The Best Winter Gear for Colorado’s Ski Slopes and Beyond

MoonBike Electric Snow Bike

Anyone who’s been on a snowmobile knows the machines come with a lot of downsides: They are loud, burn fossil fuels, require frequent upkeep, and are difficult to transport. The MoonBike has none of those issues. Founder Nicolas Muron came up with the idea for this electric snow bike that has a track in the back and a ski up front in 2015 while visiting family in the Alps and opened the French company’s U.S. headquarters in Boulder late last year. “Mobility in the winter seemed too reliant on cars and snowmobiles,” he says. “I always wanted to create a machine to make winter exploration fun and easy.” To that end, the 192-pound MoonBike is small enough to fit on a rack mounted to your SUV’s trailer hitch. And with a top speed of 26 miles per hour and 90 minutes of charge (longer with an optional extended battery), storage-starved Denverites who don’t have space for a full-size snowmobile can use the bike to cruise to their favorite backcountry ski zones or explore Colorado’s myriad winter trails without topping off a jerrycan at the gas station first. An optional fast charger can juice up the battery in just three hours; a heated battery box keeps the cold from sapping your range; and the simple design has fewer than 200 parts with no chain or belt to drive the track, so maintenance is minimal compared to notoriously unreliable snowmobiles. From $8,900

MountainFlow Recycled Ski Poles

Building the industry’s first ski pole made from recycled aluminum takes a different skill set than formulating the plant-based ski waxes and bike lubes this Carbondale company is known for, but MountainFlow finally mastered it earlier this year with the debut of its repurposed-metal ski poles. There are three models: one for rental fleets, one with a rubber grip called the RE.7+, and one called the Cork Pro, which features a handle made from recycled wine stoppers. To source its materials, MountainFlow partners with Loveland Ski Area to snatch retired poles from the resort’s rental shop before they hit the landfill. From $60

Apex Ski Boots Antero VS

There’s no need for skiers to jealously eye snowboarders’ cushy boots. For the past 16 years, Golden-based Apex Ski Boots has been combining a removable soft boot with a stiff exoskeleton to create a two-part system that offers more comfort and walkability than traditional ski footwear without sacrificing the rigidity you need for precise control. The new Antero VS model, released this year, takes that concept and shaves off nearly an entire pound per boot, so now you can concentrate your envy on that boarder’s steezy knee-length coat instead. $899

Voormi Treeline Hoodie

Pagosa Springs–based Voormi levels up the traditional wool ski sweater into a stink-destroying, shape-keeping, water-shedding, stain-resisting powerhouse, thanks to a proprietary technology that hardens the merino wool garment’s outer layer with nylon and then tops it with a water-repellent treatment. On a weeklong ski trip to Breckenridge, it was our go-to après comforter, and it still smelled fresh on the way home. $199

Rocky Talkie Backcountry Radio

It gets overlooked in the backcountry in favor of “beacon, probe, and shovel,” but your safety gear is meaningless without good group communication. Rocky Talkie, based in the Mile High City, takes the radios you played with as a kid and beefs them up for the mountains: They are snowproof, feature a range measured in miles, work down to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and stay charged for days. But as essential as they are for conquering big backcountry objectives, they’re just as useful at the ski resort. After all, how many times have you taken the wrong lift and spent the next hour searching for enough cell service to text your ski crew? $110 each

Dual Outdoors Snow Visa

Skiers and splitboarders with avalanche training are familiar with the so-called blue book—the little pamphlet for logging the current avalanche forecast and other observations. The Snow Visa, designed in Boulder, is a slimmed-down version that you don’t need to dig around in your pack or pockets to find. The three-by-9.5-inch waterproof, markable, and erasable sticker rides on the tip of your ski or board so it—and the day’s avalanche hazards—are always in sight and in mind. $15