La Sportiva

Mega Lo5 Alpine Touring Ski

Even ski mountaineering legends spend the occasional day skiing the resort or getting some lift-accessed backcountry turns. They keep their quiver simple and versatile by grabbing the Mega Lo5 Ski from La Sportiva, which has the backbone to handle hard skiing in tough conditions and the lightweight skimo DNA to keep you moving fast on the skinner.

Poplar wood is light, strong, and energetic, and in the Lo5, the poplar core is reinforced with fiberglass and bi-directional carbon laminates to give it enough stiffness for you to drive it through less-than-ideal conditions without the weight penalty of metal inserts. ABS thermoplastic sidewalls help to keep things light, but have the toughness to stand up to the inevitable rocks and stumps that you'll uncover in tight couloirs and trees.

Since versatility's the name of the Lo5's game, it features an early-rise tip that smooths out choppy snow and gives you enough float to cruise through powder. Traditional underfoot camber and a flat tail provide stability, turning power, and the ability to easily isolate columns and rutschblocks without a snow saw. Rubber tip, tail, and edge reinforcements keep things damp when you're maching through pow or rattling over icy snow, and reinforced holes in the tip and tail accept pre-cut La Sportiva Lo5 skins and help you construct snow anchors or a rescue sled. The tails are also notched and the tips tapered to easily accept traditional skin attachments. If you're on the prowl for a one-ski backcountry and in-bounds quiver, look no further.