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On March 17, Backcountry Magazine’s crew of more than 40 testers will descend on Powder Mountain, Utah for the seventh time at the 11th Annual Gear Test Week.
There, they’ll be met by nearly 300 skis, boots and bindings from 60 or so manufacturers. The goal? Test it all in five days, determine the very best, and crown the winners with the 2015 Editors’ Choice Award.
Stay tuned for daily updates from the 2015 Gear Test Week.
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DISPATCHES FROM THE ROAD:
Dispatch: Day zero of Gear Test Week started as a trickle. By noon, just a few dozen skis had been dropped off as the wind kicked up, blowing a gray, biting cold front across Eden, Utah and nearby Powder Mountain, where we’ll be testing skis, boots and bindings all week. An early afternoon phone call…
Video: Backcountry Magazine’s Gear Test Week, our annual pilgrimage to Powder Mountain, Utah, kicks off with more than 40 testers evaluating over 200 skis and 100 AT and telemark boots for five days to create next fall’s 2015 Gear Guide.
Dispatch: They were calling for a trace of snow last night at Powder Mountain, Utah. But that trace was a quick eight last night, and it’s the snow all the testers are talking about. You can feel the anxiety building on the bus ride to Powder Mountain; no one is sitting still in their seats. Outside, the trees are full of…
Video: On Day 1 of Backcountry Magazine’s Gear Test Week, the crew of testers pulled out the fat skis. With eight inches of fresh snow, anxious testers grabbed skis, adjusted bindings and hit the slopes and backcountry at Powder Mountain quicker than Shaggy fowling the resort’s bathroom.
Tester Profile: Marla (a.k.a. Cookie) Bailey is a veteran tester, a ripping tele skier and wife of the king of testers, Shaggy Bailey. She’s the first to compliment your turns or your pooper, but the truth is her skiing is the prettiest of all. Cookie is a “must” on your ski partner list, and if you’re lucky enough, you might even get a hit of her infamous hairlip jokes.
Dispatch: On day two of Backcountry’s Gear Test Week, the tool of the day was sunscreen. A few low-hanging clouds drifted around the sky, but the sun was in full force. Big globs of white gew were passed out and beards and skin were pasted. Once everyone was lathered up, a posse of testers snuck…
Video: While skiers polished off the remaining pockets of fresh snow on the slopes of Powder Mountain, a contingent of testers snuck out to James Peak to hunt down some untouched powder. Lathered in sun screen and equipped with avalanche gear, they found what the were looking for.
Dispatch: For the third day in a row testers took advantage of cat rides up Lightning Ridge in their continuous hunt for shaded pow. The sun continued to shine, taking its toll on snow conditions, but determined testers found hidden pockets of fresh on northern aspects. By the end of the day testers pushed around soft…
Video: The snow gods have halted their powdery offerings, forcing testers to strap on their skins and push farther out into Powder Mountain’s backcountry zones in search of shaded slopes. Others found soft spring snow between trees and ripped down groomers, ticking off as many different skis…
Tester Profile: On the ride up Highway 158 to Utah’s Powder Mountain Resort, you pass a 1,200-acre skiing zone known as Powder Country. Skiers can ride from the top of the resort down to the road and get shuttled back up. That’s where veteran bus driver Richard “Woody” Wood comes in.
Dispatch: Day four of Gear Test Week was full-on spring skiing—hard corduroy groomers and chundery woods that softened to corny utopia in the afternoon. Testers continued to give a solid effort, some of whom busted out a dozen or more skis and tested a handful of boots. With three days of testing…
Video: The snow gods have halted their powdery offerings, forcing testers to strap on their skins and push farther out into Powder Mountain’s backcountry zones in search of shaded slopes. Others found soft spring snow between trees and ripped down groomers, ticking off as many different skis as they could in one day.
Tester Profile: With a thick Australian accent, Jason Layh is one of our most seasoned testers. He was recruited during the Couloir Magazine gear test days and carried over to our Gear Test Week when Couloir merged with Backcountry in 2007. Layh chased winter storms for…
Dispatch: A rough day skiing is better than no skiing at all. After the bleary eyes left behind from the “Progressive Party” finally subsided, testers hit the slopes once again and finished off the rest of the boots and skis, completing the 11th Annual Gear Test Week. The warmest day of the test made for…
