Orange Snow-mobile hits the slopes

Stuff exclusive

All packed and ready for the last three months of the snow sports season? Hold your plane ticket – Orange has one more crucial bit of kit it’d like you to carry onboard.

Yes, we’re referring to the Snow-mobile, the evolution of last year’s weather report-loving Snowphone. This year’s package consists of the Samsung X660 clamshell before you, plus an exhaustive list of services for adrenalin junkies heading to the slopes.

The phone itself is basic by Stuff standards – there’s no Bluetooth, the cam’s 0.3MP and there’s no MP3 player. It is, however, a fairly light number (80g) and has tri-band so you can still chat away if you’re flying to Park City in the States (which has been enjoying outrageously good snow).

Naturally, the services are where things get cooler – starting with five video lessons from Brit boarder Jenny Jones performing ollies, boardslides, frontsides and backsides with tips on how to learn ‘em for yourself. We’re also liking the inclusion of resort webcams – handy if you’re travelling – discount vouchers for outdoor gear shop Ellis Brigham and a free copy of snow mag Slide.

There’s further content on Orange World, too, from seven games and news on snow events – including March’s Orange Brits bash in Laax – to wallpapers and ringtones.

The phone itself is a PAYG job, on sale now for £90. We’re confirming charges for the services as we write.

Next week we’ll have a live test of the Snow-mobile for you from Tignes – let’s hope it lives up to the powder hype.

18/01/06 update: web cam views cost a quid, game downloads are £3 a pop. Everything else – Jenny included – is free.