There are even plans to build in resort trail maps, which would make it super easy for me to find the bunny slopes. And let's not forget the greatest feature of all. If I'm watching 6-year-olds rocket past me, knowing that I'm wearing a $450 pair of goggles might save my last ounce of self esteem. Or make me much, much sadder. Either one.

In all seriousness, this is a pretty cool idea. I'm just not good/frequent enough of a skier to justify the cost. For those of you that are, you'll have to wait. They won't be on the market until next year's slope season. Hopefully once they do launch, no one runs into a tree while updating Twitter. [Recon Instruments via Born Rich]

The guy in the video was the first one to drop from their group and while not a guide (he was going tail-gunner style), had a lot of Utah and AK backcountry experience. He had a Black Diamond Avalung on, but as you can tell from the video while he's talking as he's dropping in, it wasn't in his mouth to start. He tried to shove it in the instant of starting to get sucked down, but it didn't stay. It was just off to the corner of his mouth he said, and he definitely got snow / ice build up as you'll see on the second sweep of the mouth by the guide after they get to him.

So as he drops in you can also see the sluff to the skier's right immediately start building....and that's actually the chute that was the intended route down. For whatever reason - well pure, unadulterated powder will do it to you - he didn't go make some strong "skier cuts" into the upper pack to do one final snow check.

Instead he just sent it. And it didnt' take more than a few turns out on this big shoulder above this cliff band to break loose.

This was a decent sized avalanche. 1,500 feet the dude fell in a little over 20 seconds. The crown was about 1 - 1.5m. The chute that he got sucked through to the skier's right was flanked on either side by cliff bands that were about 30m tall. He luckily didn't break any bones and obviously didn't hit anything on the run out.

He was only buried for 4 and a half minutes which is incredibly short. In that time, though, you can hear his breathing already accelerate. The ruffling noise back and forth is his chest rising and falling and the noise that his jacket makes. The intermittent whimpering noise you hear is him trying to swallow and get some air. Still sends chills up the back of my neck. Oh and they located him so fast because his right glove came off just before he came completley to rest and there was an excellent visual of course.

Hit the video page for the full story. [Vimeo via Andrew Pile]

Invented by Vermonter Jason Starr, surf skiing was invented because of "Starr's belief that surfing and skiing share a bond as originals in the world of action sports, both rooted in rich cultures and ancient histories, and both fueled by timeless sources of peace and power-the ocean and the mountains. They co-exist harmoniously on the snow, and the relationship now extends to the surf." Sure. They kind of remind me of those street skis that old guys use to practice cross-country skiing in the summertime.

And while I'm sure these are pretty fun, I assume if you bring these out to a serious surfing spot you're just asking to get your face punched. [Stoke Report]

The Blackberry, seated in his breast pocket, added the extra bit of thickness that made the difference between plummeting another 700 feet and waiting 2 hours for a rescue chopper.

While Fitzherbert hardly walked away unscathed—he suffered hypothermia, a broken jaw, nearly "ripped off" nose among other ailments—he was able to call his wife from the hospital...on the very phone that saved his life. [The Sun Thanks gitemstevedave!]

The Olymp is an off-season trainer that you strap into your boots and work your carving muscles with a turn simulator. It sure doesn't look as fun as normal skiing, what with you being stuck in one place, but it definitely will work the muscles you need to keep strong. If they had this in my gym, I'd definitely use it. [Ski Trainer via Born Rich]

Location:
Northstar's Basque Room. Located adjacent to TC's Pub and directly across the walk way from Earthly Delights. For exact location please refer to Northstar's Village map [LINK] and search Basque or refer to the blue image on the map below.
For driving directions to Northstar-at-Tahoe please refer Northstar's site. [LINK]

When:
Saturday April 4th. Event room opens to the public at 8:30 am and closes at 4 pm.

The Price: $5

Transportation: We recommend you drive or carpool. The official Gizmodo carpool thread is here.

