I've taken this out on a number of backcountry day trips so far. I know I've said this about a few other things, but this pack is just about perfect. Let's get the bad out of the way first. The bombastic material on the shovel pocket ripped on day one. I'm thinking of just ignoring it until it gets worse (it hasn't so far so i'm guessing this was an isolated incident). I have no idea how this happened; we were on a 3 mile hike and I had my skis with dynafit bindings strapped on the whole time, so i'm guessing the toe wings just dug through the fabric. Like I said, the whole hasn't worsened and the shovel isn't going to fall out of it, so maybe it's no big deal. Were it not for this, i'd have given it 5 stars. On to the good stuff. 1) The Hinch 2.0 is a vast improvement over the straps and buckles used in last year's models of these packs. It's easier to get on and off, the the straps are more limp making it easier to adjust their length, and finally they don't tend to fall off when you're just walking around without the skis lashed down. 2) The diagonal ski carry on this year's model is slanted at a slightly more up-and-down angle, given you greater balance and helping to the skis from getting tangled on every tree to the left of you. 3) This pack carries better than any pack I've ever owned. I think this is mostly due to the very slim profile they managed to get out of it and the elongated torso. The weight just rides really close to your body and distributes well. 4) The crampon pouch is the perfect size for my BD Sabretooth crampons; I store the crampons in the BD mesh case and then slide the whole thing into the crampon pouch. Have not used it for skins thus far. 5) The interal storage capacity is perfect for a long day trip. Apart from avy tools, I store MH Compressor Pants, MH Compressor Jacket or 800 Fill Down Jacket depending on the weather, extra gloves, water, snacks, my shell jacket and extra layers when not in use. There is a small mesh pocket toward the top for sundries (car keys, wallet, whatever). Nice to have. 6) The goggle pocket has been moved from the front panel to the lid which makes much more sense to me. It's a great place for anything delicate (GoPro accessories etc...). I typically store my goggles on my helmet, in turn strapped to the helmet lash loops on the top-front. This system works just fine. 7) The right hip belt has a pocket just big enough for a point-and-shoot camera, though if it's cold out you'll want that on your body somewhere. 8) The left hip belt has a loop for any kind of rock or ice rack you may be carrying. I use it for an altimeter which has a carabiner loop on it.

Bottom line - this is the one. I'm selling my Off Chute 26, switching to this for virtually all backcountry, and getting a Chugach 12 for resort / sidecountry.

Double ejected off a roller and cartwheeled down the front side (hard-pack) of A-Basin yesterday. I'm now at work writing software, so it seems no serious brain damage was incurred. Guess it worked. I was originally not too hyped about the velcro on the visor, but it allowed the visor to displace during the crash. I think it would have broken other wise.

I've spent a lot of time looking for a ski pack and i believe this one is perfect. It's a great size for inbounds skiing; it's low profile enough that you can ride the lift with it still on if you want. It carries close to the body without bouncing all around while you ride. It's big enough for some extra layers, a nalgene or two, crampons and/or skins and all of the avy tools you'd want. The dedicated pouch is the perfect size. I haven't tried the hydration sleeve yet. The ice loop and bungee are perfect for my BD mountaineering ax. The two loops toward the top are sufficient for strapping a helmet to the outside. The hip belt has small stretchy pocket which is just big enough for my point and shoot camera. All of the toggles and straps and zippers are sized for use with gloves on. The goggle pocket is a nice touch. There is also a small top pocket just big enough for a few clif bars, sunglasses, keys, wallet and a multi-tool or two.

My plan is to use this for spring backcountry skiing, inbounds and side country skiing and on extended back country ski trips where i use a sled and duffel for the approach and would want a small but technical bag for the actual skiing.

I got this duffel because i wanted a rugged and huge bag to carry all of my gear when i go off on hiking skiing or camping trips. Before I had this i typically would pack a backpack with whatever i needed for the trip (ski, hike, camp whatever), another back pack with whatever i might need at the end of the trip (clean clothes for the return to civilization, etc...) and then have a trunk full of loose gear (trekking poles, ice axes, stuff that i was too lazy to figure out how to get back into my backpacking bag...). Basically the weekend begins with a nice neat car and ends with a gear explosion that takes me till Wednesday to sort out. If you have this problem, then you owe it to yourself to pick up something along these lines. Complete mitigation of gear explosion. I'm hoping to use it as airport luggage, but have not tried this yet.

