Recon Instruments is a Vancouver (BC) based technology company that has released a micro optics display for ski/snowboard goggles.

So what the heck is that?

It took me some time to figure it out as the press release is pretty “nerdy”, but shortly said their two versions of their GPS-enabled goggles provide skiers and riders with a variety of data including speed, jump analytics, vertical, altitude, location, distance, chrono/tracker, run-counter, and temperature. This means that you can record lots of different data during your day on the slopes, and you can share all this data in the Internet. You can re-live and learn from your trips and runs, add images and video to create a highlight reel to share with other community members or with friends and family via Facebook and Twitter. Pretty cool I would say. Kids must really like this.

There’s even more. The Android-based MOD Live ships with four new, industry first applications:

• Buddy Tracking
• Smartphone Connectivity
• a Navigation app pre-loaded with the largest database of trail maps in the world
• Music Playlist Mode
• Camera Connectivity for use in the future with select wireless point-of-view action cameras.

“The transition to modular based optics allows us to expand our reach exponentially,” said Darcy Hughes, Chief Marketing Officer, Recon Instruments. “The snap-fit design, Bluetooth interaction, combined with the ever-evolving Android platform, is a game changer for the action sports industry in terms of connectivity, real-time information direct to eye, and community sharing.”

Other new features this season include a fasten-anywhere Bluetooth remote control, 33% larger widescreen optics, and an adjustable optics arm for a truly custom fit. Recon Ready goggles are already available from Uvex, Briko, Alpina, and Zeal Optics, with several more leading goggle brands scheduled to come onboard this winter and spring.

MOD and MOD Live are available now for $299 and $399.

This is a pretty good Christmas present idea. Products should be available in Amazon soon.

Sophie’s email brought me few years back in time, back to my years as a Chamonix ski bum. Her email is full of action, which I love, but most of all her email tells me about decision making. I’ve done many decisions in my life, but probably my biggest decision was to resign and survive on my own. I’ve always wanted to do things my own way, so I founded Fiercer Media. We have four children, so it was not easy to resign. I really wanted to do it, so one morning I just decided that “now or never”.

If you feel like you should do something different in your life, read Sophie’s email below, and make your decision. If you want it, do it. You’ll be fine.

Hey Marko

I hope all is good with you – I randomly stumbled upon your awesome blog this afternoon and felt compelled to get in touch!

Basically I have quite an interesting little story going on which I thought you may or may not be interested in featuring on the blog in some way. I thought I would email you with a few details about my life, the writing I’m doing and why I think there might be an element of synergy between these components and the philosophy of Homeboy Ski.

Basically at the end of 2008 I was living in a 2 bedroom cottage in a chocolate box village in West Sussex, United Kingdom complete with the requisite 2 P’s – pub and pond. I was earning an incredibly decent wage for doing next to no work in my role as Business Development Manager for a small media company, had a strong network of family and friends nearby and was in a relationship that was constant – even if that took the form of being constantly dysfunctional. Fast forward 18 months and I am 34 years old, living in a room at my parents’ house in Scotland, have an overdraft that could rival the national debt, and my only asset is my 7 year old very dirty black VW Golf. And surprise surprise, I’ve never felt happier, more free or more alive.

I did not embark upon some long ignored personal mission to get to where I am, nor was I visited by a mysterious wrinkly old woman telling me that if I didn’t go into the mountains I would miss the entire purpose of my existence on this planet. Nah, I just went into the outdoors. As a result of doing this most simplest of things more often I’ve ended up achieving more than I would have ever thought possible. In just over one year I have been to the top of Fionn Bheinn on ski, done my first Munro solo, lived in a hut on a glacier in the Canadian Rockies, stood on top of a 4,000m Alpine peak at sunrise, and led a climb in the Vallee du Giffre, France. I’ve dug snow pits in Canada and actually known what I was looking for, used my headtorch at 3am on the Vallee Blanche for purposes other than finding the bathroom, and I am delighted to report that I have discovered that there is a function for the mirror on my compass other than being a handy tool for checking that my suncream is all rubbed in. Oh and last month I was the first British person to ever be accepted by the Chamonix based ENSA as a test client for the weeklong exam that aspiring alpine guides need to pass in order to gain their full qualification.