The Ticket and Housing Discounts: Huge Dealzmodo Lift tickets discounts at $57 (vs $79) for commenters; 30% off housing if you want to come the night before and have a drink with me in the village, or stay the following night at 10% off. (You'll have to call to RSVP for housing. Check out the options on Northstar's website. Northstar is providing 10% off lodging booked for Friday 4/3 or Saturday 4/4, and for Sunday 4/5 lodging is 30% off. Here's how to receive the discount:
Just call Northstar at 1.800.GO.NORTH (466.6784) and use our coupon code GI0404 when booking your reservation.

Lift Tickets:
All Snowmodo attendees are eligible for discounted Northstar lift tickets. To receive these discounts you must first pay the $5 attendance fee at our event room to receive a wristband. Once you have a wristband you will be able to purchase a discounted lift ticket form Northstar's Season Pass Office and Copper Lane Ticketing Office. Ticket information will be available at the event.

Raffle:
Upon paying the $5 attendance fee you will receive one raffle ticket, which will be valid for our event prize raffle held later in the day. More information regarding the raffle will be available at the event.
Once your attendance fee is paid you are eligible to buy more raffle tickets at $5 per additional ticket and there is no limit on the amount of tickets you can buy.

Product Demos:
The companies in attendance will be offering various product demos that you can take out on the mountain for testing. You will be required to leave some form of ID or Credit Card in return for a demoed product. More information regarding product demos will be available at the event.

Friday Night Drinks:
We have not yet decided on where or when we'll be sitting down for drinks on Friday night. We'll be announcing details on Friday, so please check back then.

Fun stuff anyone can do: Ski, Snowboard, Showshoe, take ski/board lessons for first timers, ice skate, tube/sledding, geocache scavenger hunt, cross country ski, borrow and test out gadgets, win prizes, drink beer, eat food, shop. Northstar has a huge village and every snow activity you can think of, except double flipping snowmobiles. We'll have more details on the fun stuff we're going to do together with the companies and gadgets, later.

Zune Party Details:
Where: TC's Pub in Northstar's Village. The pub is located right next our event room. For location details please refer to Northstar's site. [LINK]
When: Party starts at 3 pm with Morgan Page starting his set around 3:30 pm.
How To Get In: Only Snowmodo attendees who have Snowmodo wristbands will be allowed in. That means you'll have to stop by our event room at-least once during the day to pay the $5 admission fee and receive a wristband and raffle tickets.

To Do Before Coming: There's a few things we recommend to make your Snowmodo experience that much better.
• If you have an iPhone, download the Motion-x gps app, and you'll be able to track your travels, speed and other cool stuff which we'll be able to share with all our attendees.
• Check out the Official Snowmodo Soundtrack. [LINK] Giz's own musicphile Adrian Covert has compiled an Official Snowmodo Soundtrack filled with three different playlists of riding music. Most of these songs will be pre-loaded on the demo Zunes available at our event. So if you don't want to load up our playlists on your own player, stop by the Zune table at Snowmodo, grab a demo Zune and go hit the mountain.
• Subscribe to the snowmodo twitter feed so you can keep track of updates when you're on the mountain, like what lifts the Gizmodo guys are on, and when we're eating lunch. You know, updates.
Gadgets to Borrow and See Demos:
• Zune
• Ardica, maker of heated jackets.
• Lib-tech, makers of awesome snowboards.
• Nokia
• Vudu
• Smith Optics
• Go Pro Hero helmet/snowboard/bicycle/surfboard/racecar/whatever wide angle sports cameras
• Fullpower Motion X GPS
• Casio and their Slow Motion cameras
• Otterbox
• Griffin