Onto some specifics. I got the largest size. In all honesty it was smaller than I thought it would be. However, i did manage to get virtually all of my gear into it, with some careful arranging. I say virtually, because depending on the specific trip, you won't actually take every item you own, plus you need to account for the items which you'd expect to be wearing/using at any given point in time. That said, with a bit of planning i managed to get a 55L pack, a down jacket, insulated pants, an ice ax, crampons, several pairs of gloves, ski goggles, trekking poles, two sleeping pads, a solo tent, ski boots, hiking boots, socks, thermals, a shell jacket, a fleece, climbing skins and probably a few other things. The point: it seems like anything you'd reasonably want to bring on a given expedition could be stuffed into this thing. The zippers became tough to close at this point, however the interior compression straps remedied this problem.

The components, including the external facing material, the zippers, the bottom, the straps, all seem plenty rugged for my purposes. The top and sides are a rubberized material. The bottom is a slightly rigid plastic. You won't be afraid to drag the whole thing out of the trunk and throw it down right into the airport/ski area/trailhead parking lot.

The handles on the ends come in handy when whole thing has slid to the back of the trunk and you can't reach the straps.

The daisy chains are well placed however they're tight. Don't expect to get anything too large threaded through the loops. Some small bungee cords would probably work, parachute cord definitely, and probably carabiners, but probably not any climbing ropes or anything of that caliber.

The top zippers are pretty tough seeming, however they are definitely not waterproof. The lid does have a large storm flap covering the entire zipper however any amount of wind would eventually force water into the main compartment. If you're hauling it on an expedition or throwing it into the roof basket you should be sure to dry bag anything that really needs to stay dry.

The straps do indeed double as back pack straps, but don't expect it to carry well for any amount of time. Its fine for dragging your stuff from the car to the hotel or across the airport, but the lack of a real frame, waist belt or sternum strap makes the whole thing generally unwieldy. Also on the extra large, i find the straps to be a tiny bit wide for my shoulders. (Sternum strap would have helped here.) I imagine virtually all women would find it too wide. I can't speak to the smaller models. The load lifters which detach from the straps and affix to the top end of the pack really help in converting this to a wearable pack. I mostly leave them in that configuration so it's always ready to go.

Finally i like the bold styling because it stands out in a sea of black luggage and duffels.

Summary: Huge duffel bags are a great thing and this one in particular seems to get the job done well.

Just fyi i got a size large (natural color). They were a tad too big for me (i have small hands) but then i got them wet in the rain and they shrunk just a tiny bit. Fortunately for me, the fit is now near perfect but if you sized them correctly in the first place dont let them get wet!

Just picked up a Medium - i'm 6'1", 175 lbs. and it fits well. Works well as a baselayer - i think you could wear a snug undershirt under it if you really wanted to. As advertised it's really comfy.

To me they just don't seem too breathable - i wear them with smartwool socks all the time and they still make my feet kinda hot and sweaty. Maybe its just me. Aside from that they're great - waterproof, comfy fit, nice soles...

This is a sweet vest for mid-cool days or as a extra layer for really cold days. Of my favorite features is the high neck which basically serves as a neck-warmer under a down jacket or shell jacket. No wind gets down your neck at all. Unfortunately after a while the material around the seam of the neck started to pill. I think this might be due to my beard scratching it up as i move around in it.