After 3 months travelling around the States/Canada I am currently in Scotland, working in a climbing shop, and developing my passions for writing and photography, at the same time as developing a quirky business idea! Adventure-wise I am heading to Nepal on Thursday to hike into the Lantang region to deliver medical and educational supplies to remote villages, have a growing relationship with Faction skis, am going to Corsica in November to climb and hike in remote regions with some of the UK’s leading climbers, and am working on moving to the Alps this winter to live nearer to my new and overwhelmingly wonderful man. I hope to spend the winter working on my steep skiing in order to go on an expedition that I have been invited on to Milne Land, Greenland. Some crazy Swiss guys have invited me to join them for 3 weeks of living in very cold tents and skiing couloirs that have never been skied before! Terrifying but eminently do-able I’m sure…..kind of!!

I absolutely love writing and write from the heart. 2 years ago I was in a pretty dark place and through a combination of going into the outdoors where you have to live utterly in the moment, and a point blank refusal to submit to irrational fears, I am now living the greatest adventure I could ever have imagined. I’m not climbing Everest, I’m not doing anything crazily special, I’m just living my life and being true to who I am. We all lose our way at times and it’s whether we are determined to find our way through and to channel these experiences in a positive manner that will determine how our lives play themselves out. I kind of feel that my life seems to resemble some kind of Lara Croft version of ‘Eat, Pray, Love’!!

I am attaching 3 examples of my writing style. The first is about fear and its place in our lives and experiences in the outdoors. The next one is about why we put others and ourselves into boxes and how completely unhelpful this can be to an individual’s development and the third is about the signs that the universe displays to guide us on our particular paths. I hope you enjoy reading them and if you would like to see more do please let me know as I have a few others that might be of interest. I also have a whole host of photographs which I can email over if you would like – just let me know!

I am in the running to be Chief Inspiration Officer for the global Outside magazine, have been asked to write for Psychologies magazine, and do some gear reviews for Cairngorm Mountain Sports so there is a lot going on!!

I do very much look forward to hearing from you and whether you think that there might be an opportunity to be featured on Homeboy Ski.

Oh yes, we are glad to have Sophie on board. She is going to publish her first article in couple of days. You are going to like it! Meanwhile please check Sophie’s own blog.

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Let’s start with the most important thing: Equipment.

• Avalanche Transceiver
• Shovel
• Collapsible Probe

These are the three main things you’ll need for avalanche safety. Of course you’ll need plenty of warm clothing but I’ve taken that as a given because if you choose to go up a mountain in a t-shirt and shorts then maybe you might need hypothermia to give you a kick up the backside!
You need to make sure you understand how the transceiver works. If you get caught in an avalanche this will be your main lifeline. If you think it’s a new form of Tetris you’re pretty screwed. It helps you to locate others also and you should be able to locate your victim within 3 minutes so make sure you practice.

Spend the money and get a metal shovel. Don’t fob your mates off with a plastic shovel as they’re easy to break and less reliable in moving snow. You don’t want to lose a life because of a shovel.

The collapsible pole enables you to locate a victim accurately and reduces the possibility of missing the victim when you dig them out.
It should not just but you that knows how all of this equipment works but your friends as well. It’s no good having one person out of four know how something works. Make sure you all know and you all practice.

You need to always have an escape route planned. It’s better to have one planned beforehand rather than get yourself into trouble and be left high and dry under a slab of snow. Always travel one at a time. It’s best to leave one person in a safe place and others watching the area that your run will go through as well as having some nearby. This will allow them to guide others to your location if you become buried.