Prizes in the raffle:
• Zune: Zune Players.
• AKG: AKG hooded sweaters. AKG earbuds and the demoed AKG headphones.
• Nokia: Three Nokia N96s.
• North Face: 10 Flyweight Rucksack packs. 10 Khumbu Jackets.
• OtterBox: Five OtterBox Defender Series for iPhone 3G cases.
• Vudu: VUDU box.
• Ardica: Mountain Hardwear jacket with an Ardica Moshi system.
• Nixon: Headphones.
• Griffin: 25 AeroSport armband for Zune. 25 Streamline armband for iPhone. 20 AeroSport armband for iPod classic. 20 AeroSport armband for iPod nano.96 TuneBuds.
• GoPro: 2 GoPro Helmet HERO Wide camera kits.
• LibTech: Mystery Item.
• Casio: EXILIM EX-FH20 Camera.

P.S, here's a video shot on a RED camera from last year. I don't know who those people are, because none of us ride like this, but it was a great day.

P.P.S. This is a random sampling of a few people who showed up last year, and who weren't afraid to hike to the backside.

Zune is throwing an epic party for our Snowmodo event on Saturday April 4th at Northstar. They've lined up Grammy nominated Morgan Page to play some music and there will also be food and drinks available for all of our attendees. Zune has also made custom Snowmodo Zunes just for our event , which we'll be giving out as prizes in our raffle!

Zune Party Details
Where: TC's Pub in Northstar's Village. The pub is located right next our event room. For location details please refer to Northstar's site. [LINK]
When: Party starts at 3 pm with Morgan Page starting his set around 3:30 pm.
How To Get In: Only Snowmodo attendees who have Snowmodo wristbands will be allowed in. That means you'll have to stop by our event room at-least once during the day to pay the $5 admission fee and receive a wristband and raffle tickets.

On a music related note, Giz's own musicphile Adrian Covert has compiled an Official Snowmodo Soundtrack filled with three different playlists of riding music. Most of these songs will be pre-loaded on the demo Zunes available at our event. So if you don't want to load up our playlists on your own player, stop by the Zune table at Snowmodo, grab a demo Zune and go hit the mountain. I personally suggest Pheonix - 1901, need I say more...

Night Runs - Uptempo - Hip Hop

• Black Star - Respiration [amazon] [zune]
• Camp Lo - Luchini (This Is It) [amazon] [zune]
• Clipse - Keys Open Doors [amazon] [zune]
• Busy Signal - These Are The Days [amazon] [zune]
• Benga and Coki - Night [amazon] [zune]
• The Bug - Poison Dart [amazon] [zune]
• Souls of Mischief - 93 til Infinity [amazon] [zune]
• Wu-Tang Clan - C.R.E.A.M. [amazon] [zune]
• Outkast - B.O.B. [amazon] [zune]
• The Knux - F!re [amazon] [zune]
• J Dilla - Two Can Win [amazon] [zune]
• The Cool Kids - One Two [amazon] [zune
• The Streets - Blinded By The Lights [amazon] [zune]
• Madvillain - America's Most Blunted [amazon] [zune]
• Cypress Hill - I ain't goin out like that [amazon] [zune]
• JayLib - Raw Shit [amazon] [zune] [zune]
• Pharoahe Monch - Simon Says [amazon] [zune
• El-P - Delorean [amazon] [zune
• Company Flow - Lune TNS [amazon] [zune
• Beastie Boys - Sabotage [amazon] [zune] [zune]
• Cannibal Ox - Iron Galaxy [amazon] {zune]
• Zion I - Critical [amazon] [zune]
• Dilated Peoples - Worst Comes to Worst [amazon] [zune]
• Talib Kweli - The Blast [amazon] [zune
• Ghostface Killah - Run [amazon] [zune

