SINGAPORE - Well it’s a bit warmer in Singapore today than it was in Vail, Colorado, USA last December. Part cold, part wanting a camera-mounting, part I was about to throw myself off a few black diamond runs… I decided to buy a ski helmet. In the USA its different - everyone has helmets. Everyone. Helmet = ‘cool’. Helmet with camera on-top seemed to = ‘ultra cool’ or so the comments I got suggested.

I bought a Boeri Vortex (own one? click [Add To My Gear] above if signed-in) The helmet is in the low-mid range, I think I paid close to US$89 + tax for it. It’s very comfy. Nice and padded. Very warm ears (important in CO!).

I can’t tell you how it performed on impact as I didn’t have any - but it felt very secure, nicely fitting and snug. My goggles sat over it perfectly and had no loss of ventilation affecting de-misting. I wore a Rat Race Buff underneath it to protect my neck & chin as the temperatures were hitting -12C. So cold the Buff would come off frozen in one solid piece the shape of my face!

So the interesting bit is the camera. It’s a small security camera with an A/V output. It’s attached to my helmet with a large elastic band (so it can break off if in a fall) through the vent hole. Three leads come from it (audio, video, power) which run down under the padding on the inside through the vent and out a vent at the back where the small 9V battery to power the camera sits under my goggle strap. The Audio & video leads run down my outer jacket collar and under my right arm into the chest pocket on my smock where the AV Recorder (very simple video recorder I bought in Bangkok) sits in the warmth to preserver batter power. Here I can easily pull it out to watch playback while on the lifts.

It really works well. Video quality is pretty rubbish - but it’s only an experiment for the web. Here’s 2 embedded videos take on the first day of the trip.

Part 1.

Team Geared Up: Vail, CO. (Part 1) from Robin Blandford on Vimeo.

Part 2.

Team Geared Up: Vail, CO. (Part 2) from Robin Blandford on Vimeo.

Homemade video camera work well. But what I really want is the O’Neill Backpack Alx reviewed.

-Robin.

(Image & Video Credits: Vail, Colorado in December. By author with thanks to Aoife for the shots of me!)

LONDON, UK (Team Geared Up) - So, you may get the hint here, I’m a little giddy :-) As of today I’m all booked up - flights Dublin>Chicago>Denver, greyhound bus Denver>Vail, hotel, ski rental & ski-pass. I’m ready to hit Vail in the Rockies, North America, for 8 days in 2 weeks time. How good will this be!

Video:

Just advance warning, as you’ll hear more on this one at Christmas! Mind you, I’ve still to write up part 3 of the Summer Alpine Mountaineering!

I want to do the advanced sessions, herself things I’m a joke on skis and thinks we should join the intermediate group. Hmmm. Look what happened the last time TGU went to a ski resort!

-Robin-

LONDON, UK (Team Geared Up) The photo above is of unicyclist Mike Tierney via a story we read on GO Blog. Mike has managed to cycle the Copper Triangle. The Copper Triangle is one of Colorado’s classic mountain bike rides, a gruelling 78-mile loop over three mountain passes.

Two-wheelers get to take it easy on the downhills, but Tierney’s uni has no brakes, no way to control his descents except by fighting gravity with his legs.

Mike believes he’s the only person to have achieved a route of this level on a unicycle. I can’t imagine that’s easy!

-Robin-

(Image Credit: Denver Post)