If you’re unlucky enough to get caught in an avalanche there are a few things that you’ll need to do. In this intensely pressured situation you may wonder how you’ll remember it but you remember the important things when your life is on the line! First things first, get off the snow slab! This has to be done straight away. It’s hard to do but if you’ve kept to cutting across slopes on your mountain run, it will be a lot easier to do than you think. Get to where the most stable snow is by skiing to the side. If it doesn’t happen the first time, keep trying. Gain speed and keep pushing yourself. Don’t try to outrun the avalanche. This rarely ever works and by rarely I mean it’s closer to never. Some people say that it’s best to keep away from trees in an avalanche as they can break very easily. A third of avalanche victims die from trauma from hitting trees and rocks, so if you’re able to grab onto one before you pick up speed then there’s a good chance of survival. Lose the poles. They hinder your chance of ‘swimming’ out when the snow drags you down the slope.

If you do get buried, clear an air space in front of your mouth as the avalanche comes to rest. This will delay an ice mask forming and will aid your breathing. Try to push your hand up. This will act as a visual aid for your rescuers to find you much quicker (if you don’t know which way is up, take your best guess). The snow in an avalanche is akin to concrete as it sets as soon as it stops so make sure you make all important actions before it stops!

If you are going to be the rescuer in this tale there’s some important tips for you to know as well. Watch the skier. It might seem like a stupid comment but if you don’t watch them then you won’t know where they end up and getting to them will be nearly impossible. Do not go for help. Another comment that might seem stupid but is essential as the first few minutes are the most important. If you leave to get help, your friend will more than likely be dead when you return so spend a good half an hour looking for them first. Don’t stay in one place. Try to cover as much ground as quickly as possible. Turn your beacon to receive if the victim is wearing one. Get everyone else to do this and you should find them in no time.

Those are my safety tips. Some of them are more warnings than tips but they all work in the same way. Don’t let this put you off back-country or mountain skiing but let it remind you that the mountain is bigger than you and that nature does not have a problem in teaching you this lesson.

Here’s some tips from the Roxy Girls:

The man was skiing off piste near Evolène in the Swiss Valais when he was buried by the slide. His parents reported him missing and search operation began. Soon they found the remaining of an avalanche measuring 50 by 150 meters with tracks entering. Unfortunately the rescue team was not able to do anything due to security issues, so they came back next morning with a helicopter.

The man was buried but the top of his helmet was just below the surface of the snow so he was probably able to breath but amazing he didn’t not suffer severe or fatal hypothermia.

“I’ve never heard of such a case before,” said police spokesman Jean-Marie Bornet. “It’s already very difficult to survive more than 45 minutes beneath an avalanche.”

So far unidentified Swiss skier was skiing alone in the avalanche prone backcountry in the Evolene region about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Geneva. Last month a series of avalanches at the same spot killed six people in central Switzerland, the country’s worst such disaster in more than a decade. Every year dozens of skiers are killed by avalanches in the Swiss Alps.

The skier has been hospitalized but appears to have suffered no serious injuries, Bornet said.

“He’s a very lucky man,” he said.

In case you didn’t notice our previous article check how massive and avalanche can be.

Source [Le Nouvelliste and TSR]

I should start by telling something about myself. I am Ville Eskonen, 26 year old young man, born and raised in the dark and melancholic East-Finland. The last 7 years I have held the fort in Rovaniemi, in Lappland, North-Finland. Skiing has drawn me since I was a young school kid. My skiing career began at Koli, a small ski area in East-Finland, where I spent as much time as I could. The money from each summers job I spent solely on a bus trip to Verbier. After high school and the mandatory Finnish army service I had to decide where to move to and Rovaniemi seemed like a good spot, close to the skiing in Northern Sweden and Norway, and a nice small ski hill next to the city.

After six and a half years I just finished my studies in Rovaniemi, a time period bit longer than expected since skiing took priority in the winter. During the last couple seasons I’ve gotten more and more interested in ski photography. At the moment my situation is that I quit my Rovaniemi job and left my rental apartment. Which in turn left me practically as a homeless, unemployed bum, ready to leave my tracks on untouched powder fields. Free your mind and your ass will follow, or how did it go..

