Perfect Gifts for Winter Sports Lovers

Source: theverge.com

Buying gifts for loved ones is almost never an easy task. If someone in your life is a winter sports enthusiast, and you want to find something suitable for their hobby, things can get even more complicated. Especially if you aren’t into that sport too. Moreover, snowboarding and skiing gear can be quite expensive, and even though there are reliable retailers that offer good products and can provide you with great professional advice – buying gear for someone other than yourself can be rather complex. Finding the right size is both extremely important and difficult, and each skier or snowboarder has their own preferences, which you may not know or understand.

However, this doesn’t mean that your endeavour is hopeless. There are many appropriate gifts that you can get without having extensive knowledge of winter sports. The simplest way to go is to find something that you can’t go wrong with, and more importantly, that you understand. This way you will be able to tell if the product you are buying is of good quality, and you will know that it will be useful for your loved one. Your safest bet is to get clothing items and accessories, such as snowboard beanies, gloves, hand and foot warmers, thermal clothing, etc.

Winter Beanies

Source: twitter.com/DreamTrips

Keeping your head protected from the weather at all times is crucial for anyone spending time in the cold, especially for those spending a long time outdoors, like skiers and snowboarders. One of the reasons why it is a good idea to buy ski and snowboard beanies as gifts is that, even if you are assuming that your loved one already has one, a winter sports lover can never have too many of them.

Because they play such an important role in regard to safety, by keeping their head warm outside in the cold, ski and snowboard beanie hats have to be high-quality. This essentially means that they need to be comfortable to wear, made of quality breathable fabrics, so they can keep you warm. This may seem simple enough, but once you start looking for snow beanies, you will learn that there are many models available on the market, which not only defer in quality and style, but also in features.

Ideally, if you want to buy beanies for someone else, you would know their preferences and tastes at least a little bit. But even if you don’t, finding a snowboard and ski beanie that looks nice, and performs well, can be enough. The most important thing you should be looking for is a material that provides thermal insulation, UV protection, wind protection and weather resistance.

Also, in order to keep your head warm, the hat needs to be moisture-wicking, breathable, as well as lightweight and comfortable. Snow beanies can be made of acrylic, polyester, wool, etc. Moreover, they can feature ear bands, neck warmer, they can be adjustable, they can contain spandex, some are thicker than others, etc. While some can be quite specifically made for snowboarding or skiing, others can also be used around town in winter.

Gloves and Mittens

Source: peterglenn.com

Staying warm in the snow is the number one concern for people who practise winter sports like snowboarding and skiing. Aside from the head and the face, another part of the skier and snowboarder body that is very exposed to the elements, are their hands. This is why good quality snow gloves, mittens, and hand warmers are crucial, and it’s also why they make for a great gift for anyone who spends a lot of time in the snow.

First of all, it’s important to note that generally, skiers wear gloves, whereas, because, unlike skiers, snowboarders don’t hold poles, many of them prefer mittens. Gloves and mittens designed specifically for snowboarding may come with a wrist guard so that they provide additional protection for the wrists and knuckles because snowboarders are more likely to fall on their hands. However, there isn’t necessarily a strict rule, which means that usually both skiers and snowboarders can choose either type.

Ski gloves, on the other hand, should provide good grip, so that the skier can hold their poles safely without applying too much force, which is why they have ribbed material on the palm. This helps them keep their hands warmer (because gripping too hard prevents good blood circulation, which lowers the hands’ temperature).

Socks

Source: dogmasocks.com

Another very important part of any ski or snowboard gear, winter socks makes for a great present. They are useful, they influence comfort, safety, and one can never have too much of them. However, if you are trying to buy a winter-sports-related gift for someone, you can’t go for any type of socks. Instead, you should opt for socks made specifically for winter sports.

Socks suitable for snowboarding, skiing, and spending long periods of time in the cold and in the snow for any other reason, need to fulfil a set of requirements. First and foremost, they need to be made of high-quality fabrics that are highly breathable and that can wick the moisture away from the skin. Moreover, the material has to be able to retain your body’s warmth. Most snowboard and ski socks are made of merino wool, some type of synthetic blend, or a mixture of both.