Smith Variant Brim Skullcandy Twin-Tip Audio Helmet - 2010 BCS

Okay, I'm 40, been skiing for 32+ years, so I was a Refuse-nik when it came to helmets. Like all good subdivision, terrified Oprah-Dads, I have my kids in helmets; and after hearing, "Hey Dad, how come you don't wear a helmet?," I finally caved to kinder-pressure. I tried on this helmet, and it looked pretty cool. I was in Switzerland at the time, and I could have flown back to the USA for the price of this helmet at the Swiss ski lodge. Like all good ski bums, I jumped on the internets and scored a silly deal from Backcountry.com. They totally hooked me up, and this helmet rules!

Great fit, excellent adjustability, and not too hot or cold. I tested this out at Kitzbühl, Austria, so I was pretty giddy to begin with, and the helmet was more of an afterthought, as it should be. I shouldn't notice it. It should be as cozy as any tuque I've worn in the past 3 decades. This helmet does just that.

Santa Clause hooked me up with a sweet pair of Smith Phenom googles, which were insanely good, and match seamlessly with the helmet. Even if you don't need a new set of googles, spring for a new set of vision and the interoperability is priceless.

So all told, I have a new helmet and googles by Smith. They are primo cheese for a Valveeta hack like myself. Over time, I BS'd myself think I was hard core and not a sellout because I spent nickels and dimes on run of the mill equipment. I wasn't hard core, I was just a Moron!! If you are like me, you are a skiing fanatic, you spend a small fortune on the whole endeavor, so spring for great gear and skimp on the Motel 6.

Bottom line, out with the old: drafty tugue and old, scratched to hell dime store goggles. In with the new, damn near climate controlled Smith Variant Brim helmet, with killer sound system and new googles. It's like a stuck Aspen's Hotel Jerome on my head and went skiing. Much improved over my supposed "hard core single wide" mentality.

My husband is really liking this helmet. He can answer his phone with the system- yeah, I know it makes him look like a douche bag, but apparently it's important when he's "working" on the mountain- and when he's not on the phone, he can rock crystal clear Yanni radio.The vents on the left and right side operate independently and are easy to open and close with your gloves on, sound quality is awesome, and the cord comes with plug-ins for two devices. If you're trying to decide between this and the brimless, go with this one- the brim keeps the chair lift rain from dripping down through your goggles. He's rocking a pair of early 2000 oakley goggles and they fit pretty well underneath, just bit of a gap on each side but nothing you'd notice if you weren't looking closely.Sizing in this helmet is bigger than most others. He originally had a large but was floating in it and ended up going with a medium. Head measurements in the sizing chart are accurate, so pay attention to them.