Last winter I spent two months in Hakuba, Japan. The winter was the warmest one in 40 years and nearly each week from the end of January till the beginning of March brought one rainfall all the way to the elevation of 3000 metres. Still we got a lot of pristine powder turns each week, too. After the trip I worked through the facts myself and decided that I must experience the place again during a normal winter. And after this realization I bought plane tickets and booked accommodation for this winter. This time I will spend three months in Japan, and after that I’ll be doing some spring skiing in Northern Sweden and Norway, maybe a bit in Finland too. I will try to write and upload photos from these travels couple of times a week.

Burning legs and some damn good skiing (9th January)

Here we are, at the destination and couple days of skiing behind us. The trip was a lot of fun, a long flight  followed by 4 hours in 4 different trains. I can’t imagine anything more enjoyable, especially when you have three months worth of luggage, skis and other equipment to carry.  Yep, when we were finally there I was pretty fed up already. Oh well, some instant noodles to eat, couple hours of sleep and on to the skiing.

Good snow (skier: Kalle)

(skier: Kirstine)

The snowpack is unbelievably good compared to last year. Far up I’ve heard there’s 6 metres (19 feet) of snow at best. We haven’t done any skitouring yet since the runs from the lifts have been pretty damn good also. You have to be lazy enough not to go touring if you can get faceshots when skiing straight from the lifts.

Today we were skiing with Kirsti and couple other local friends. Before noon we had some really good treeskiing, and in the afternoon we got to drop one bigger line on the north face of Happo. A little less than thousand vertical meters (3000 feet) of good powder, no complaints. No photos from this line since there was no light in the shade and the wind was blowing hard enough that the camera stayed in the backpack. Here’s some photos from before noon though.

Sun and deep pow (skier: Kirstine)

Minigolf line (skier: Matt)

I’m a bit bummed that I spent the whole December working and didn’t get to ski that much. Now it’s gonna take me couple of weeks before my legs get used to this again.  At least at the moment my muscles don’t like the thought of tomorrow’s coming day of skiing. So the evening program will include some extreme stretching, stretching the unstretchable. Even the thought hurts. That’s what you get from being poor, have to work and no chance to just ski all the time.

Happo One south side in the morning sun

It looks like there will be a big dump coming next Wednesday. Before that there’s a chance to ski the bigger lines, so I have to go and do some stretching now.

Endless powder (10th – 23rd January)

Here are some of Ville’s photos between 10th and 23rd January from Japan. Ville’s greetings from this period are easily summarized: The snow is deep and the skiing is great. The full text (in Finnish) and rest of the photos can be found in Ville’s blog. From now on the whole texts (in English) and photos will be published regularly on homeboyski.com, so keep checking.

With exactly these words I was presented the iSki iPhone app. I was asked if Homeboys would like to review the app and write a story of it. Oh yeah, why not, even though iPhone is not  too popular here in Finland (yet). We soon must find an iPhone somewhere in order to review the iSki app during the next couple of weeks. For those of youwho have one it looks pretty promising and best of all it’s free.

Personally I have been a bit skeptic with these iPhone apps for backcountry skiers. May be it’s just because I’m getting older (he he.. 35 is old already), but I won’t let my age disturb our serious iSki test session. Before we get into the actual review I let the manufacturer say couple of more words about the iSki iPhone application.

Once your on the slopes, iSki’s Pace Tracer feature allows you to track your speed and altitude through iPhones GPS technology as you ride above the clouds. Side kick allows you to see where your friends are on Google maps when they can’t keep up with you.

When you decide to take a break from deep powder, iSki’s Cash Stasher can help you find the best deals on food, shops, and hotels. Best part about it is that iSki is FREE at the App Store. You might even save enough money to call in sick tomorrow. More information can be found at iski.apptime.com or for more snow related information visit snowfinder.com.

Here is what others have said about our iSki App.

“iSki allows the user to get updates on current snow conditions for most of the world’s ski resorts. A summary resort page lets you scan conditions by region, while a resort detail page includes weather conditions, webcams, trail maps (some of which are GPS-enabled) and more. When enabled, an alert feature sends a text message to the user in the event three inches or more new snow falls at their favorite hills.

