Acid greens and drainpipe legs
Last season it was all about bold mixes of colour – cyan, magenta, yellow and black in particular – this season it's about sticking to one eye-catching colour for your whole get-up. For men, that colour is green – in luminous, eye-watering shades. "It has been a strong colour in urban fashion recently," says Dave Whitlow, clothing buyer for Ellis Brigham (0844 372 1010; ellis-brigham.com). "For men on the slopes it's a statement, without any metrosexual overtones – it's bold and safe at the same time. We're confident that the Norrona range with its eye-popping Mohito greens, will particularly strike a cord with technical skiers looking for something edgy." We love the look of the Lyngen Warm 2 jacket (£175) and Lofoten jacket (£399.99) with pants (£389.99).
"For women it's about cosmic pinks," says Whitlow, "and sexy streamlining." Check out new pink ranges from Peak Performance, Salomon and the North Face.
Since snowboarding was invented, the rule has been the baggier the better, but now it too is toying with more svelte designs. Leading brand Burton (burton.com) is pioneering the look with its new White Collection – designed by pro boarder Shaun White – which features form-flattering styles for women. Check out the slim-fit Riding Jacket in turquoise (£170) and the TWC Skinny pants (£190), which despite the slim profile, still allow complete freedom of movement.
Skis of the year
The ski of the season looks set to be the Shogun from Salomon (salomon.com), an all-mountain ski for good intermediates and up who want to progress in the deep powder, but still have fun on-piste too. It's 10cm wide underfoot, which makes it easier to control than thinner skis in powder, but the real secret is in its construction – while many skis have wood cores, the Shogun is one of a tiny handful to use bamboo. Salomon claim the bamboo helps the ski feel stable at speed and to hold an edge on hard piste. We tried an early production model last season and found it far lighter, and more responsive than you would expect for such a fat ski. It costs £575, with bindings, from Ellis Brigham.
Meanwhile K2 (K2skis.com) continues its tribute line. Having released the Coomba (a tribute to legendary extreme skier Doug Coombs who died in La Grave in 2006) it is this year launching the Shane McConkey Ski (following his death March in a ski-base jumping accident). Proceeds will go to his famliy.
Britain may not have the big mountains, but we pioneered the sport, so it's only fitting that there's a new British ski company. Storm Skis (stormskis.com) is based in Derbyshire and has a range of freeride and freestyle skis.
Safety on the slopes
The death of Natasha Richardson in March raised awareness of the importance of head protection on the slopes. One innovation on the market is the Salomon Custom Air helmet (from £100; 01276 404860; salomonsports.com). It has small air pockets in the lining – you put the helmet on, then inflate the pockets using a tiny internal pump, thus ensuring a secure fit. The idea is that with such a well-fitting helmet, you don't need to garrote yourself with the chinstrap to make sure it stays on.
Bearded balaclava
No matter how chic your outfit, it's hard to look cool in balaclava...unless you have the Beard Head ($25; beardhead.com), which keeps you warm and gives you a distinguished moustache. Snowboarder David Stankunas, who makes them in LA, says he's getting lots of UK orders (postage $15).
Eco snowboard
The ski industry has become obsessed with green issues. Scarpa's RNew boot is made of 90% plant oil rather than petrochemicals and Mammut is using coconut fibres in its thermal underwear. The new Banana Magic board from Libtech (lib-tech.com) is the first eco-friendly board, with a skin made from castor beans and a core from volcanic basalt. Using a rocker shape, it rides pretty well too. It's £585 through Snow+Rock (snowandrock.com).
Galaxy of colours
Last year, Armada (armadaskis.com) pushed back the boundaries of ski design with the revolutionary JJ ski. This winter it launches its first clothing range – and it's as futuristic as the skis. The Galactic jacket has wind and waterproof fabrics, Recco reflectors to help rescuers locate the wearer if buried in an avalanche and, most importantly, matching trousers in the same "Galacticon" pattern (jacket: £369, trousers: £319; stockists: 020 7348 5200).
