Best New Winter Gear
Crafted By Small Businesses
By Daisy Chan

(FORTUNE Small Business) – Northern Lites Snowshoe, $199

thern Lites, founded 12 years ago by Russ Post, makes some of the lightest and sturdiest snowshoes around. The company's new Elite Racer is a skinnier, faster version of its signature shoe, the Elite. Just 32 ounces a pair, Racers are less than half the weight of normal snowshoes. Mark Macy won the grueling 100-mile Iditashoe race in Alaska three times wearing Elite snowshoes. northernlites.com

Leedom Helmet, $139.99

Marc Hauser, now 45, initially imported helmets from Boeri, an Italian manufacturer, and then began creating his own. The new Prophet has adjustable vents you can open and close without taking the helmet off, plus a fleece lining for warmth and a detachable neck curtain in back. With a hard plastic shell and polystyrene inside, the Prophet earned a safety seal of approval from the American Society for Testing and Materials. leedomhelmets.com

ACR Electronics Personal Locator Beacon, $750

Even an experienced alpine climber can find himself in a jam. To the rescue: the TerraFix 406 GPS I/O. The compact device, available this fall pending FCC approval, contains a GPS system that transmits your location to the U.S. Air Force. ACR already provides personal beacons to the U.S. military. In the 1960s it made flashlights that were used on the Apollo missions. acrelectronics.com

Burton Snowboard, $500

After a short stint on Wall Street, Jake Burton Carpenter, now 50, moved with his wife to Vermont, where he began building snowboards in their garage. In 1977 he launched Burton Snowboards, and since then his company has dominated the growing sport. Kelly Clark and Ross Powers won gold medals in the 2002 Winter Olympics on Burton boards. The new Malolo (it means "flying fish" in Hawaiian) is an all-terrain board—the front end is wider than the back, so you can handle the powder on backcountry runs, but it's designed for park riding too. Made of fiberglass around a wood core, the Malolo comes in three sizes: 154, 158, and 162 centimeters. burton.com

GoLite Wizard Jacket, $300

Husband-and-wife founders Demetri, 38, and Kim Coupounas, 37, both got Harvard MBAs before founding GoLite in 1998. The company specializes in ultralight clothing and gear. Its latest Wizard jacket has GoLite's new Alchemy fabric, which is breathable and waterproof. It comes with a holder for your MP3 player, as well as a clear screen on the cuff so that you can see your watch without having to hike up your sleeve. Oh, and if you forget to bring your gloves, you can pull down the cuff to cover your hands. golite.com

Outdoor Research Gloves, $179

Ron Gregg started out making mountaineering and climbing gear in his Seattle basement 24 years ago. He died in an avalanche last year, but Dan Nordstrom, 42, is carrying on Gregg's work. The company's new Alti Mitt will protect your digits in even the harshest arctic weather. The outside has waterproof, breathable fabric with a leather palm; the inside has dense fleece and PrimaLoft insulation. The Alti Mitt gets a thumbs-up from Ed Viesturs, who has climbed Mount Everest six times and wore the Alti Mitt on his most recent ascent this past May. orgear.com