Whether you’re jet setting or hitting the long and winding road, travel can be logistically challenging. Packing efficiently, not busting your budget and keeping some of the creature comforts of home can help alleviate unnecessary stress on your hard earned down-time.

Skiing deep pow in the backcountry is only as fun as it is safe. And knowing you have the tools to keep you and your friends out of harm’s way makes days on the skintrack all the more gratifying.

Whether you’re using four wheels and the open road or a long, quiet skintrack to take you to your backcountry camping destinations, packing can be a tricky endeavor.

Lose the weight, keep the performance—it’s an intention that brands have long been striving for. And while finding the pinnacle of ounces saved to oomph retained may be as Sisyphean as skinning in plug boots and Alpine Trekkers, many testers say skis are finally hitting the right performance-to-weight mark. “The lighter, touring-focused skis are getting […]

Not that long ago, a mid-fat ski meant something in the realm of 85 mm underfoot. Over the last decade, that measurement has swelled as eccentric and experimental skis of exponential girth hit the market. While 85 mm may never again be average, the sweet spot in skis is becoming codified.

The Gear Guide used to have an unofficial 10-lb. limit. We wouldn’t consider heavier skis. They flat out would not make the cut, and even the most freeride-focused testers would begrudge those portly profiles. But things have changed.

It’s a brave new world of AT boot design on the winter 2019 skintrack, but with options like shell moldability, four buckles or no buckles, flex ratings up to 130 and weights ringing in at a scant 3.9 lbs., picking the right boot for conditions and terrain can be as hard as finding your soulmate on Tinder.