Cecilia M

I run ~5ks in innov-8s. I don't have any pain or problems with the minimalist bottom package. I love the bright colors. I think it makes you run faster. They are the lightest shoes i have run in, while still being well put together (great toe cap).

The Havocs are my go to shoe for hiking, approach, and general crappy weather time shoe. The Havoc is super supportive and keeps my feet dry at all times. The material color is brighter than you would think, but i like that. They clean easily after a weekend of muddy terrain too.

These boots are extremely comfortable and warm. Many stylish winter boots are made only for women with stick legs, and these are not. My "athletic calves" fit great in these. The side zippers are beefy enough. These boots work equally well with skirts or jeans.

These boots took 2+ lbs off of my husband's backcountry set up. You might think that because they're light, the construction might be weak or the boots would not be warm enough. Actually, ThirtyTwo did a really good job; they are warm and very well made. Also, these are not floppy boots; they're super supportive.

Perfect footwear to bring on yurt trips. When you need to take your ski or snowboard boots off after a day in the backcountry, slip these bad boys on. My husband took them on a recent yurt trip and wore them to walk to the outhouse, split wood, and do some target practice. The booties kept him warm and dry.

I bought these snowpants for my husband. He loves that they are warm on cold Brighton nights yet have lots of zipper ventilation for sunny backcountry days.

This Ortovox pack has a TON of pockets and places to put your gear. i haven't figured out the optimal way to pack it yet since the biggest compartment is accessed via the inside (faces your back) rather than the outside. I have the largest BD shovel and i have to take the handle all the way off to fit it in the pack, but if your shovel is normal backcountry shovel sized, you should not have a problem. It was not intuitive how to strap on a snowboard, but this pack comes with lots of straps and a handy helmet holdernet. The pack is made of heavy duty material. i am not worried about snagging it on anything. The fit is great. Well constructed.

Bought these clogs for my Dad's girlfriend. She loves 'em. She stands all day at work and has been able to use these cute shoes without any foot fatigue.

The Teva Forges are rugged, sturdy, and waterproof. The colors are bold. I have been really happy wearing these around the Wasatch - no rolling ankles here. They feel like they have a more specific women's fit than other hiking shoes i have tried in that they are not for uber wide feet. My feet border on wide and these are just perfectly wide enough. Most ladies will love that.

I bought these pants for my husband to wear to work. The fabric is super soft. Keep the zip off pants for the trails and wear these babies down town.

Simple to set up, strong, and keeps you pants in place.
Infinitely adjustable so whether you are in Chicago all winter eating deep dish pizza or out on the trails running all summer, this belt will fit.

This is the 2nd pair of Salomon bindings i've purchased, and i have not been disappointed. They are easy to set up and fast to cinch down on the mountain. The padding is super comfortable. I am a fan of the toe cover/strap style.

I got these for my S.O. Here is what he had to say: Best bindings I've used in the last 10 years. Solid no-slip strap construction. The toe strap is a webbed design that "caps" the toe of your boot. The fact that you can canter the foot bed is huge. The stress that my wider stance puts on my knees is completely alleviated by the fact that i can tilt the foot beds. Super sweet setup that compliments my Sick Stick perfectly.

I got this board for my S.O. Here is what he had to say: It is hard for me to say anything bad about this board. 160cm version is effectively the same length as my old 155cm board due to the significant lift on the nose/tail. It floats the Utah pow as if it were a 180cm, but spins effortlessly like a mid-150. Stomp landings switch in any conditions with this twin tip. The best part is this board excels in all formats regardless if its a day of high speed groomers, sessioning a bit of park or boosting freestyle off your snowmobile in the backcountry. ALL-mountain for sure!

Definitely my favorite biner out there for the traditional belay devices (not for gri-gri).
The fatter thickness/surface area aids in unbinding belays, smooth rappels and a long life. Also find the offset gate axle handy which allows gate to open wide and swallow a ton of anchor points simultaneously. Best biner for its designed purpose.

