you play with it. Shorten the straps closest to his temples if it’s sliding backward; shorten the strap behind the ears if it’s falling into her eyes.
WHERE TO BUY
Be wary of purchasing helmets on Craigslist, eBay, etc. If you don’t know its history or the trustworthiness of the seller you’re bound to end up with a used helmet that’s experienced the intended abuse. A helmet that’s been in anything from a severe accident to a fall from the hatchback may not be able to do the job when you need it to.
If your kid has outgrown his lid, call the manufacturer and see if they have a buyback program. If not, shop ski swaps and retailers for last year’s models or pick one up on sale at the end of the ski season. As for your old helmet, recycle but don’t ‘reuse’ unless you know for a fact that the helmet has suffered no trauma in its life.
P.S. The best way to convince a kid to wear a helmet is for you to set the example. If you don’t wear one how can you expect her to?
