Growing up in Southern California, winter always meant driving up to Big Bear or Mammoth Lakes to snowboard with family and friends. I'd spend long days swooshing through fresh powder; capping off the outing with a steamy hot chocolate at the lodge. As much as I loved those days on the slopes, I took a bit of a snowboarding hiatus in adulthood—10 years, to be exact. This year, I finally made my return.
Unsurprisingly, my Burton jacket from high school wasn't going to cut it. I needed all new gear, head to toe. (Which, if I'm being honest, made the idea of starting up with snowboarding again even more exciting.)
To sift through the many new products and brands out there these days, I tapped a few friends and coworkers to help me test out snow gear with a few criteria in mind: I wanted solid pieces that were smart and functional, fit well, and looked good. Over a series of weekend trips out of New York City, I finished the season with a few items I can't wait to wear again next year. Luckily, I get to pass on one of the first lessons my mom taught me about snow gear as well: to do the bulk of your snow gear shopping in spring, when prices fall before the season wraps.
Below, find the anti-fogging goggles, touchscreen-friendly gloves, and colorful outerwear I swore by this season—these products are good enough to get anybody onto the slopes.
Base layers
Easy to overlook but totally essential are base layers. I found a new favorite brand in Halfdays this season. Their technical base layers fit great, wick sweat like you wouldn't believe, and were super breathable. Plus, they come in a ton of colors which is a nice perk for anyone trying to build out a go-to snow day uniform like I was. (I loved the Espresso as a nice warm neutral, though they also have a mellow yellow and punchy cobalt blue, among others.) These base layers were so practical I wore them not just for snowboarding, but daily on a recent cruise to Antarctica for our landings.
On especially cold days, I layered my trusty Uniqlo Heattech on top of the Halfdays base layers for extra insulation.
Outerwear
Outerwear was the biggest experiment of all—especially because, as a couple friends and I were slammed with Instagram ads for snow gear this year, we were really curious which pieces were worth the investment.
We bought in to the first-ever run of Free People snow gear from FP Movement. The one-pieces, like the Around the Block bib (currently on-sale at a run-don’t-walk price, by the way) and the All Prepped ski suit were hits. They felt well-made, were flattering and cozy, and had a bajillion pockets. They also came in nice neutrals; a contrast to the punchy patterned jackets, like the Bunny Slope printed puffer, which was also fun but definitely less of a staple (the fit is extra-puffy too; definitely more of a snowboarding look). One thing we learned, across FP Movement products, was that the colors in the images weren't always true; check out user photos in the reviews, or tagged photos on social, for more true-to-color images.
