Choosing original Christmas gifts is hard. Wading through the reams of crap online is even harder. How do you separate the wheat from the chaff? Well, with SNOW's handy 2026 list of Christmas gifts for skiers and snowboarders, you don't have to.
Ski jackets, snowboard jackets, googles, skis, snowboards, boots and bindings, and most other big ticket items are reviewed elsewhere on our site. But this is our gear experts' list of the most innovative, and original bits of ski and snowboard kit on the market this winter.
We've chosen gifts at a range of price points — from a £45 Patagonia hat to the latest, all-singing, all-dancing avalanche backpack from Deuter.
Merry Christmas, and happy shopping. 
Patagonia Range Earflap Cap | £45
Patagonia’s Range Earflap Cap merges wool warmth with nylon fibers, offering breathable insulation and wind resistance. The fold-down ear flaps can snap together under your chin or up on top depending on conditions.
The cap’s brim shields your eyes from sun and flare, and the materials dry quickly when wet. It’s minimalist and packable — perfect for ski touring, long lift rides, or dancing on the deck at the Moosevirt or the Folie Douce. Obviously the Canadian lumberjack look isn’t for everyone, but we happen to think it’s pretty cool as well as practical.
Stance Jimmy Chin Ski Socks | £50
Jimmy Chin might be most famous as a climbing filmmaker (he’s the guy behind the Oscar winning Free Solo) but he’s also a shit-hot skier. These socks are designed to handle winter alpine conditions whatever you're doing in the mountains. That’s where Stance’s Jimmy Chin collaboration shines. Made from merino and synthetic blends, the offer warmth with decent sweat control.
They’re anatomically designed (left vs. right) with targeted cushioning at the shin and ankle, and a thin, high-stretch knit ensures they don’t bulk out your liners. “Super comfortable, and don’t smell too bad at the end of a long day in the backcountry,” said our tester. “What more do you want from a pair of ski socks?”
Funtastick Bamboo Ski Poles | From £60
Bamboo ski poles might sound like an odd idea, but in many ways, it’s surprising that more people don’t make them. Bamboo offers an incredible strength to weight ratio, and grows in handy, ski-pole shaped widths. Increasingly, designers are using it for all kinds of applications including several companies that build bamboo bikes.
French company Funtastick lets you customise your poles, choosing the colour of the grip and basket from a wide range of shapes and colours. You can choose from a range of different widths and lengths too, and they also make collapsible poles for ski tourers or splitboarders.
Pit Viper Combustion Slammer Sunglasses | £70
Loud, bold, and unapologetically fun, Pit Viper are the statement sunglasses bringing back the 90s style with a bang. Their Combustion Slammer model is perhaps the best example of this—by beyond the look, they’re just a great pair of glasses. Oversized, wraparound frames give you full coverage and dramatic style, capable of blocking wind and snow glare.
The interchangeable lens system lets you tweak tint for sunny or low-light days. They're comfortable on your face and built for movement, with grippy rubber bits to prevent slippage under a helmet. If you want sunglasses that are as loud as your riding, these fit the bill. Cool factor: extreme. Function: solid for high-exposure sun days.
Burton HydroMoc AT Neo GTX Boots | £110
A collaboration between Mine 77, Burton Snowboards’ experimental division, and the shoemaker Merrell, these might be the ultimate pair of chalet or refuge shoes. They combine Merrell’s answer to Crocs, the popular HydroMoc sandal, with a pair of waterproof Gore-Tex inners—these are made from environmentally-friendly “Bloom” foam—a material that’s derived from algae biomass.
The inners could be worn as standalone slippers inside the chalet or mountain hut, and then when you want to pop outside, for a smoke, a stargaze or a call of nature, you can just step into the Merrell outers. Neat huh?
Vallon Waylon Sunglasses | £128
Swedish brand Vallon have made a splash in recent years with their modern take on classic, 70s-style frame shapes. Their Waylon glasses are a great example—the look is refined, and understated, but the materials are tough as nails. They have polarized lenses to cut glare on snowfields, while high-contrast tints help define terrain in flat light.
Rubberized nose and temple grips help keep them in place with a beanie or cap. They also come with a neck strap that’s detachable, so you don’t have to worry about stashign them in a pocket every time you want to check your phone. Whether you’re skinning tracks or relaxing at après, the Waylons will suit the occasion.
