Four airbag packs that balance safety features, fit and weight for a spectrum of gear budgets.
Gearbox: There and Back Again
Five skins for going the distance—and a reglue service to test time, not patience.
Gearbox: Packing for Anything
Whether you’re planning a multi-day traverse or just looking to explore the lift-accessed backcountry, these six purpose-built packs will fill any niche you need on your next snow-sliding adventure.
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: 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 […]
Gearbox: In-Vesting in Off Season Training
It’s no secret that ski touring is physically demanding. More fitness equals more fun—both breaking trail uphill and cranking powder down. Because the best ski tours last for at least a few hours, your body needs to adjust to that duration of exercise—sub-one-hour workouts don’t induce the needed adaptation. Trail running provides one of the […]
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 […]
New Heights: Scarpa enters a new orbit with their Alien RS
Last year, Scarpa took that tried-and-tested Alien and reformed it for improved downhill capacity with the Alien RS. It retains many of the original Alien’s touring-focused attributes, including a scant weight of 3.9 lbs.—making it the lightest boot at our 2019 Gear Test Week. But other updates mean it can better handle descents and mid-fat skis.