I gave these as a Christmas present to a girlfriend who loves KEENs. She loves these Coronados too and says that they are stylish with extreme comfort. They ran true to size. No fit issues at all.

These are super cute heeled sandals, but i couldn't use them. The straps were too tight over my foot. I would recommend these for low-volume foot types.

I bought this bag for backpacking in the Andes. It compresses to a portable package and is super soft inside. It's my first women's specific bag, and i'm stoked on that. No more wasted air at the bottom of the bag for us shorties. It's been soft and cozy from the start!

The binding was easy to set up to conform to my boot. Easy to quickly get out of. Not really a big fan of the stretchy convertible toe strap as I thought it did better as a toe strap than fitting over the boot. The ratchets are nice and long for leverage but after the first day of use I was already chewing up the teeth on the straps. Not happy about that at all. Perhaps if the tolerances were a little tighter between the strap and the ratchet this would not happen. All in all mixed feelings with this binding.

This shirt is nice and soft and good for mid temps. I am 6'4" 200lbs and have an XL but should have gone with the large. Went with the XL for the longer sleeves which fit great but the rest is just a tad baggy. All in all I will be getting a lot of use out of it.

Comfortable and stiff are the words I would use to describe this boot. They quickly mold to your feet making the dreaded new boot break in period a non issue. Double boa is the way to go allowing for a precise fit. Much better than the single boa I had on my last pair. Inner liner is easy to adjust and the overall quality of the boot is excellent. I like! What more can I say?

I was a reluctant helmet wearer, but this Prima has changed my mind. The helmet is snuggly soft inside and does not feel awkward or heavy. It is no big deal to have it on to protect the noggin while shredding.

This hoody is soft,cozy, and warm. I love the bright red. I would warn that it is already tightening up a little because of the dryer, so i would drip dry it. I would only wear this on brisk day rides.

Love the bright colors and long sleeves. This shirt is really comfortable. and easy for casual riding on COOL days. This shirt was thicker/warmer than I expected, but I still like it a lot.

This pack is super comfortable! This pack stashes the laptop separately and stores TONS more gear than i expected it would. This pack has saved my back from commuterbag back pain.

I bought this pack for the Avalung and because I'm a gear nerd. I bought it without much consideration for any other feature. Fortunately, Black Diamond did take the time to think this pack through thoroughly so that I didn't have to. You're probably already familiar with the Avalung- you screw up big time and get buried, you get to breath clean oxygen and hang out while your buddies dig out your lame ass. I always ride with a pack in the back country so it seemed appropriate to purchase a pack with the Avalung built in. One of my favorite features of this pack is that your avalanche gear stores in a separate compartment from everything else. Open one zipper and you have instant, organized access to your shovel, probe, saw, and whatever else you hauled up the hill to get ya out of trouble. I can see this as being a real time saver in an emergency. The main compartment has plenty of room to haul a day's worth of gear and can be accessed from from the back panel as well which is nice if you have things strapped to the back that you don't want to disrupt. My only gripe with this pack is that the only option for carrying your board is vertical. There are times when the horizontal carry method works much better, like when you're on a snowmobile. It's a minor complaint though and overall the pack is very comfortable and well thought out.

First impressions of this board is that it is very well made. The wood grain top sheet under a layer of ptex looks very high end. Combine this with the fact that Venture builds its boards in an eco friendly facility using sustainably harvested wood, and the board looks like a winner right out of the box. I chose this particular board because I wanted a stiffer, all-mountain flex pattern that would float well in pow and still allow for spins. It's not a board for the deepest days, but it handles a foot of fresh with no issues. When things start to get a bit tracked out, this board becomes a real weapon. It excels at dropping a sketchy line through chop at full speed, and pushing into the untracked fresh that no one else can reach. Once you get to the goods, it spins as well as park boards and has enough tail to ride out switch, even in the deep stuff. I expect this to be my go-to board for all-moutain shred sessions for some time to come.