As with all gear there will always be trade-offs. You can't have your cake and eat it too, i suppose. However these boots get you pretty darn close. The key is to know what you're planning to do with them and not expect them to serve you outside of that role. If you have it in your head that you're going to put a 5 degree edge bevel on your race skis and carve up the race course then you should just get alpine boots. If you are planning on steering a big powder/backcountry/all-mountain ski down challenging slopes with some surface other than bulletproof ice then this is your boot. I've tried these boots with my GS skis and they're totally ski-able in bounds on groomers but i don't think they would give me the support I'd want in a race course. I've also skied this boots with my AT setup. They give me just enough responsiveness to make hard turns on steeps and they are hands down the most comfortable boot I've ever skied bumps in. As others have said the BOA system and walk switch are great for skinning. The walk system probably hinders the overall stiffness of the boot but i find that the whole thing stiffens up pretty well if you really crank down the boa, buckles and power straps. Then of course you loosen it all up again for the skin, hike or lift ride back up.

In theory the best boot would be one which weighs nothing, has a comfy walk/skin mode, and provides all the stiffness you can handle. This seems pretty impossible to achieve but these boots get you pretty close to it, while making compromise in areas that I personally find agreeable.

UPDATE:
I had planned to ski Tuckerman Ravine over the weekend, however conditions were dangerously icy and avalanche prone so we skied inbounds at Wildcat instead. Snow was firm. I had a pair of GS skis but was too lazy to bring 2 pairs of boots so i rode the factors all day. Once or twice i could swear my knee nearly touched the top of my ski. These are a sweet boot for trees, soft bumps, and backcountry, but not for hard fast groomers - you'll outski them.

I just skied jay peak, vt. for a day. I got these skis for light powder and backcountry conditions. We weren't backcountry per se, but it was coming down hard all day and we were in the trees. I got the 185s. It took me about 1 run to figure out how to work them in tight trees but once i got it down they were dreamy. They do not have the snappiness to rip hard turns (ie no GS turns) but they are sweet for cruising on a good new england snow day. The flex pattern is just great for hammering natural bumps and glades. needless to say they seem to offer good flotation on a NE powder day. we'll see how they hold up in serious pow.

I have not skied them yet, however i'm just noticing that the factory tune is sort of a joke. The edge is pretty dull and the base looks pretty dried out. If your skiing in powder you probably don't care about the edge (i never once tuned my last pair of backcountry skis - i imagine most people probably don't either), however i def want my bases to be in good condition. Granted everything i mention here can be fixed with a couple hours of manual labor but i'd prefer my brand new skis to be ready to hit the slopes without those few hours...

According to weather.com its 16 degrees and feels like 3 in Boston this morning. I walk to work - it takes about 20 minutes - and my hands were outright toasty. This is a good sign. I expect that these gloves will hold up in even colder conditions... We'll see...

Well people seem only to have good things about these boots (and they're all true - i just got a pair and they're awesome) however to be fair i'll point out my few trivial concerns:

1) The toe leather is not as well protected as on some boots. My last pair of boots had the entire toe wrapped in rubber which i failed to appreciate until now - after just one hike the front of my boots are a bit scuffed up. To be fair, i'm the sort of person who abuses all of his gear some how... In any event i think that eventually I'll need to treat the toe with something to keep it from wearing out.
2) The sole is stiff as hell! I think this is a great thing, however if you are traveling terrain which might be described as anything less than rugged its annoying. I wore them to work for 1.5 weeks just to break them in before my first hike and I was having second thoughts about their comfort, however it's simply that they're not street shoes. On the trail they're amazingly comfortable.

Ditto all comments regarding narrow feet - that's what I have and fit nicely.
Also, these are the first pair of boots i've owned that I wasnt thrilled to pull off at the end of the day. I got into them at 5 AM, walked a mile or two to the car, drove for 4 hours, hiked 6 miles, drove back another 4 hours, and walked home again all without once having to adjust them or regret not having brought a second pair of shoes for after the hike (something always did before I got these).

Finally, I cant' speak to their breath-ability since it was between 20 and 45 degrees F for my first hike in these, however they are both warm and waterproof. They kept my feet comfortable for the whole trail which was a mix of mud, snow and water ice.

Update:

I just went for a hike in 60-70F weather and i did not find them too warm even with a heavy mountaineering sock under them. (Just to give some context, I think that 60F is hot.)

