Hitting the slopes with high-tech ski gear (Video)
Tech Industry
-Is watching the winter games getting you amped up for some slope side fun?
Here's a roundup of literally the best cool tech for your next mountain getaway.
-Very few people these days can truly unplug.
The different products that we've got going here are time-saving, they're seamless, and they offer a way to access information when you're on the go.
-One way to stay plugged in, Oakley's $650 Airwave and Recon's
$400 Snow2.
Both goggles feature a heads-up display, a small screen on the lower right that shows information like your speed, music track titles, even text messages and more.
-The handiest feature of these goggles, trail maps so you know exactly which run you're on, and it will help you avoid making a wrong turn and accidentally ending up on a black diamond.
-A remote with oversized buttons lets you navigate through the screens even while wearing mittens.
Next up, gloves.
They aren't just for keeping warm.
This pair from BearTek which run $120 has a built-in Bluetooth module.
-Why Bluetooth?
If you're on a lift and you get a call, it's much easier to answer the phone by doing this instead of digging for your phone, fumbling with it and risking a 60-foot drop.
-Cellphones tend to be the number one lost item.
You see them drop from chairlifts often and we're there to scoop them up.
-Wireless Bluetooth headphones like the $130 Chips also let you take calls easily and listen to tunes while swishing downhill.
The left earpiece doubles as a button for music controls.
Lift tickets are getting souped-up too.
Northstar California and its sister resorts offer EpicMix, an app that stores data collected by your lift ticket.
-Everyday pass or season pass has an RF chip embedded in the plastic media, and every time the customer goes through our gantry at the entrance to the lift, it records that passage and then calculates the number of vertical feet.
-For parents, EpicMix is a handy
way to know what your kids were up to during ski school.
You can also access photos taken by resort photographers.
By far though, the hands down favorite gadget here is the GoPro, the video camera that offers unique POV shots.
Liquid Image's $400 Apex goggles feature a built-in GoPro.
-This way it's already built right into your eye wear and you have it with you all day.
So whatever you're seeing, you can capture on video.
The Apex also boasts Wi-Fi so you can stream your video.
The $130 Headcase Pro is a
waterproof iPhone case with a wide angle camera lens.
Attach the case to the $50 chest or mount, and you've got a good GoPro alternative.
The only drawback of all these gadgetry, those technical difficulties that drive you batty at home like dead batteries and weak network signals are much more annoying on the slopes.
Still, it's tech like this that lets shredders of all stripes relive their mountain glory long after the lift stop running.
In Lake Tahoe, I'm Sumi Das, CNET for CBS News.
