La Sportiva

Hang5 Alpine Touring Ski

Ski mountaineering isn't always about edging your way down sketchy, sun-baked slopes; sometimes it's all about the powder. On the days when pow's the word, make sure the La Sportiva Hang5 Alpine Touring Ski is strapped to your foot. With a 117mm waist , a wide 145mm shovel, and a generous amount of tip rocker, the Hang5 is built to float like a boat in deep backcountry freshies, pinch the throttle, and make short work of big-time alpine terrain. It's a step up from the Hi5, but it's still light enough to cruise up the skin track, courtesy of the Light Karuba paulownia wood core and carbon laminates.

La Sportiva also tossed in some tri-directional fiberglass for extra durability and stiffness, and built the Hang5 with ABS sidewalls that give you surprising edging power for such a big, powder-hungry ski. It features all the gadgets you'd expect in a touring ski, too, like tip and tail skin attachments and a flat, rubber-dampened tail and edges. Finish the whole shebang off with a tough and fast P-Tex base and 1.8mm steel edges, and you have a tool that'll eat up the deepest backcountry powder without even asking your permission.