I did discover how to make them leak, unfortunately. First of all, I should not have been doing what I was doing with these boots. In any event, climbed up a 1200 foot 45 degree snow filled chute with no crampons and I had to kick steps into the snow pretty much the entire way. There's no rand on the toe, so the leather on the toe got beat to hell and eventually water got through at the toe. Im not sure of the leather soaked through of the seam with the sole leaked. In any event, now i need to put an hour or so of Nikwax and seam sealer work into them.

They're very comfy and not overkill for those days when you need a glove but not a full blown storm gauntlet. As advertised on the packaging, they are good for temps between 20 and 30. I think if you were working pretty hard they'd be fine as low as 5 or 10 but for more sedentary activity they'd be too cold. I got them with the intent of using them as my mid to lightweight glove and carrying a very heavy pair for truly cold conditions. I think they will serve in this role well. Allegedly the leather is machine washable. Have yet to test this. They are supposed to be lined with some water proof membrane. I did not get the chance to observe their water resistance.Update:They are def 100% waterproof. I was hiking a very steep trail in NH (Flume Slide trail) and it was covered in snow and water ice. I was on my hands quite a bit and they did not soak through.However, the temps were hovering in the low 20s and eventually i found them to be too warm and they got all sweaty. This was after I had finished the steep portion and was no longer handling snow or ice.So conclusion - waterproof but not very breathable.Also, they took some time to dry out. I did nothing really to actively dry them; had i been on an overnight i probably could have dried them just by sleeping with them or something like that.Also the meta data given at the side is incorrect, there is no removable liner. I'm looking at mine right now - the whole thing is stitched in.

Update:
I'm finding the finish on the leather to have a few very minor scuffs and scrapes. I've been using them for hiking, skiing, the walk to work, and a bit of odd chores. I really don't mind if they end up getting beat up a bit as long as they dont loose their waterproofing, however the fact that they've sustained a few blemishes so soon is a bit worrisome.

Really nice jacket.

Fit: I'm 175 lbs, 6'1" and the fit is perfect.

Warmth: It seems plenty warm but I wont really know till the winter. I recently spent a few nights at about 4000' so it was pretty chilly (40s) and this jacket kept me plenty warm with only a t-shirt on underneath. I was a bit sunburned and exhausted (thus unable to properly warm myself) and this jacket really made the difference between a lousy evening and a comfortable one.

Packability: It comes with a stuff sack - once packed into said sack its about as tall as a nalgene and about twice the diameter. With a compression sack im sure you could do better. It does not seem that the stuff sack is at all water shedding so that needs to be dealt with by the user.

Other stuff: The materials probably would shed light drizzle but would not likely hold up to a down pour. I know this jacket is not technically a down-sweater but I'm planning to use it as such and I think it will prove to be very versatile as both a standalone and a layer.

I just got a chance to try these out - they were overall really nice. As usual pros and cons exist...pros:-grip is very comfy-straps are the most ergonomic straps of any hand held equipment ive ever used (lots of ski poles traverse poles, ice axes and so on...)-markings on the shaft allow you to quickly adjust them to your known preferred length-the tips actually provide GREAT purchase even on the granite that permeates the white mountains! i could hardly believe it but where my boots slip these things can be relied upon for a great amount of weight and balance-comes with interchangeable powder basketscons:-while comfy, the padded straps did cause my hands to sweat a bit more than i would have preferred. i sweat a lot other may not experience this - it was only about 60 the day i used them-the obvious trade off with trekking poles is the use of your hands - certain terrain mandates that you stow them or something so that you can scramble uphilloverall good purchase.

POST-HOC UPDATE:

-After a good 60 miles of usage one of the seams on the padded straps started to come undone. I imagine this is a defect and wont happen again once i get them replaced. Furthermore it did not really impede my usage of them at all, its just irritating that new gear has something wrong with it.-On a really long hike after a lot of downhill your wrists start to get tired - i have small weak wrists though so this may not be true for everyone.-I just finished a hike that had a combined 20ish miles worth of scree rock fields - trekking poles are indispensible in such terrain.

