Skiers are notoriously picky about gear, which makes holiday shopping for them either simple or stressful — there's no in-between. Ski Magazine's latest gift roundup, produced with REI, cuts through the noise with eight items spanning base layers to après luxuries. Here's what made the list and why each pick earns its spot.
Warmth dominates the selections. Two insulated jackets feature: a 650-fill-power down puffy with wide baffles, windproof and water-resistant shell fabric, and a shell made entirely of recycled nylon; and Arc'teryx's Atom, a synthetic piece built with 60-gram Coreloft Compact insulation. The Atom's appeal is versatility — it works as a midlayer under a shell at the resort, yet breathes well enough to wear uphill on the skin track, and looks sharp enough for town. For anything in between, a merino-and-polyester fleece glove with silicone-gripped palms and touchscreen-compatible fingertips covers cold days that don't demand bulky mitts.
Base layers get their due too. The Classic Thermal Merino Crew is 100 percent merino wool, prized for regulating temperature, wicking sweat, stretching with movement, and resisting odour — the kind of top that stays on long after the boots come off. Visibility gear also features: goodr's Peak G goggles offer a magnetic lens-swap system, a cylindrical lens for a wide field of view, anti-fog vents, swappable straps, and come bundled with both a regular and a low-light lens for flat-light days.
The après category is where things get fun. The North Face ThermoBall Traction Booties combine synthetic insulation, a high ankle cuff, and rubber outsoles with water-repellent tread — handy on icy lodge floors and hut decks alike. Arc'teryx's Bird Head Toque, a low-profile merino-acrylic beanie with a soft fleece liner, works on the hill and at dinner. And for the skier who has everything, there's the Lazy Bear: a heated folding camping chair with a Bluetooth- or button-controlled warmed seat, a padded back, steel frame, and a 10,000 mAh power bank included. It's firmly a want rather than a need — until the first tailgate, at which point the magazine suspects it becomes the latter.
Why it matters: winter trips are expensive, and the difference between a great ski day and a miserable one often comes down to exactly this kind of kit. Whether you're shopping for a partner heading to the Alps or treating yourself before a season pass pays off, the guide is a solid shortlist of items that get used daily on snow — not gag gifts that end up in a drawer. Prices weren't listed in the roundup, so check REI directly, but expect the usual spread from affordable accessories like the beanie and gloves up to premium jackets and goggles at the top end.
First published by Ski Magazine.
