Brian A

When i received these gloves, I was quite pleased with the initial quality. The gloves felt great, looked great, and worked pretty well for a short period of time. I will say that my hands were a little cold under 25 degrees or so, but I always have cold hands.

My real issue is the quality. Although I've had these gloves for a couple of years, I generally only get to take one trip a year, so there have only been ~10 days skiing with these gloves and the stitching is coming appart in the fingers. For such a pricey glove, I really expected more. Maybe Hestra has improved the quality since I bought the gloves and I hope they have, but from now on I'll play it safe and by a different brand. I bought a pair of OR mitts and they appear to be bombproof for much less money.

Spend your hard earned dollars on something else.

I wear these fleece all the time. I find it to be both warm and stylish and the sleeves are long enough in an XL to fit my 6'4" frame. As with all arc'teryx stuff, you are going to have to pay the price for it. I bought mine on sale (older version) from SAC about a year ago and its still working great.

These are pretty good corduroy cutters. If you are looking for a ski to ride the whole mountain this probably isn't it. This ski is best suited for high speed groomers. I have found them to work pretty well in the bumps as well once everything gets packed down. Taking this ski into the deep stuff will give you trouble because of its 74 mm midsection. On groomers at really high speed I have noticed some front end chatter that I hope they have fixed with this years edition. Also, on mine, the mounting system doesn't feel as solid as I'd like it. There is a little play between the binding and the ski which is probably nearly unavoidable for a ski with an integrated binding - i certainly won't but another ski that comes with an integrated binding system.

Bottom line, these skis are blazing fast on groomed runs, but if you looking to do anything else, there is probably a better ski out there.

The best base layer out there. I wear mine all the time - skiing, hiking, peak bagging, at home watching tv. You won't be disappointed. Although I do with Patagonia made a long size to fit my large frame better.

I like the color and style of this beanie a lot. It seems to cut the wind pretty well, and the fleece ear lining keeps your ears warm. There is one drawback that I've found: the hat is pretty big. I find that I have extra room at the top of the hat while wearing it. If I pull it all the way down so that there is no extra room at the top, the bottom ends up covering my eye. This would probably be great for someone with huge hair. In the next version of this hat, i think it sould be cut a little shorter.