Unlike other snow reporting apps, the iSki’s Pace Tracer feature tracks the user’s speed and altitude using the iPhone’s GPS technology. Sidekick Search uses Google Maps to find your friends who can’t keep up.

Units for snow depth, temperature and GPS data are selectable between English and Metric units. GPS data can be turned on or off by the user.

iSki is free to download thanks to advertising support that appears in the form of a splash screen at launch, as well in the app’s Cash Stasher feature that includes coupon discounts that can hook up the user with places to eat, sleep, and shop.

iSki is now available for free download from the iPhone App Store. More information may be found at iski.apptime.com.”

Have you used iSki or any other iPhone apps for skiers? Please let us know (leave a comment below) about your experiences because we are truly new to these kind of gadgets.

Photo by uwehermann

Please go toSlammer mag website and sign this petition. For those of you who do not read Finnish it is about trying to get a nice little snowy playground here in the city. There is nothing for us snowboarders and skiers, and we are asking the City of Helsinki to support this cause. The more names we have, the more leverage we get. So, if you want to help us out making this happen, please go to address above and sign it, thank you very much.

So, click this link to view the petition Helsinki snowy playground petition.

For those who do not speak Finnish, here are the language essentials in five seconds.

Nimi = name
Ikä = age
Paikkakunta = place of recidence

Lähetä = submit

Thanks heaps for everyone!

Photo by prostophoto

Hangboard is made of aircraft aluminium, and the whole system weights only about 11 kg (snowboard not included). T-shaped bar is 32 cm high and 47 cm wide. It took years for Don Arney to develop the hangboard, but finally his company is going to launch the product.

There are only a limited numbers of hangboards available for sale on 2008, but probably more on the following years. One hangboard costs $1495, which sounds pretty high price, but may be price will come down as soon as hangboard starts selling more.

Hangboarding is part of the future of skiing

Is hangboarding going to be the next big hit? May be it won’t become as popular as traditional skiing, but for a number of dare-devils hangboard will definitely provide lots of fun on snow. I guess hangboard is a bit too technical for the masses, so the product might stay as one kind of “special skiing equipment”. I also guess that many ski resorts will purchase few hangboards, so you don’t necesserily need to buy one in order to try hangboarding. If you think you’re not ready to buy your own hangboard, wait a while and your local ski resort might start renting hangboards.

I am really excited to try hangboarding. I’ve skied since 1980 and I have tried probably all kinds of formats of skiing, but nothing like hangboarding. Would you give it a try?

Source [Hangboard]

Ok, our pics are not that epic but here is our little effort to pay tribute to the dynamic, physically demanding skiing of the 1980′s and 1990′s… Enjoy(?)

Rare pic of Marko on that side of the lens, Hurungane, Norway 1999

Mid fats were all the rage in the year 2000, Chamonix, France

My attemp of new school (yea right), 1998, Vihti, Finland

Another one from Verbier 1995

We left from Basel (Switzerland) in late afternoon and spent the day by driving to France. As we finally arrived in Chamonix, it was already midnight. It took me a while to find Gîte D’Étape La Tapia because I didn’t print the map. I thought I know Chamonix so well that I can find anything in there. I was wrong, but hopefully I finally found La Tapia.

My son was pretty tired and wanted to go to bed right away. We got a room in upstairs, and as I opened the door, I thought the room was just perfect for two of us. There was a separated area for me and my son and another area for two more people. I have seen many kinds of hostels, and I was afraid that this one is one of those noisy hell holes full of drunken youngsters. I didn’t want to bring my son into a “wild” hostel, such as Vagabond in Chamonix. No worry, this one was peaceful and quiet, the right place for us to stay.

Gîte D’Étape La Tapia has six rooms for four people and two rooms for couples. There are five showers and five toilets in the hostel. The dining room has seats for 32 people, and the kitchen has all the needed equipment. In addition to your stay you can buy a cheap but tasty breakfast. I think this is an excellent service for those who don’t want to make their own breakfast every morning.

