It’s not all fun and games at Gear Test Week. Our 43 testers—32 skiers and 11 splitboarders—hit the slopes at Utah’s Powder Mountain with the dawn’s early light and don’t go to bed ’til the day’s reviews are complete. From carving smooth powder turns to busting through crud and shredding corduroy, each tester aims to test eight products per day, a task that provided us with more than 1,100 individual reviews to craft the 2019 Gear Guide, available now and packed with tester feedback.
From the 236 products we ran up and down the mountain, each tester nominated their personal favorites. Here are their picks and profiles, so you know who’s doing the dirty work and what they liked best.
Wylie “Harkin Banks” Picotte sprays the spring corn at the 2019 Gear Test Week. [Photo] Matt Kiedaisch
AGE 22 5 FEET 9 INCHES, 155 LBS.
Bridger Bowl, Mont.
CURRENT SETUP
Fischer Ranger 98 skis, TX Comp boot, Scarpa Freedom binding
GEAR PREFERENCE
“I put more emphasis on the down, because we all go up to go down, but mostly I want my set up to be as versatile as possible—you never know what type of snow conditions you might encounter on a trip into the backcountry.”
SCARPA MAESTRALE RS
$795 – scarpa.com| SIZES (mondo): 24.5-32 | LAST (mm): 101 | WEIGHT/PAIR: 6.1 lbs.
“A powerful boot with an exceptional walk mode. It would be at home on the skintrack or the chair lift. The Intuition liner is a fantastic bonus.”
Atomic Hawx 130
$950 – atomic.com| SIZES (mondo): 24.5-29.5 | LAST (mm): 98 | WEIGHT/PAIR: 6.3 lbs.
“A powerful boot with a nice, progressive flex and a walk mode worth touring in given the excellent downhill performance.”
Crispi Evo
$549 – telemarkdown.com | SIZES (mondo): 24.5-30.5 | LAST (mm): 102.5 | WEIGHT/PAIR: 7.9 lbs.
“A boot that can drive and is comfortable right out of the box. The buckle layout delivers a nice performance fit, but the instep buckle does get stuck on the tongue if it’s not tight.”
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