From the 2022 Editors’ Choice picks, a few lighter options skis rose to the top. These are the kind of skis you can bang out laps on the skintrack and have fun on the descent, provided it’s not too deep.
Wild Rides: Inside the 2022 Gear Guide
This year, we did things a little differently. In lieu of bringing 60 testers, techs and cooks to our week-long test at Powder Mountain, Utah, we held local mini tests across the country all season long. The results are 153 reviews of skis, splitboards, boots, bindings and apparel, including 35 Editors’ Choice Award winners. These are deep and detailed reviews of products we tested hard, with real and credible feedback from testers in their home ranges, East to West.
The 2022 Backcountry Gear Guide
You could call the Backcountry editors single-minded. While all our friends have been soaking in the summer sun and letting their goggle tans fade, we’ve been thinking about one thing and one thing only: backcountry skiing and riding. And after months of studying last winter’s testing notes, we’re getting ready to drop this year’s Gear Guide in September.
Gearbox: Five tools for touring on high
Spring mountaineering season has arrived to the high peaks, and these tools might be your ticket to ticking off your next big line.
Gearbox: Gloves and Mittens
Six pairs of gloves and mittens for everything from sunny skintracks to arctic descents.
Gearbox: Ortovox Diract Voice
As an avalanche instructor, I spend a lot of time calling out directions to my students: “Zig-zag until you find a signal! Follow the arrows! Make sure the numbers are going down! Get lower to the snow! Now pull out your probe!” Well, imagine a world in which I don’t have to yell those things, because your beacon is doing that for you.
Gearbox: Goggles
Editors’ Choice: Anon M4 Backcountry skiing often requires sacrificing style for functionality. Luckily, Burton’s goggle and eyewear company, Anon Optics, finds the balance between the two with their M4 goggle. The next iteration to the M2 and M3, the M4 hit the market in 2019 with an upgraded frame shape that features a slightly deeper […]
Gearbox: Helmets
Editors’ Choice: Petzl Sirocco They say the best helmet is the one you’ll wear. And for skiers who climb and climbers who ski, the dual-certified Petzl Sirocco gives no excuses to leave your helmet behind, even on the longest tours. “This helmet is uber light! You might just for-get that this thing is strapped to […]
Testers’ Choice: Theresa Clinton’s Favorite Boards
This year at Powder Mountain, Utah, our testers gathered for the 2021 Gear Test Week to review 121 products just before Covid-19 sent us into lockdown. Now, we’re debuting the skis, boards, boots, bindings and apparel that you need to go remote—in the backcountry, that is. At the end of the week, we asked each […]
2021 Backcountry Editors’ Choice Awards
Last March, our testers tried the best skis, boards, boots, bindings and apparel that we could get our hands on at our 13th annual Gear Test Week. After months of working remotely from our basements, guest bedrooms and kitchen counters to compile those reviews, our editors are ready to reveal the top picks to help […]