More Updates:

My replacement pair of these has yet to experience the trouble i had where the seam on the wrist strap came apart. I've got one day resort skiing, one day back country skiing and hikes on them now - so comparable to the original pair i had. Must have been a defective pair - these ones are fine.

More:

I was hiking in the Tuckerman Ravine and postholed through the snow - one of them bent beyond repair. I managed to straighten it enough so that you could continue to hike with it but you can no longer extend and retract the sections. I think i need to replace the two bottom sections. Also the wrist straps started the disintegrate again. This is after less than one year of usage - including a number of hikes and a bunch of skiing.

I've used this thing a number of times. Some times it works and other times not so much... I think that basically it boils down to a number of factors, some of which may be out of your control. If you can't arrange it in such a way that no water could possibly get, then it wont work. This seems obvious, but imagine real-world conditions: a bunch of sleeping apparatus, some nalgene bottles, maybe some trekking poles or other technical paraphernalia attached to the outside of your very full pack. There are bound to be a few odd bulges that pull the elastic edges away from the body of the pack creating the potential for water to get in. Now imagine that you are up on a ridge in wind and rain - water is flying around practically horizontal...some parts of the pack are bound to get wet despite your rain cover. You basically need to be very careful with the arrangement of your pack and probably use a few dry-bags in additional for your critical items like sleeping bag and extra clothes.

I will say that the form factor, integrated stuff sack and adjustable elastic + velcro fastening system leave very little to be desired, but unless you get the rest of it just right, you'll get your stuff wet.

Also this will be obvious to those of you that use tents but if you get it wet and leave it in the stuff sack for any duration it will be mildew on it - mildew causes the urethane to de-laminate thus totally ruining the thing (I learned the hard way...)

This is a great buy for anyone getting into winter hiking / ski mountaineering. I use this axe primarily while climbing up Tuckerman Ravine in NH. It really gives you great confidence as your clambering up a slope so steep that your knees dig into the snow in front of you. I've seen many people fall the whole way down various aspects of the headwall after loosing their footing and I have to say that the only times I was ever concerned loosing my footing was when I hadn't yet pulled out the ice ax. It really gives you a great deal of extra balance and leverage on steep and slick ascents. You can find this one on sale relatively often as well. I got mine form REI for about 60 bucks and I've seen it at EMS and backcountry.com for similar prices.

These are great but they do have some ups and downs. I've had two pairs of these but Im considering moving to the Fugitive at some point for a variety of reasons. In any case:

Pros:
I find them to be among the most comfy boots available. This of course is subjective. Not a Vibram outsole, however they really do cling to all but the steepest and slickest of surfaces. They are waterproof. They are warm enough for light winter use. I go hiking in spring snow all the time in these and I use them for hanging around camp after a day of skiing.

Cons:
After a while of heavy use they need to be treated to restore the waterproofing. I think that the underlying trouble is that the GoreTex eventually broke down - but this was after some serious abuse. I also find that the soles wear down a bit quicker than I wish. This I think is due to the relatively soft rubber used (which is what I suspect gives them some great grip).

More Cons:
The sole wearing down is not an irreversible problem; they could be resoled by a competent cobbler, or maybe even Asolo. The real problem i'm discovering is that shortly after the sole wears down the leather uppers start to deteriorate. They are still really comfortable, however they dont provide quite as much support as they used to and various seems are starting to pull apart at obvious points of stress. This particular pair has about 1000 miles on them - split between the trail and the street.

Pros:
Cheap, easy to use, 3/4 basket is sweet, grip is very comfy, straps are really nice.

Cons:
Flimsy, constantly feel like I'm about to snap mine in half on steep ascents where my skins are beginning to slip or where I need extra balance. One of my friends bent his simply pole planting down a steep slope. I'm 6'1" and occasionally I wish that they were a bit longer - they feel even flimsier when they are extended all the way. Finally, when I get to a really steep slope I tend to switch from my poles to my mountaineering ice axe and stash the poles on my pack. These poles are slightly unwieldy to carry on a pack since they do not collapse as much as 3 segment types - they end up sticking way up in the air and knock around on my skis... Not the end of the world clearly, but worth mention.

