I'm 5'9" and thin. I too had to return my pack for the L/XL as the S/M's 'waist belt' wrapped around my kidneys. While the larger size fits, I would imagine people 6' or taller would not find this park to fit them.

The secondary compartment is nice to keep your shovel and probe and such away from your clothes and lunch, but the internal divider sleeves do not run full-length. As such, your probe and saw rattle off your shovel. VERY annoying. Seems like a massive oversight.

The cinch straps on the outside of the pack are nice, but the RH side buckles are reversed than that of the left - and for absolutely no reason that I can see. In fact, this makes them very difficult to do up. I intend to hit up the sewing machine to correct this.

The hip straps are essentially that - basic straps which seem to only keep the pack from swinging back and forth. I would have preferred they were like that of the Outlaw.

Overall this pack seems to have a bunch of little features, most of which I don't think I'll ever use - including the ski-carry loops (I have touring bindings). Read a few reviews for sizing as well to save yourself the time of returning it.

I loved the concept of a quick-deploying shovel -- imagining myself in an avalanche scenario and not having to stumble to get things together. The problem is that Black Diamond went and put a spring-loaded pin in the upper-handle which locks the blade in the 'compressed' position. To 'deploy' the shovel you have to pinch this button and than with a little bit of wiggling pull/extend the unit. The whole thought of putting the upper pin seems to go directly against the quickness - especially if you're wearing mittens as I do.

Also, as some others have mentioned: there is a considerable amount of play in the shovel. The lower spring-loaded pin is what keeps things secure, but it could do for a second to eliminate the wiggle all together. I'm going to see if I can relocate the upper pin beside the lower thus solving both problems in one solution.