Some guys like to go old school when enjoying the winter slopes. Others wear multiple GoPros, HUD-equipped snow goggles, and all sorts of other tech every time they jump on skis or snowboards. If you’re the latter, the Forcite Alpine may be the ski helmet you’ve been missing all along.
Armed with more tech than the dashboard on your grandpa’s truck, the helmet integrates erstwhile add-on accessories that the tech-savvy winter sport enthusiast is likely to have around anyway. No more mounting action cams to record the events, popping in headphones to hype you up with sounds, carrying a walkie-talkie to communicate with friends, and using sensors to record a digital track of your run – everything is bundled right on the helmet, so you just put it on and go.
The Forcite Alpine comes with a 4K-capable camera with image stabilization right at the top front area, similar to where most people mount their GoPros, allowing you to record every second of action as you make your way down the powdered slopes. It boasts a 140-degree field of view, too, along with a max framerate of 240 fps for 720p video (1080p gets 60 fps and 4K gets 30 fps). Built-in headphones allow you to listen to music with a pair of 40mm drivers, as well as listen to your friends the entire time using the helmet-to-helmet comm system (works up to 218 yards).
Onboard sensors allows you to track speed, altitude, distance, airtime, location (yes, it has GPS), and number of runs, so you can easily settle any bragging contests that go down later at the bar. There’s even a 400-lumen torch lamp to help light the way, in case you stayed on the slopes too late and won’t have the benefit of daylight to help find your way back home.
Want one for winter? The Forcite Alpine is currently raising funds on Kickstarter, with a January ship date. Pledges start at $649.