...Or at least red feet. We've gotten a few complaints about these shoes dying your kid's feet red.

The VCT's were a fun ski for the few days that I skied them in powder. They float well and have enough flex to be maneuverable. However, on piste they are a bit too straight and need more sidecut. They don't respond as well as other skis with similar dimensions.

After a few years of telemark skiing the BD Verdict has become my all-time favorite ski. I use it in bounds about 50% of the time, skiing deep powder, hitting cliffs and charging groomers. The rest of my time is spent in the backcountry, where my Verdicts mounted with BD '01 Midstiff bindings get me anywhere I want to go. They are fat enough to handle most powder (although I've had days of 3+ ft. where I wished I had some Megawatts). They are lighter than many other skis of similar dimensions while still maintaining enough stiffness for touring and making aggressive tele turns. These skis are designed for anyone who is an aggressive skier and wants to push their skis day after day.

You probably won't need many layers under this jacket, and you may not even need pants. This is the warmest jacket I have put on my body. The 200g primaloft insulation is ridiculously warm and the gore-tex pro shell doesn't let any of that heat escape. It is completely water proof, even in fairly heavy rain, and in 60 MPH winds my torso was still sweating (while my face was crying). This jacket should be used in extremely cold situations, because it can get too hot when the temperatures are above freezing. The one downside to this jacket is that it doesn't have any pit-zips or core venting. But, if you need to stay warm and dry this jacket by far the best you can buy.

I use this jacket for skiing on warm days and for kicking around town. It has been completely water proof for everything I've used it for (dumping snow to sleet) and it hasn't torn or worn out at all. I usually wear my Arc Gamma MX under this shell and haven't gotten cold yet. It is a great outer layer for touring because it is easy to get on and off, is really light and packs down well. At 6' 0" 180 the large is a great fit, with plenty of room to move around, though like most Arc jackets it's just a little shorter in the waist than I would like. All around a comfortable and functional shell.

I use my Gamma MX for just about everything. It is a great midlayer for skiing, warm and windproof but breathable. As with most Arc'teryx jackets it is pretty short in length, which makes it great for a midlayer but a little short on its own. I don't really let that stop me from wearing it because I rock it around town all the time. At 6' 0" 180 the large was a good fit, if maybe just a little small. Overall it is a great jacket, and the polartec is an amazing performance fabric.

These shoes are a pretty hearty. I used them in a plethora of different conditions including stream crossings, bushwhacking, rock-hopping; I even scaled a peak with these guys on! They hold up very well, are really lightweight and are comfortable. My one gripe is that the lugs on the soles don't distribute pressure evenly when what you are walking/running on isn't flat. Where a flatter sole would distribute the pressure of stepping on rocks/stumps/small critters evenly, the lugs on these babys push on the insole at isolated points. It was more of an annoyance than a detriment, but its definitely something to consider.