Its the best jacket I've ever owned. Waterproof, windproof breathable; all the stuff they claim it to be are absolutely true. I got it late last winter for ski touring, resort skiing and hiking and i'm still wearing it now that its June. If you get warm easily as I do, you *will* sweat a bit under it (though markedly less so than you would with any lesser product), but thats what the pit vents are for. Also as you move around the breathability increases quite a bit. Unless it's really warm out and your standing still it should be fine. The only thing that actually irritates me about this jacket are the pit vents - I have a tough time opening them while im wearing the jacket. I've found this to be true for every jacket i've ever owned so I guess it's not too big of a deal. On the other hand, they provide 2 zippers per vent so you can open from either end and adjust the location of the aperture.

UPDATE:

Upon further consideration this is not really windproof. I guess this makes sense as it would not be breathable if it were windproof. I think the expectation is that if it really is windy and cool then you are layered up underneath of it (softshell or maybe a few shirts of varying weight). Anyone else concur with that assessment?

excellent fit for general mountaineering axes...cool looking as well.

gets the job done, i suppose, but i cant figure out how your supposed to tie it down once placed over the spike. i usually try to loop it through the little aperture in the spike itself, but this only works on some axes. i could swear that the thing snagged on a branch once while i was skiing and it fell off... imo the bungie needs to be long enough to loop over the head of the axe.

I have last years version but form what i can tell nothing has changed. the only real drawback here is the lack of a free-standing architecture - this makes pitching on a platform a pain in the neck but nothing some parachute cord and nearby trees cant solve. while not being especially light, it takes up very little room, so its great for solo trips where you want more than just a bivy.

the asymmetric design has a ton going for it! the internal nook leaves all the room that you need for some night time reading, a head lamp, toiletries and so on. the vestibule is just the right size for a pack and boots. some have complained that it is cramped in side, though i find it to be plenty spacious. i'm 6'1" and 175lbs, so not especially large but have found my self more than comfortable in it.

the stakes that it came with were the worst stakes ive ever seen, two of them bent immediately. the bottom of the barrel stakes that you can get in bins at REI are of greater quality. its non-freestanding design also requires a good number of them. not really a big deal imo thought minimalists may be irked.

this thing is extremely hearty! as a result of poor planning and waning daylight, i ended up pitching the thing at over 5000 feet on the presidential ridge of the white mountains. i tried to get in the lee of the terrain as best as possible, but i still got hammered with 50mph winds all night long. when i got up the next day you could have bounced a quarter off the fly. im considering using it as a winter tent in conjunction with a bivy sack since it seems pretty bombproof.

Update: A friend and I went camping over the 4th of July. The weather was rotten; punctuated by thunder, lightning driving rain and hail. We both have Sprites. I remained very comfortable all night long while my friend wound up soaked as condensation poured in on him all night. I theorize that one of two things happened to him: A) his whole fly is defective and useless, or B) he somehow didn't manage to get the fly taught enough to keep it off of the tent body. I suspect the 2nd option is the most likely. In my opinion getting both the tent body and the footprint if present as taught as possible before attempting to put the fly up is critical to avoiding this problem. Further compounding the issue is the fact that he used the 2007 model tent body and fly with a 2008 model footprint. Both the footprint and the tent body have the hardware required to pitch the fly, however part of me wonders if the 2008 footprint is not somehow just different enough to prevent the fly from sitting tightly over the hoops thus preventing condenstation. At this time, this is the only explanation I can think of given our otherwise identical equipment.

the footprint is a really sweet addition to the sprite due to the pitchlight feature. unfortunately the footprint adds a bit of weight to the whole tent, really elevating the whole package out of the lightweight solo category. if you don't mind carrying the extra weight for a few extra perks its worth it. plus i enjoy having an extra layer of protection between my dead weight, the $150 tent and the ground.

i finally got a chance to try it out in the pitchlight configuration. its a really cool idea, however it takes a bit of fiddling around to get it set up since the tent body is not there to give any support to the fly. i imagine it would be tricky tho not impossible in wind. keep in mind that since its a solo tent you may not always have a second set of hands available to help you. IMO you really need to have the ground sheet guyed out good and taught before attempting to pitch the fly and poles. additionally since its not a free standing tent you need to be especially prepared to deal with sand, snow or other soft surfaces where you may need to prepare dead man anchors or similar apparatus.

