The resonance does not seem to inhibit air flow as much as was implied in the other review. I'm a patroller at a Colorado resort and I ski in the backcountry 30 to 40 days a year. I have this pack, and mine does resonate a little bit when I breathe through it, however I am still able to breathe. As for the Avalung not allowing enough airflow for the demands of skiing and skinning, this problem is avoided by holding the mouthpiece in your teeth but keeping your mouth open around it. That way if you actually get caught in a slide, all you have to do is close your mouth around it. If you become buried, it may not be as easy to breathe through as a snorkel or a scuba unit, but it is exponentially easier to breathe under the snow with an Avalung in your mouth than it is without one (I've tried). As annoying as it may be to have to hold something in your teeth while you ski, you should get over it because the whole point of the thing is to save your life by allowing you to breath where you otherwise could not. The bottom line is that the built-in Avalung device may not be absolutely perfect, but if you use it properly it is still far better than not having one at all.

The boot skis very well, with excellent power transfer in all directions... however, it doesn't provide much in the way of forward lean in the cuff, and the stiff flex prevents you from driving your knees forward to get into that more athletic stance. The BOA system is a nifty gimmick but is unnecessary. One thing that is useful about it, however, is that the liners have rubberized soles, so the BOA keeps them on your feet for lounging in huts and such. I got my boots heat-molded, but it didn't really help the fit. Granted, I've got huge clunky feet with no arches and I'm used to wearing Scarpa T1 tele boots with Intuition liners, but these particular heat-moldable liners just aren't as good. One other thing I would warn prospective buyers of is that the rubber on the boot soles is rather soft. So far I've bootpacked about 600 vertical on scree and the rubber is already pretty torn up. Fortunately, replacement soles are available.

The 02 performs quite well. I have a pair mounted on the BD Crossbow ski, and they work great, very solid, make you feel like you're in control. The other day, however, I was clipping in to go skiing, and the throw piece on the back (the part that you flip up onto the back of your boot) goes ca-chink! and busts in half. Big pain in the neck. Anyway, I went and got the G3 TourThrow part, and it fits on there just fine, and the binding still works great, plus I have the TourThrow upgrade. Apart from this minor setback, the O2 is rock-solid.

These bindings are pretty lightweight considering how beefy they are. Excellent in and out of bounds, although they tend to release prematurely when bump skiing or when making super hard lean-way-over turns on hardpack.