Osprey Firn 18 Touring Backpack | £140
This is a brilliant piece of kit—super lightweight, and highly optimized for ski mountaineering, particularly the kind of rapid ascent, lycra-loving ski mountaineering that’s making its debut as a sport at the Milano Cortina Olympics. Weighing around 1.02 kg when empty, it features a vest-style harness for easy access to soft flasks and bottles, and an innovative ski-lasso carry system that doesn’t require taking the pack off when you’re doing changeovers.
There are internal pockets for probe, shovel, and tools. “There’s also a third, tube-like main pocket accessible on the right hand side, specifically designed so you can stash skins and crampons without ever removing the bag from your back,” said our tester in this full Osprey Firn 18 review. “It would be handy in a race situation, but also feels safer on sketchy, icy slopes.”
Anon Oslo Wavecell Helmet | £215
The Oslo Wavecell, by Burton’s sub-brand Anon pairs style with serious protection. Its innovative 3D WaveCel cellular structure—which looks like a bunch of wavy rubber lines on the inside of the lid—absorbs rotational forces and reduces head-impact risk versus conventional cushioning. The 360° BOA adjustment system, meanwhile, delivers a snug, dialed-in fit.
Ventilation is well handled via integrated vents and a comfortable fleece liner ensures you stay warm without overheating. Our tester particularly liked the little touches, like the Fidlock magnetic buckle, that’s easy to fasten with one hand, even when you’re wearing mitts. “I’ve not had any massive slams this season,” they said, “but I’d feel a lot more comfortable with this on my head if I did.” 
Ogio Rig Street Roller Bag | £300
The Rig Street Roller is a massive travel bag built for anyone hauling serious amounts of gear—handy if you’re a pro heading away for a whole winter, no doubt. But equally handy if you’re a family of four wanting to maximise the “20kg” bag you’ve bought on Ryanair. Its structural Load Equalizing Deck (sled) reinforces the base, while oversized, low-drag wheels roll over snow-covered streets with ease.
Inside, a wide-mouth D-shaped lid opens for full access to the absolutely vast, 132-litre main compartment, complete with adjustable dividers and a padded helmet chamber. External compression straps, multiple grab handles, and reinforced corners help with loading, and airline handling. “This thing just swallows up kit,” our tester said. “There’s always room for something more.”
Mammut Barryvox 2 Transceiver | £320
Just to be clear, this isn’t an optional extra or an accessory if you’re heading into the backcountry. If you’re venturing off piste, you need an avalanche transceiver. The new Mammut Barryvox 2 is currently one of the best on the market. A compact, three-antenna avalanche transceiver which offers a 70 m search & transmit range and self-test checks so you know it’s working before a run.
It guides you with clear visual and audio cues and handles multiple burials with smart auto-select and marking functions. Its interference guard helps avoid signal confusion in groups. Our tester has been using one of these for the past winter—thankfully never in a ‘live’ situation—and says “the controls are super-intuitive, and it gloms onto other transceiver signals noticeably quicker than my old one. Would recommend!”
Deuter Alproof Tour 38+5 Avalanche Backpack | £1,350
For British skiers, both the avalanche airbag systems available until recently—lithium ion or compressed air powered—have a major disadvantage: they cause issues at airports. The new Alpride E2 system in this backpack draws its power from regular AA batteries, boosted by supercapacitors.
This means you can take it as carry-on luggage—a claim we put to the test last season at both Milan Malpensa (where staff are used to seeing airbag backpacks) and Tirana Airport in Albania (where they’re not). Both times, it went through, no questions asked. We were impressed by the airbag itself too, and the backpack is capacious, and full of convenient features. 
E-Skimo Electric Touring Skis | £4,200
We’ve not had a chance to try these, but the idea is incredibly intriguing: Swiss startup E-Skimo claims to have done to skis what Bosch did to mountain bikes—namely make an electric motor practically applicable for the uphills, without compromising downhill performance. Their units consist of an intelligently-activated motor that responds to your movements, a battery, and a skin that moves like a conveyer belt.
When you get to the top, you remove these as you would skins, and ski down unencumbered. The demo skis they’ve produced so far weigh 2.8kg a pair, units included, so they sound manageable. And apparently they help the average skier climb up to 80 percent faster, enabling them to go further into the backcountry. If these work, they could be a total game-changer.
