I recommend a MuVo or other Mp3 player vs. a hard drive player (like an ipod) for skiing. Mp3's are more durable, but MuVo also makes nice hard drive players cheaper than ipods and some of the modals can play TV shows and stuff too for the same price.
I usually listen to Offspring, Rise Against, Bigwig, techno, or very few rap songs. Stuff from Ski videos too, cause it gets me pumped up.