Heli Yeah
Do-it-yourself heli-skiing is one step closer with the AirScooter II, a new personal helicopter designed by Poway, California–based inventor Elwood Norris and scheduled for release in December. With a 65-horsepower engine, the AirScooter carries 350 pounds and tops 60 miles per hour. The coaxial rotors—opposite-spinning blades—make it only slightly tougher to control than a sit-down mower, and because the FAA considers it an ultralight, you don't need a pilot's license. So far, the U.S. Border Patrol and California firefighters have shown the most interest. But a two-seat model, currently in the works, could have you and a friend swapping powder runs soon enough. $50,000; www.airscooter.com
—Ben Bleiman

Not Your Daddy's Dockers
The HAL-5 trousers—developed by Yoshiyuki Sankai, an engineer at Japan's Tsukuba University—do a lot more than stay wrinkle-free. Strap on the battery-powered Hybrid Assistive Limb exoskeleton, apply some electrodes to read your nerve impulses, and suddenly you can lift an extra 400 pounds. That could make the HAL handy in search and rescue and even mountaineering. In August, the trousers will see service in the Swiss Alps, where Japanese climber Takeshi Matsumoto will carry a quadriplegic friend to the summit of 13,665-foot Breithorn. Available 2008; from $13,500 per year; www.cyberdyne.jp
—Jason Daley