Sport touring bridges the gap between free skiing and skimo—the result: powerful performance that’s still lightweight. Check out the skis, boots and bindings that topped the category.
2023 Editors’ Choice: Apparel and Accessories
Though our testers spend much of Gear Test Week in denim, sequins and fur, they’re well versed in denier, down and wool. Here are their top choices.
2023 Editors’ Choice: Speed Touring Skis and Boots
Fast is light, and light is expensive. But the miles go by fast and easy. If that’s what you’re looking for, speed touring gear may be for you. See what skis and boots shined in this category.
2023 Editors’ Choice: Splitboards, Boots and Bindings
Now that splitboarding has entered the mainstream, riders can buy specialized boards to match any backcountry goal. Welcome to the Quivercene.
2023 Editors’ Choice: Free Touring Skis, Boots and Bindings
Whether taking a chairlift bump, firing up the snowmobile or hitting a skintrack, those who free tour prioritize an aggressive, tough (if heavy) kit for a dominant descent. Inspired by big mountain competitions and freeride style, free touring gear focuses on sturdier materials for downhill-focused performance.
2022 Backcountry Editors’ Choice Awards
Our testers worked all winter in their home ranges to try gear in narrow couloirs, open pow fields and tight trees. Though they didn’t get to hang out at Powder Mountain, Utah, like they usually do, they did learn their gear even better, bringing you tried-and-true Editors’ Choice picks.
Gearbox: The Finer Points of La Sportiva’s Skorpius CR
There’s an old K2 Telemark poster of a skier doing an inverted grab with the tagline: “Take something hard, make it harder, then make it look easy.” Surely that poster wasn’t on the minds of La Sportiva’s designers when developing the new Skorpius CR. But the boot pulls off complex engineering with such simple and […]
2020 Testers’ Choice: Kris Thomas’s Picks
The 17 inches of powder that fell on Powder Mountain, Utah this past March didn’t distract testers at the 2020 Gear Test Week from logging hours on this coming season’s newest skis, splitboards and boots to find the standouts across crud, corduroy and deep blower fresh. From bell to bell, each tester buckled down to […]
Hagan Boost 99 Skis
“For the weight, the Hagan Boost surprised me with its stable, predictable ride,” one tester said, praising the well-rounded prowess of Hagan’s new midfat. “These skis hold an edge well, have a shovel to keep you up in the pow and are light enough to go all day.” “A light, wispy ski that can carve […]
Black Diamond Equipment Helio 95 Skis
Black Diamond overhauled their Helio line of touring-specific skis last season and the widest model, the Helio 116, earned an Editors’ Choice Award for its best-in-class weight-to-width ratio. This season, BD takes a victory lap, with top honors falling on a ski that blew away the mid-90 mm competition—on both the uptrack and the descent. […]
