Marmot Doug Coombs Memorial La Meije Pack - 2006 BCS

Really love the pack for day hiking trips etc. True test will come in December as I dust off the skis, clothing and brain and go for the first ski of year.

This pack rocks. It is huge and solid, but comfortable. As long at is isn’t packed too tight/full, then it forms well to the back. If you aren’t familiar with back panel access, it is where your main compartments zipper is actually in the back panel. Seems weird at first but is a phenomenal idea. The front has another decent sized compartment with full zipper access. This is where it has dividers for avalanche/mountaineering gear etc. Also has a billows pocket on the very front that can hold two one-liter Nalgenes. The compression straps can go along the front as pictured in the website, or looped and snapped into another set of clips so that they hold/compress gear along the sides as apposed to the front. That is an awesome idea as well. Coombs was the man.

Though I've only used the La Meije pack a few times so far hiking Loveland Pass, I can say that it made carrying gear a cinch. The pack held all I needed to carry, accepted and carried skis easily, and tightened to my body well without restricting movement. The multiple ways to access gear made it easy to organize, and the internal sleeves provided easy access to shovel and probes. The only downfall of this pack that there's no hole for a hydration system...I had to cut my own and sew around it for a water tube. Otherwise, I'll be selling all my other packs on ebay because this one can do it all!

Awesome pack. Just the right size to hold every thing. Performs well in a myriad of conditions. Perfectly designed, this in my opinion, is the best pack out there.

The description of this pack doesn’t do it justice. Its back-entry compartment is impressively roomy. The back-entry seems weird at first, but it rocks. The front has two compartments with waterproof zippers. One is big enough for a fleece, and the other is big enough due to its billowing out feature to fit a 32oz Nalgene and food for a day. Shoulder straps are really padded and comfortable. The hip belt connects to the outermost portions of the pack...so it really doesn’t hug the hips in the back. The compression straps can be clipped in the front like snowboard straps (as in the pictures), or clipped around the sides into additionally clips for vertical ski or gear carrying. Coombs was the man.

To the author of the previous review- this pack is quite good on its own. It has enough volume to put everything you even need on the hill, yet you can have it almost empty and the compression system keeps it rock solid and stable. There is no stay, so the pack hugs your back very efficiently. The diagonal ski carry system is great, the backside access is the proper way to access a ski pack. Overall, everything that you need in a ski pack, and nothing that you don't.

I don't know if the pack is any good but who gives a crap. This is about supporting one of our own; so buy it.