Gîte D’Étape La Tapia is cheap. For one night you pay 16 euros which is not bad for a good hostel. Although the breakfast in Gîte D’Étape La Tapia is good, I was surprised with the price, which is 6 euros. A double-room for couples costs 48 euros a night, but I must say it is worth of it. If I was travelling with my wife, I definitely would take the double-room because of the privacy it gives. For sheets you have to pay four euros.

Gîte D’Étape La Tapia is easy to find. See the maps on left side. As shown in the maps, take the main road from Chamonix to Argentiere and drive it until you see “Route de la Frasse” on right side. Take that road and drive hundred meters until you see Gîte D’Étape La Tapia on right side. You can park your car in front of the hostel. If you are going to arrive late, call the owner of Gîte D’Étape La Tapia and where you can find the key to your room. Below you can find the contact information of Gîte D’Étape La Tapia. For more about this hostel I recommend you to check the website of Gîte D’Étape La Tapia.

Contact information:

Sophie Rochet (Gérante)
152, Route de la Frasse
74400 Chamonix
tel : 04 50 53 18 19
port : 06 87 40 11 56
email : contact@latapia.com

Am I over-reacting? Maybe, maybe not. The fact is that our climate is not the same as some 20 years ago. Is it changing in the long run? I don’t know this field of science at all, but so many researchers claim that it is really happening so I believe in it. As you might have seen in this blog the climate here in Finland is not as it used to be (remember how Levi alpine ski cup race was canceled)? Winters are not as cold as they used to be and we get snow later and later every year. It is the middle of January right now and we don’t have snow in Helsinki in Finland. It is not normal and definitely it is not the same as it used to be. Based on this and what researchers claim, the climate is changing globally. It is warming. Skiing industry will die.

Climate IS changing. It is a fact now

Heh.. I am shooting big guns again. I won’t say more about the climate change because I am an amateur. I just don’t know enough about it. What I do know is that warmer climate is not good for most ski resorts, including my local little hill in Helsinki. Many ski resorts here in Finland (and of course in some other countries as well) have not really opened yet because of the lack of snow. Ski resorts may be open for three days and then closed for three weeks. This is not good for their business and one day it may lead them to quitting. If there is no snow, there are no skiers. If there are no skiers, there is no money exchanged. Without money there is no business, and when there is no business there is no skiing. Sad but true.

Let us assume that the temperature on this planet will be 2-3 degrees higher in 20 years. That kind of change would definitely lead to black winters at least here in southern Finland. It would lead to the death of skiing here. Skiing season would be shorter in north but the skiing industry would probably survive.

What would you do if skiing was dead?

What would you do if skiing was dead in your area? I would focus on mountain biking and road bicycling. Our summers would probably be longer and warmer so I would go riding some rad tracks in forests and mountains. Instead of a ski season in the Alps I would have a bike season in the Alps. If skiing was dead, it would not be a catastrophe for me, no way. Certainly I would miss skiing or riding my board in forests and on powder fields but i would of course need to get used to the new situation. I would put my energy into mountain biking even though I have some bad memories from the forests close to Basel in Switzerland. I crashed my bike due to high speed and a bad landing. The result was a broken shoulder.

Skiing is dying, be prepared. What would you do if skiing was dead? Would you go riding a bike as well? Would you go surfing or diving? Today me and my friend discussed about what we would do if there was no need to go to work. I said I would play and listen to music all day long. My wife said she is very happy that I must go to work every morning. She would not like my idea of playing and listening to music all day long.. Hey! Why not!

Enjoy skiing as long as it is possible. It looks miserable here in rainy Helsinki..

Homeboy is a fast growing website reaching hundreds of skiers every day. If you are interested in writing skiing related articles, we provide you the audience. We are looking for all types of writers, but right now we would appreciate articles of women’s skiing, gear reviews (Salomon, Atomic, Fischer, K2), resort reviews and road trip stories. If you are interested, please contact us and we will give you further instructions. If you wish, you can also drop your contact information in the comments field.