Update: the newest version of the footprint is slightly different than the previous models so be care if you got the tent a year or two ago and are just not looking for a footprint. It seems like it should work but i'm not sure.

i just mounted these on my k2 shuksan at skis. so far so good. theres not discernible difference between these and a true alpine binding. i only weigh 175 but for some reason popped out of them with the din at 10 so i bumped them up to 12. so far so good. the overall construction of the thing seems totally bombproof. i've broke a bunch of pairs of bindings but these are holding up so far.

the heel release is a bit clunky to use. there are two climbing positions however the low angle one is so low that i never user it. i might have preferred a higher angle, however thats getting into the territory where you skins will no longer adhere to the show, i think.

they're the the heaviest thing on the market, but it hasn't stopped me from hauling like 50 pounds uphill, and my k2s are light enough that it hasn't been a problem yet. i haven't done any lengthy multi day tours yet, so take that with a grain of salt.

I got these and mounted a pair of marker duke AT bindings. i got these for skiing the white mountains back country and a bit of in bounds skiing as well. they are fully capable of plowing through all of the shenanigan snowpack we have in tuckerman ravine at half decent speed. having said that, they are plenty forgiving - the tips absorb most of the sloppy conditions we've had recently. on the other hand i'm able to lay 'em over almost as hard as i do my fischer gs ski without the tails fishing out on me. i haven't skiied them in powder yet so i cant comment on that, but i imagine they get the job done. they ski tight bumps just fine, and can really rip on hardpack. basically it does everything i would want it to do.UPDATE:They broke. I have no idea how this happened, but I was riding the lift one day and my friend pointed out that one of the skis was bent - sure enough i now have one rockered ski. The camber is totally gone from one ski. Again I have no idea how this happened - it may be from me beating the hell out of them but it's been less than one year since i purchased them. I skied them less than 20 days. They were great until now - one ski doesnt really make contact with the ground throughout the entire tip portion of the ski. Bummer. Not so great for east coast hard pack. I was asking around and a lot of friends mentioned the K2s have a problem with de-lamination after a certain amount of abuse so it may be the case that some internal part the sandwich is just sheered apart...

i got this so i could go on winter overnights with my new AT gear. it fits a massive amount of stuff into it! i was able to get a tarp, my bivy, my 15 degree down bag, a fleece sleeping bag liner, some rope, 3 days of food, a down jacket, extra layers, extra gloves, hats, extra goggles, a cookset and ultralight gas stove plus two cans of isopro, climbing skins and two nalgenes into the thing. i strapped my mattress to the compression straps - this was a bit tight but worked.

the list of features is what sold me, after having chosen the size of bag i was looking for. great suspension compared to my old technical day bag. heavy duty, double layered 2 inch webbing toward the bottom serve as a burly ski carrier for A or H frame arrangement. A-framing with the lid on and the pack fully loaded requires some fiddling around to get it right, and H-framing it is prone to loosening up over time. it has a rope stowage strap just under the lid for climbers. the helmet carrier is meant for rock climbing helmets but im able to stuff my ski helmet into it if i fold down the ear flaps. with a race helmet, it might be a tight squeeze. crampon pouch is sweet, as are the pick pockets. i wish it had a shovel pouch of some sort as well as place to stash a probe, but i guess you cant win em all.

this pack does a spectacular job paring down from an overnight back to a technical ascent bag. it comes with an ultralight hipbelt which you can use in place of the molded hipbelt. the lid is easily removable and facilitates A-framing your skis. the compression straps and dual drawstrings at the top allow you to shrink the thing down to the size of a day back for the final push up your ski line.

the sides of the bag have already received a good scuffing from my ski edges, and im afraid that eventually they'll need some patching. luckily my mom and sister are pretty good seamstresses. no other downsides come to mind.