Technology: Wired for winter

Doing business in snowy climes? Caramel Quin recommends compact sporting gadgets for use in your downtime Being holed up at a hotel for meetings just a stone’s throw away from a ski resort is a tease – you’d rather hit the slopes. Sneaking away for a couple of hours isn’t hard, it’s just that you didn’t come prepared. Besides, picking up a two-metre-long ski bag from the carousel would have been a dead giveaway. But with the right kit, you can pack light and be prepared to spontaneously make the most of your Alpine escape. The trick is to choose small, feature-packed items that will let you extract maximum pleasure from your down time and keep you safe in unfamiliar places. The latest goggles, for example, have a heads-up display that lets you keep an eye on text messages and incoming calls without interrupting your descent. An airbag and transceiver are essentials to protect you if you’re in areas where there’s potential for avalanches. We’ve also found a snowboard that converts into skis, the toughest video cameras for sharing your adventures, and carry-on luggage designed to discreetly fit a pair of ski or snowboard boots and still have room for your laptop and a change of clothes. With these and more, you can stay safe, stay in touch and perform better than ever on the slopes. Just add snow.

Oakley Airwave 1.5

• £520
• oakley.com

Like Google Glass for winter sports, but cooler. These link wirelessly with your iPhone or Android smartphone and are teamed with a wristband controller for ease of use while wearing gloves. A heads-up display in the bottom-right corner of the goggles lets you see your speed (calculated using GPS satellite signals) and jump analytics, temperature and altitude. You can choose music, read texts and Facebook messages, monitor your calls, look at maps, and even pinpoint where your friends are. Battery life is a respectable five to six hours and the performance lenses are easy to change to suit different conditions. An incredible amount of high-tech functionality is packed into this piece of kit, making Oakley Airwave a great travel companion.

Mammut Rocker Protection Airbag

• £550
• mammut.ch

Airbags increase your chance of surviving an avalanche in two ways: they protect you from trauma and help you come to rest in a safe position – head on top of the surface of the snow, back facing down the slope – so you can breathe and be found. The Mammut Rocker is one of the most versatile avalanche-protection airbags you can buy. The backpack is a compact 15 litres with stowable ski and snowboard carriers, so is ideal for freeriding. What’s more, the airbag system is removable, which is doubly handy. First, it means you can remove the airbag if you’re riding in non-avalanche areas. Second, it means you can transfer the airbag into a bigger backpack when you need a bit more capacity on a ride.

SnoKart Kabin Boot Bag

• £85
• snokart.com

Want to travel light but hate hiring boots? This clever new wheelie bag has been designed to meet airline requirements for carry-on luggage (measuring 24.5cm x 36cm x 53cm) and fits in an overhead locker, yet it can accommodate a pair of ski or snowboard boots. The boots nestle nose-to-tail, leaving enough space around them to fit a laptop, clothing, travel documents and more. A telescopic handle and durable wheels make it smart and portable, but you can easily stow the handle and unzip the back panel to reveal a pair of hidden shoulder straps to convert it to a rucksack. A great secret weapon for turning a business trip into a ski break.

GoPro Hero3+

• From £200
• gopro.com

Film, replay and share your adventures with an action camera. GoPro’s Hero3+ is 20 per cent smaller and 15 per cent lighter (74g) than its predecessors, yet boasts 30 per cent longer battery life. Available in black or silver, it’s designed to be tough and durable. It even comes with a waterproof case and helmet mount, plus there are countless optional accessories including a chest harness. Also new for the Hero3+ is “Super View” mode for a wider field of vision without a fish-eye effect, and faster wifi connectivity so you can view and share your videos via smartphone or tablet.

North Face Etip Facet gloves

• £75
• thenorthface.com/eu

Smartphone-friendly gloves are nothing new, but the North Face Etip range covers several different styles of glove including the winter sports specific Facet, meaning they are suitable for everything from ski slopes to chilly city streets. The Etip Facet has two layers: a waterproof, breathable inner glove and a highly insulated outer shell with touchscreen conductive leather on each finger – perfect for using your gadgets on the go without frozen thumbs.

