How to buy a ski helmet

Lucy Grewcock    bestskiholidays, Ski Gear     buying a ski helmet, ski gear, ski helmet, ski holidays

Some sports struggle to encourage their enthusiasts to protect their noggins, not skiing. Still, it’s important to know how to buy a ski helmet – even if wearing one is a no-brainer for many skiers.

Always protect your head. Image: Flickr/ Alex Ristea

With the gnarliest free-riders and most dedicated park-jibbers leading the way, skiers tend to appreciate, more than most, that if your head comes into contact with ice, rock or another person, it hurts!

From simple and functional designs, to stylish patterns, faux-fur linings and in-built sound systems, the choice and range of helmets on the market is ever evolving. But whether it’s purely practical, or to fulfil a fashion statement, when buying a new helmet, it’s important to make sure it’s up to the job. Here’s how!

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How to buy quality ski gloves

Lucy Grewcock    bestskiholidays, Ski Gear     ski clothing, ski gear, ski gloves, Skiing Holidays

Freezing fingers or soggy mittens can really ruin a ski holiday and even shorten your time on the piste, so it’s vital you buy quality ski gloves, not cheap imitations.

Buying ski gloves? Go for quality everytime. Image: Flickr/ Skistar Trysil

Looking through most ski shops, you’ll spot so many pairs it’s hard to know what’s hot and what’s not – so to speak. And considering your fingers are often the first to feel the cold, there’s every reason to pick a good pair.

The trick is to make sure you’re paying for high-quality, durable kit that will see you through a few seasons. Here’s what to look for:

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Holidaying in Burma: Of course you can do it!

Lucy Grewcock    ash, New Adventure Travel Ideas     Adventure Travel, Burma, explore, South East Asia

After a 10-year tourism boycott, Burma is back on the tourist map; and now adventurous travellers have an opportunity to explore routes previously kept far from even the wildest itinerary!

Explore Burma and get in touch with its unique culture. Image: Flickr/ eGuide Travel

For a decade, we’ve been discouraged from travelling to South-East Asia’s largest country. But in May 2011, it was announced that tourists could return, albeit with the right attitude.

Burma wants its visitors to promote the welfare of its people, to conserve its environment and to gain an understanding of its cultural, political and social life.

So here’s how to holiday in Burma.

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Adventure Vacations for Couples

Lucy Grewcock    ash, New Adventure Travel Ideas     activity holidays, Adventure Sports, adventure vacations, holidays for couples, honeymoon travel, romantic holidays

For some couples, lying on a beach-towel all week and rubbing sun-cream into each other’s backs couldn’t be further from their idea of fun.

Choose an adventure honeymoon and share the fun! Image: Flickr/ magical-world

Most couples quickly feel the need to venture past the hotel lobby and soon find themselves exploring the local area.

And why book this kind of lazy holiday break if you know you’re an active couple with a love for adventure sports? If hiking at altitude, crossing continents and sleeping under the stars sound more like more your sort of thing, here are a few adventurous ideas for you.

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The Top Ten Skiing Apps

Lucy Grewcock    bestskiholidays, Top 10s     Skiing, Skiing app, Skiing apps, Skiing Holidays, Travel apps

There are simply stacks of skiing apps available to download nowadays, but which ones will actually add value to your ski experience? We give the lowdown on the most practical skiing apps on the market.

The Mammut Safety App helps assess local avalanche risk.

Mammut Safety – Free

Stay safe on the mountain by using this ski app to measure the angle of the slope you’re on, find out which direction you’re skiing in, what altitude you’re at and receive up-to-date avalanche bulletins. But the best feature is that you can use the SOS button to send your co-ordinates by text message to the emergency services, should a problem arise.

We say – particularly valuable for off-piste skiers

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Apres Footwear: Boots to chill in

Lucy Grewcock    bestskiholidays, Ski Gear     après boots, ski boots, ski clothing, ski gear, skiing gear

It’s 8pm, you’re buying drinks and should by now be in après footwear, but instead you’re still clumping around in your ski boots, skidding on spilt beer and risking life and limb as you pick your way across the fresh ice that’s forming outside.

Smiling now, but as soon as you're done it's boots off! Image: Flickr/ eggerbraeu

Shuushing off the slopes and straight into a bar is all well and good, but if you take five minutes to nip back to the chalet first to change your footwear, you can enjoy a whole new world of comfort, not to mention style.

Whilst trainers are just fine, après-boots are far better: for the fashion conscious, they can add serious points to your ski-cred but, whilst style can certainly has a role to play, with their rubber soles and thermal linings, après boots are primarily designed to improve your grip on the white stuff and keep your feet warm and dry.

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Scuba Diving Technology: Buying a dive computer

Lucy Grewcock    Scuba Gear, scubadivingholidays     dive computer, PADI, Scuba, Scuba Diving, scuba diving holidays, Scuba gear

Whether you’re on an exotic diving holiday or exploring your local lake, there’s some scuba diving technology that you should always have on your wrist: A dive computer. Every dive-master or scuba instructor will carry a dive computer, and if you’re planning on leading your own dives, they’re an essential bit of kit that at least one person in your party should possess.

A dive computer comes in handy when you are diving the unknown. Image: Flickr/ star5112

From monitoring your ascent-rate to calculating how much bottom time you have left, these clever devices also store an important historical record of your dives, which can be charted and analysed in the case of accidents, or just for interest.

With a vast range of styles and prices on the market, the level of technology required and how much you want to spend is down to personal preference.

So here’s some information to help you buy:

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