Short Runs - Agressive - Rock

Cursive - Red Handed Slight of Hand [amazon] [zune]
• K-Os - Born to Run [amazon] []
• RJD2 - The Horror [amazon] [zune]
• M83 - America [amazon] [zune]
• Bloc Party - Banquet [amazon] [zune
• Birdy Nam Nam - Trans Boulogne Express [amazon] [zune]
• Phoenix - 1901 [amazon] [zune]
• Peter, Bjorn and John - Lay It Down [amazon] [zune]
• Wavves - Beach Demon [amazon] [zune]
• The Walkmen - The Rat [amazon] []
• Digitalism - Pogo [amazon] [zune]
• Studio - Self Service [amazon] []
• The Faint - In Concert [amazon] []
• Black Flag - Rise Above [amazon] [zune]
• Bad Brains - Sacred Love [amazon] [zune]
• Sex Pistols - Holidays in the Sun [amazon] [zune
• DFA 1979 - 1979 [zune]
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give it Away/Under The Bridge [amazon1 amazon 2] [zune]
• Nirvana - In Bloom [amazon] [zune]
• TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me [amazon] [zune

Longer Runs - Mellow - Electronic

• Skream - Summer Dreams [amazon] [zune
• Daft Punk - Voyager [amazon] [zune]
• Burial - Raver [amazon] [zune]
• CFCF - Arctic [amazon] [zune]
• Kanye West - Coldest Winter [amazon] [zune]
• Junior Boys - Double Shadow [amazon] [zune]
• Dan Deacon - Of the Mountains [amazon] [zune]
• LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great [amazon] [zune]
• Cut Copy - Out There on the Ice [amazon] [zune]
• M83 - Run into Flowers [amazon] [zune]
• Royksopp - Eple [amazon] [zune
• Animal Collective - My Girls [amazon] [zune]
• The Zombies - Beechwood Park [amazon] [zune
• Boards of Canada - Roygbiv [amazon] [zune
• Ellen Allien and Apparat - Way Out [amazon] [zune
• Black Moth Super Rainbow - Don't You Wanna Be in a Cult? [amazon] [zune]
• Zomby - U Are My Fantasy (Street Fighter II Theme Remix) [amazon] [zune]
• Booka Shade - Night Moves [amazon] [zune
• The Avalanches - Since I Met You [amazon]

For complete Snowmodo event details please head over to our Snowmodo Event Information post.

This may sound strange unbelievable to you, but it is real and it is true.

Snowmodo Event Information Below!

Location:
Northstar's Basque Room. Located adjacent to TC's Pub and directly across the walk way from Earthly Delights. For exact location please refer to Northstar's Village map [LINK] and search Basque or refer to the blue image on the map below.
For driving directions to Northstar-at-Tahoe please refer Northstar's site. [LINK]

When:
Saturday April 4th. Event room opens to the public at 8:30 am and closes at 4 pm.

Zune Party:
Party will start at 4pm, all information will be available at the event.

Instructions:
Upon arriving at Northstar, please head over to our event room to pay the $5 attendance fee. In return for your $5 you will receive a wristband and a raffle ticket. You're wristband will not only show you paid the attendance fee but will also grant you discounted lift tickets at Northstar's Season Pass Office and Copper Lane Ticketing Office.

Raffle:
Upon paying the $5 attendance fee you will receive one raffle ticket, which will be valid for our event prize raffle held later in the day. More information regarding the raffle will be available at the event.
Once your attendance fee is paid you are eligible to buy more raffle tickets at $5 per additional ticket and there is no limit on the amount of tickets you can buy.

Product Demos:
The companies in attendance will be offering various product demos that you can take out on the mountain for testing. You will be required to leave some form of ID or Credit Card in return for a demoed product. More information regarding product demos will be available at the event.

Lift Tickets:
All Snowmodo attendees are eligible for discounted Northstar lift tickets. To receive these discounts you must first pay the $5 attendance fee at our event room to receive a wristband. Once you have a wristband you will be able to purchase a discounted lift ticket form Northstar's Season Pass Office and Copper Lane Ticketing Office. Ticket information will be available at the event.

Friday Night Drinks:
We have not yet decided on where or when we'll be sitting down for drinks on Friday night. We'll be announcing details on Friday, so please check back then.