Nikon AW1

• From £750
• nikon.co.uk

Capturing the beauty of snow sports is a challenge. Cameras struggle with the cold and the sheer amount of light, smartphone snaps don’t do them justice, and you really don’t want to drop your DSLR on the slopes. Enter the AW1 – one of the first waterproof, shockproof digital cameras to have interchangeable lenses. It’s even freeze-proof to -10°C. Its 14.25-megapixel sensor will give pin-sharp action shots, while low-light sensitivity of up to 6400 ISO means it will snap your après-ski antics equally faithfully. Video quality is impressive too, with hybrid auto-focus to capture all the action.

POC Receptor Bug Communication

• e220
• pocsports.com

“Safety by POC and Beats by Dr Dre”, the Receptor Bug is one of POC’s most popular snow sports helmets. Light-weight at 550g, it has a ventilated double shell and expanded polystyrene liner, designed to take the knocks so your noggin doesn’t. This version comes with Beats by Dr Dre headphones built into the neck roll, complete with an iPhone-compatible remote control so you can take calls, switch songs and adjust the volume from the cord. It is available in black or white.

Jones Ultracraft Splitboard

• £1,000
• ellis-brigham.com

If you hate waiting for lifts or want to explore places that the cable car can’t reach, a “splitboard” – snowboard and skis in one – may be right for you. The board literally splits in half to convert into skis so you can get up into the backcountry (think of them as snowshoes). Then, once you’re ready to descend, you combine the two halves and use it as a snowboard. This new model (weighing 2.55kg, and measuring 156cm in length) uses carbon fibre to shave 30 per cent off the weight of last season’s Hovercraft Split and has been made as two separate skis rather than simply sawing a board in half, vastly improving handling. It works with both strap and plate bindings. Off-piste is your new playground.

Mammut Element Barryvox transceiver

• £260
• mammut.ch

An elegantly simple, lime-green digital avalanche transceiver, with one-button operation and a large, clearly laid out display make this device easy to use, gloved, in an emergency. In “send” mode it acts as a beacon so others can find you if you get caught in an avalanche. Switch it to “search” mode and it does the opposite – you use it to find buried companions who have beacons, with an on-screen arrow guiding you to them. Teamed with a shovel and probe (and some training) this is an essential piece of backcountry kit. More experienced users may prefer its big brother, the Pulse Barryvox (£350), which is far more complex and includes an analogue mode for a much greater range.

ICEdot Crash Sensor

• £139
• icedot.org

ICE stands for In Case of Emergency because this high-tech sensor contacts your loved ones when you can’t. Suitable for all extreme sports – from cycling to snowmobiling – it has an operating time of 20 hours. It attaches to your helmet and can be paired with an app on your iPhone or Android smartphone. Then, if the sensor detects the G-forces that indicate you’ve crashed, it will initiate a countdown. If you’re unconscious and unable to stop the countdown, it uses your smartphone to send a text message to your chosen emergency contacts, telling them your details and GPS location. Potentially a lifesaver if you enjoy solo extreme sports in remote locations.

Snow sports apps

View Ranger

Apple/Android, free Use free maps or pay pennies for detailed OS-style maps, then plan your route, track your progress and find your friends (on the slopes or in the après ski bar) using this GPS navigation app.

Ski Tracks

Apple/Android, from 69p Love statistics? This can track your skiing or snowboarding all day long without giving you a flat battery and without using mobile data, so you won’t be hit with a ridiculous phone bill. Simply press record and the app will track your movements for up to 20 hours.

Ski: Europe

Apple/Android, from £1.49 An authoritative Europe-wide guide with 1,576 resorts and 22,000km of trails. Find your nearest ticket office and rental shop faster and get more time on the slopes.

Snow Edge

Apple, free Compete against yourself with this app that rates your skills by monitoring speed, acceleration and airtime. It even uses accelerometer measurements to rate your turns.

Ullr Labs Mobile Avalanche Safety Tools

Apple/Android, from £6.43 Going backcountry? This app might save your life. Download local avalanche forecasts, record field observations and access a host of safety information.