For the price its hard to beat! It has one of the most important attributes of a good rope: a low impact force (8kn). I'm using it as a my ice climbing line and it appears to be another long lasting rope on par with all of my previous Beals.

Light weight, yet not so small that its hard to handle. And unlike many other light weight/small biners it still has a rope friendly diameter. 8+ KN open gate strength.
No wonder BD had a huge shortage on this biner last spring and summer.
Definitely a huge fan.

This is the best bike rack we've had. It is SO EASY to get the bikes on and off the racks. You don't need super human strength or a PhD in rack assembly to put it together or use it.

I love these shoes! The inside lining is soft and cozy. The Mountain sneaker is the right combo of cushy and supportive. I love the bright color too.

I loved the way these shoes looked. I love the lacing system. They were super sturdy. Unfortunately I felt that they ran narrow and it was way too uncomfortable to keep. These are maybe not the best for wider feet.

I really like that this tank is long(no ride up) but still has a totally feminine cut and open back. It's girly and still supportive for exercise. It's great to wear climbing- looks sexy and provides freedom of movement and support.

The arch support is in the right place and the shoes are fantastic for power walking. The Keens float in water is great fr boating/sailing. The only down side is that toe area discolors toe nail or socks for the first few wearings.

Keens are super durable. The string for tightening works well and does not make me feel like I need to be careful not to break it. I have talked with people who I see wearing Keens and am amazed when I hear the Keens they are wearing are over a year old.They look like new.

So far the Arroyos have been very comfortable in all kinds of terrain. I've worn them in the water and on the street. At the beginning, they were coloring my toes black, but not anymore. They do make my feet a little bit smelly, but maybe i'm not used to going sockless.

I love drinking nuun because it's not nearly as sick sweet as Gatorade. It's a tad bubbly to be good for the stomach too. It travels so well in it's small canister too!

These are the best "no bonk" gels around. I think they tast better than the Cliff Shots too - not so thick.

I have to wear some kind of glasses when mountain biking or jogging because any kind of breeze really irritates my contacts. I had seen other women wearing these mountain biking and thought they looked really cool, so i bought a pair. They are excellent! They look hot and it's easy to just switch the lenses depending on the sun or shade situation.

This pack has just the right amount of features for my basic trail hikes all the way up to full day technical outings. I really like the rear external pouch for quick stuffing access of my rain gear and hip pockets for bars and gel energy stashes.

Great wicking shirt that i love using for backpacking and winter skiing. Doesn't get stinky and UPF 50 is a big plus for me.

Awesome shirt! I prefer the long-sleeve, high neck, zip-tees all summer long even
in the hotest conditions. This shirt wicks well and provides a ton of sun protection.

I bought this shirt for my husband to use climbing. He wears it all the time now. You want to cut back on sun exposure, but it's hard to find long sleeve shirts that you can wear in warmer weather. This is perfect.

This is the 3rd The North Face Duffel bag I have purchased. They are awesome! You can easily spot them in baggage claim. The contents are protected from thieves when you wear it like a backpack on your way to the hostel abroad. They can take plenty of abuse.

This is the 2nd Dakine snowboard bag I have purchased. There is plenty of room for your snow clothes in there, and this bag holds up.

The Ride EX binding has started out great this season. I bought these for my husband, and he is really happy with them so far. Lots of support.

The Boa lacing system is so cool and easy to do with bulky gloves on. These boots are performing well so far this season.

This shoe rocks it for precision trad and sport. It worked great for a long alpine day as well.

Some other brands of dehydrated backpacking meals have given my friends and I minor intestinal distress. Not so with Alpine Aire. This Tamale Pie was tasty and didn't have us running out of the tent for fresh air during late night card games.

I love the happy colors of this bag! I love the pockets (cell phone, water bottle, etc). The only thing i would change is that the plastic strap holders squeak.