Appreciation for investment will return high yield, just sending fully insured money order to vacation residence in Gabon. I hope to hear from you in no distant time through the email address below.
jjsos@amerivas.tur.br

Thanks to all the companies that are participating in Snowmodo we are able to offer all this stuff, and then some, to our readers who attend.

Want to see exactly what you could win, well here you go:

Zune: Zune Players.
AKG: AKG hooded sweaters. AKG earbuds and the demoed AKG headphones.
Nokia: Three Nokia N96s.
North Face: 10 Flyweight Rucksack packs. 10 Khumbu Jackets.
OtterBox: Five OtterBox Defender Series for iPhone 3G cases.
Vudu: VUDU box.
Ardica: Mountain Hardwear jacket with an Ardica Moshi system.
Nixon: Headphones.
Griffin: 25 AeroSport armband for Zune. 25 Streamline armband for iPhone. 20 AeroSport armband for iPod classic. 20 AeroSport armband for iPod nano.96 TuneBuds.
GoPro: 2 GoPro Helmet HERO Wide camera kits.
LibTech: Mystery Item.
Casio: EXILIM EX-FH20 Camera.

For more information regarding our Snowmodo event you can check here. If you're planning on attending and haven't already illed out the RSVP form below, please do. Thanks!

Our Snowmodo Event on April 4th is packed with fun things to do, including the Zune party. But before the event starts on Saturday, the Giz crew and a few friends will be getting drinks somewhere in the Northstar Village Friday night. Since everyone is welcomed to come and we'll probably be out late both Friday and Saturday night, we've arranged discount lodging just for you guys.

Northstar is providing 10% off lodging booked for Friday 4/3 or Saturday 4/4, and for Sunday 4/5 lodging is 30% off. Here's how to receive the discount:

Just call Northstar at 1.800.GO.NORTH (466.6784) and use our coupon code GI0404 when booking your reservation.

Be sure to check back this week as we'll be posting Snowmodo updates and if you haven't already please filled out the RSVP form below. Thanks!

Designed as a promotional tool for Tryvann Winter Park, a ski resort just 15 minutes outside of Oslo, these snowing billboards alert commuters that conditions are optimal for hitting the slopes. Whenever it begins snowing on the mountain, an SMS message is sent to the billboards instructing them to start their thing. A second message is sent when the snow stops. Needless to say, the temptation to ditch work would be unbearable. [Toxel]

Our Snowmodo Event is really shaping up to be a top notch gathering. We've already lined up company attendance from Zune, Ardica, Lib-tech, Nokia, Vudo, Smith, Go Pro, Motion X, Casio, Otterbox, Giffin and next we'll be revealing a few extra companies which should truly make our Snowmodo event one you won't want to miss.

For more information regarding Snowmodo please see our original announcement here.

Be sure to check back next week as we'll be posting Snowmodo updates and if you haven't already please filled out the RSVP form below. Thanks!

Just align your feet on the painted skis on the floor and imagine you are barreling down the mountain bare-assed on a rocket full of feces. Yeah, Metamucil can't compete with that. The only problem is that you will have to book a flight to Japan to enjoy the benefits. These stalls have been built in various ski resort bathrooms there a part of a promotion for Coca-Cola's Georgia Max Coffee. [Coloribus via Pink Tentacle via DVICE]

Using the same logic that makes a pair of skis better at high-speeds than a snowboard, because the skis always have two edges gripping the snow during turns, Pyott's Twin Parabolic Ski concept basically provides each ski with an extra edge. By jointing two longer and narrower skis under each foot, the design allows for more grip at high-speeds since there are more applied edges griping the snow.

Overall the experimental concept seems like a significant way to make downhill racing faster and more dangerous on a pair of skis. The idea of using adjustable joints to make the set of blades under each foot flexible is pretty interesting, and I can't help but wonder if the same concept can be applies to a snowboard in some way. [Yanko Design via DVICE]

Snowmodo is our snow sport winter meet up at Lake Tahoe, with prizes, discounts, tons of fun snow activities, a party and GADGETS. If you can make it (and people are coming from TEXAS) please RSVP. I'll let you wear my hat (below).

