Hasta La Ideas

Three innovative outdoor accessories that make the future now

While the purity of a lo-fi outdoor adventure can be a blissful experience, innovations in on-mountain tech offer enhancements that increase both fun and knowledge. Last week in Whistler I channeled my inner cyborg and tested three devices that are making the future now by informing, recording and entertaining throughout the day’s activity.

Not often can a single product really change the game, but the Recon Mod Live goggle comes close. The goggle is equipped with the world’s first GPS micro optics display specifically designed for a snow sport use. The incredibly small, unobtrusive device displays clear and easy-to-read graphics in real-time—tracking your speed, vertical stats, altitude, location, distance traveled and even temperature. Paired with an Android phone, the Mod Live even will display text messages and incoming call alerts in the heads-up view.

A bluetooth remote wristband allows the user to navigate the dashboard displayed on the LCD screen in the goggle. Paired with a Contour+ camera, the Recon Mod Live acts as a viewfinder for setting up the correct trajectory of your PoV shot. Plus, once the day is done all the day’s stats can be uploaded to the Recon HQ to see just how you did.

Capable of shooting—and live-streaming—full 1080p HD video, the Contour+ is outfitted with the largest lens of any comparable camera and has an f/2.8 aperture with 170 degrees of vision. To avoid that muffled sound synonymous with PoV cams, the Contour+ is equipped with an external microphone jack to capture accurate sound. While the camera isn’t new, it remains my go-to PoV shooter and now being able to see the viewfinder in Recon’s goggles it’s even more usable than ever.

Always an enthusiast for on-hill entertainment, Burton makes your tunes more accessible with the Mix Master Glove. The waterproof leather glove allows the user full control of an iPod or iPhone with gloves on thanks to a few exterior buttons on the back of the left hand. The remote communicates wirelessly with the dongle plugged in to an iDevice, so you’re free to adjust volume, pause, play and switch between tracks with the tap of your finger.