From a crop of nearly 200 skis tested in March at Powder Mountain, Utah, we’ve selected the best 12 models for 2015 based on overwhelming tester feedback and groundbreaking innovation. Looking for the lightest, carbon-infused powder ski or the most versatile front-and-backside ski? You’ll find it among these 12 standout skis….
2015 Editors’ Choice Awards: Bindings
This March at Powder Mountain, Utah, we tested every backcountry binding available, and, based on overwhelming tester feedback and groundbreaking innovation, we’ve selected the best bindings of 2015. Looking for the most affordable tech binding or the stoutest, do-it-all touring option? You’ll find it among these three Editors’ Choice bindings.
Palm Pilot: Black Diamond Pilot Glove
After spending my first several days of backcountry skiing with freezing fingers (and subsequent bouts of Screaming Barfies—that burning, rewarming feeling that makes you want to puke), I invested in some real touring gloves….
Troller’s Stamp of Approval: Kinco Lined Grained Pigskin with Cuff (#1927)
I’ve been running Kincos since I started patrolling in 1998. They last about a year of ski patrolling and working construction. They’re not waterproof on their own, of course, but I treat the pigskin with mink oil….
Gender Bender: Patagonia R-3 Hi-Loft Fleece
If you’ve spent any time on the streets of Boulder, Colorado, then you know the meaning of the word “Patagucci”: the quintessential piece for trust-funders who like to put “outdoorsy” in their OkCupid profiles. But we know that a Patagonia fleece is far more.
Mom Knows Best: Mammut Vail Pant
I took these pants out to Powder Mountain two seasons in a row before wearing them up Tuckerman Ravine on Mt. Washington last year—at least as far up as my daughter, Hazel, went. Despite having to hold up in a variety of different on and off-snow conditions, these things do the job.
Down Cloud: Mammut Biwak Jacket
I got this jacket about six years ago before a mountaineering trip in Alaska—a cold, four-week NOLS course in the Talkeetna Mountains. It was my puffiest, warmest layer, and I wore it every night.
Softer Touch: Outdoor Research Ferrosi Hoody
With fewer frills than a fancy pair of ski socks, my favorite jacket, a bare-bones softshell from Outdoor Research, could hardly be considered a shell when placed next to some fully-featured jackets that ring in at five times its price.
Not For Sale: Arc’teryx/Gore-Tex Pro Demo Jacket
The late bass player Donald “Duck” Dunn had a great line in Blues Brothers: “If the shit fits, wear it.” Never an image guy and, frankly, a tough fit for jackets, I can abide. Enter this sample Arc’teryx/Gore-Tex piece that I picked up at a press event last year in Chamonix. Made of Gore-Tex Pro throughout, it’s like nothing in the Arc’teryx line. Well, aside from its high-quality construction and anatomical cut.
Tried & New: Suunto Vector
I might have been drunk when I found this beat-up, scratched Suunto Vector pinched between two rocks in Vermont’s Brewster River. From a distance, its black housing looked faintly like a tin of chewing tobacco (which is why I actually ran to check its contents). Upon further inspection, what appeared to be a can of […]
