Published in Whitelines Magazine Issue 95, February 2011
1. ANIMAL JUGGERNAUT JACKET – £160
10,000 MM / 10,000 GM
As the name suggests, the Juggernaut is built for seriousstuff, and designed to handle tough conditions. Featureslike fully-taped seams, fixed lycra snow-cuffs, and criticalinsulation mean this is pretty heavy duty in terms ofspec. Thankfully, it’s not all about the geeky bits -details like the green check print and the fur-linedhood mean you’ll look good too.
2. AMEL FALLING BIRDS BASE LAYER – £30
Like all Amel’s base layers, this is made of special‘moisture migration’ material that helps sweatescape from your body. It also features ‘non-bulking’sleeves, and extra length at the bottom, so itdoesn’t ride up. All of this means these birds willbe keeping you warm this winter – sounds alright,doesn’t it?
3. TRANSFORM BRICK LANE GLOVES – £50
Transform Gloves is about the most down to earth, ‘real’company you could ever hope to come across. Run bya long-term British Mayrhofen local, their gloves arenicely made, and always look sick. Like this pair, whichwill keep your hands hotter than any Vindaloo.
4. SKULLCANDY LOWRIDER HEADPHONES – £45
Skullcandy’s Lowrider headphones offercrunching base and crisp treble tones whilemaking you look the shit – which, let’s face it,is pretty important. Plus, you’d be hard pushedto find a greater range of colour optionsoutside of a Benetton ad.
5. FLOWRIFT FOCUS BOOT – £150 Flex 7
Flow’s Rift Focus Boa is a stiff-flexingfreestyle boot aimed at riders who reallyknow what they’re doing in the park andthe pipe. American pipe wizard Scotty Lagorides these. Yep, the dude who won an Olympicmedal and then got kicked out of Vancouver forpartying too hard – yes rude boy!
6. LOVE INC. SKIING IS SHIT T-SHIRT – £20
Let’s face it, skiing is a bit shit really isn’t it? First they triedto ban us from the mountains, and then, once they realisedwe were actually where it was at, they just copied us, nickingeverything from our steeze to the names of our grabs. Love Inc.’scomedy t-shirt lets people know where your loyalties lie… and isguaranteed to wind up any skier mates you may have a treat!
1. RIP CURL NILS ARVIDSSON JACKET – £150
5,000 MM / 5,000 GM
There’s a whole crew of young guns onRip Curl who are making serious wavesin snowboarding at the minute, and NilsArvidsson is one of them. With all sorts ofdouble corks in the bag, the Swede is a threatat any contest he enters, and he’s noslouch in the backcountry either.His signature jacket is built forhandling both.
2. GIRO BASIS GOGGLES – £100
Giro’s Basis is a no-nonsense goggle – in fact that mightbe why they called it the basis. It’s got a versatile tintedlens that will suit most light conditions, and keep youreyes safe from evil UV rays.
3. GARMIN FORETEX 401 GPS – £180
A few years ago, Garmin spotted a gap in the market forsuper-portable, highly accurate GPS systems – the kind thatwill sit on your wrist and tell you exactly where you are on thehill without the need for any mobile signal. Perfect for powlovers who are serious about their exploration.
4. QUIKSILVER SHERPA FANCY PANTS – £140
5,000 MM / 5,000 GM
Sherpas are ‘kin hard – everyone knows that. I mean come on, if itweren’t for them, would any westerner ever have made it up Everest?Quiksilver’s Sherpa pants won’t turn you into Tenzing Norgay overnight,but they’ll definitely keep you warm and dry in most conditions.
5. RIDE REVOLT BINDING – £145 Flex 5
Like all ride bindings, the Revolt has an aluminium frame, which gives it a nicefirm, responsive feel. This, combined with its mid flex, makes it the perfect toolfor competent freestylers who want to push themselves in the park or on the hill.
6. CELTEK WHISKA WOMEN’S GLOVE – £37
Set up by Bjorn Leines and his brother Erik, Celtek have been makinggood gloves for a long time. They’ve only recently become availablein the UK, but are apparently selling like hot-cakes. Looking at theseones – the Cheryl Maas pro-model – it’s easy to see why.
1. WESTBEACH BC BUDJACKET – £180
10,000 MM / 5,000 GM
Westbeach comes from the WestCoast of Canadia eh? And the crewthat designs it are like, super-friendlysnowboarders eh? Even if you didn’tknow that already, you could probablyguess by looking at this – it’s green,it’s made from ethically sourced hempfibres, and it’s called the BCBud jacket. Shit, it evencomes with a baggieattached to thestash pocket…
2. COAL THRIFT KNIT BEANIE – £27
Coal’s classy headwear is rocked by the likes of MikeyLeBlanc, Cale Zima and Jess Kimura – so three of theraddest most street American shredders you couldever hope to meet. If you like your style sharp and yourtrousers tight, check this out.
3. OAKLEY SPLICE GOGGLES – £130
A new frame from Oakley, the Splice is features a largelens that gives you pretty much un-paralleled all-aroundvision. There’s a range of lenses and colour typesavailable, but these bright yellow ones are our personalfavourites. They’re big, bright, and make you look badass!
4. FORCEFIELD SPORT LITE 2 SPINE PROTECTOR – £110
You don’t need us to tell you that your spine is kind of important. TheForcefield Sport Lite 2 matches up to the highest industry standardpossible (EN1621-2, if you’re asking), meaning it’ll keep your back aboutas safe as it can be.
5. SPECIAL BLEND SB MITT – £60
Obviously we wouldn’t know, but apparently smoking lots of weed leadsto reduced blood circulation. Rather than leave stoners suffering fromcold fingers as a result, Special Blend have produced a reggae-tintedmitt that’s about as warm as they come. That’s nice of them isn’t it?
6. O’NEILL EXALT PANTS – £90
5,000 MM / 8,000 GM
O’Neill’s Exalt is a classic design – a medium fit pant withcargo pockets down the legs, and a neat unobtrusive logonear the knees. The classic look is matched by the tech inside,which includes critically taped seams, decent waterproof andbreathability ratings and inside leg vents. Classy.
