Adam Harveywith options for ski-ing.
• It's hardly necessary to own skis these days: mountain rentals are generally of good standard and will save the hassle of hauling two heavy planks halfway across Europe. But for those with slightly odd-shaped feet, your own set of boots can make the difference between a great holiday and a painful one. And, while the wrong size skis won't kill you, nothing compares to the frustration of discovering, in the rental shop, that all the size 12s have been taken. Rossignol's online boot guide helps you match a boot to your feet. The four-buckle Exalt X12 boots (above, €350, www.rossignol.com) are designed for wider feet.
• Children are a menace on the slopes, usually because they're far better skiers than adults, humiliating their more-tentative elders by skiing down the fall line, across the paths of grown-ups cautiously snowploughing their way across the piste. These days they're all armed with indestructible "safety" gear that turns them into knee-high cannonballs. Unfortunately, ski helmets for children, such as the Smith Arctic Jr in blue or pink (above, €50, www.babytravelshop.ie) aren't equipped with flashing hazard lights.
• And, for when it all goes wrong, avalanche beacons are hardy tranceivers - transmitters and receivers - that help rescuers find buried victims. The lucky few who survive being buried by avalanches are almost always found quickly and revived because they were wearing a beacon.
The Ortovox d3 digital transceiver (€256, www.snowsafe.co.uk) is powered by two AA batteries, with a battery life of about 300 hours of transmitting and 40 hours in search mode.