Our second annual Snowmodo event is going to be an amazing amount of fun, so if you are anywhere near the Tahoe area we really suggested you stop by and take part in the festivities. Even if you aren't a skier or snowboarder, we still encourage you to join. Northstar has activities like ice skating, tubing, sledding, scavenger hunts, shopping, amazing food, even better bars and more. If the extra activities weren't enough, Zune will also be throwing a party just for our Snowmodo event complete with drinks, snacks and music.

Carpool:
For those of you who want to carpool, we would suggest that you turn the comment's section of this post into a carpool thread. For those who have space available in the car and are willing to give a ride to those who need it, please feel free to post a comment stating your availability. We're hoping you guys will be able to work this out amongst yourselves. So, good luck!

You guys basically have two options. We can either run a carpool system that you guys figure out amongst yourselves in the comments section or we help arrange for a private bus. Working out the carpool option is pretty easy but the bus is little tougher. For those who need a ride to the mountain for our Snowmodo event, please read each option's info and than choose which is best for you.

Also, if you're planning on attending and haven't already filled out an RSVP form please do so below. Thanks!

Carpool:
For those of you who want to carpool, we would suggest that you turn the comment's section of this post into a carpool thread. For those who have space available in the car and are willing to give a ride to those who need it, please feel free to post a comment stating your availability. We're hoping you guys will be able to work this out amongst yourselves. So, good luck!

You guys basically have two options. We can either run a carpool system that you guys figure out amongst yourselves in the comments section or we help arrange for a private bus. Working out the carpool option is pretty easy but the bus is little tougher. For those who need a ride to the mountain for our Snowmodo event, please read each option's info and than choose which is best for you.

Also, if you're planning on attending and haven't already filled out an RSVP form please do so below. Thanks!

The video was shot at Powder Mountain, which certainly earns its name, out in Northern Utah. Makes me want to try out my patented "fall awkwardly down the mountain" ski technique again. [Vimeo]

Our second annual Snowmodo event is going to be an amazing amount of fun, so if you are anywhere near the Tahoe area we really suggested you stop by and take part in the festivities. Even if you aren't a skier or snowboarder, we still encourage you to join. Northstar has activities like ice skating, tubing, sledding, scavenger hunts, shopping, amazing food, even better bars and more. If the extra activities weren't enough, Zune will also be throwing a party just for our Snowmodo event complete with drinks, snacks and music.

For complete information regarding our April 4th Snowmodo meet up at Northstar at Tahoe please see our Snowmodo post.

Also, if you're planning on attending and haven't already filled out an RSVP form please do so below. Thanks!

Price: $30

The Lowdown: I'd never go riding without this multitool. The device is sturdy, and the screwdriver's been helpful countless times I'd want to adjust bindings quickly. The handle and spring loaded release for the tool are easily useful with gloves on, and lock at 90 and 180 degree positions for more screwing speed or power. The tape measure is a bit short at 22 inches, so not that great for measuring between the feet when setting wide stances. The entire thing is extremely durable, except the plastic lid for the bits, wrench and pipe. The pipe itself works really really well, as you can see from the photos above where it is being demonstrated, packed, with basis leaves and pencil shavings. The aforementioned plastic shield working as a built in wind shield during lift rides. (You'll still need a pipe lighter and not some cheap bic, though, on the mountain.) If I could redesign it, I'd lose the tape measure, and wrench and build in the lighter.

[Bakoda]

Snowmodo is our snow sport winter meet up at Lake Tahoe, with prizes, discounts, tons of fun snow activities, a party and GADGETS. If you can make it (and people are coming from TEXAS) please RSVP. I'll let you wear my hat (below).