I've got the Matt Black Bern Watts with the Knit liner. The liner includes the audio system... which they may have excluded on later models as it seems to break with in the first few days of use!

Aside form the audio system, the helmet is perfect for me! There are loads of vents which allow me to vent all the heat I generate digging myself out of snow drifts. The knit liner is very comfy and really keeps the back of my neck warm. The helmet is also surprisingly light when compared to some others.

My only complaints with the helmet is with the audio system.. only one of the speakers in the knit liner works and the speakers rub my ears after a few hours of use. I've tried numerous times to get through to Bern customer support to get this issue sorted but I've not had any response.

If I had the choice to have this helmet with or without the audio system, I would choose to leave it out! I have my iPod head phones after all :)

I've been sporting the Burton ION's now for the last 3 season. They are an excellent fit and I've yet to find another pair of boots to rival them for fit and comfort.

My original pair were the regular lace-up's and I never had any problems with them. They just got worn out!
My 2nd pair sported the Speed Zone lacing system which is quicker, and much better at distributing pressure evenly across the boot. The only downside was that the early boots suffered from a lot of problems with the plastic guide for the lace being pulled out of the boot when you pull the lace system. Burton replaced the boots without any fuss and the 2nd pair have lasted out 12 weeks now!

The only other issue I have is that over the 12 weeks the boots have really softened up... this is not a problem as long as you keep hold of the bones that slide into the tongues of the boot

I would have give the Burton ION's only 3 stars, but the excellent warranty pushes to the boots to "pretty cool" - 4 stars

In the UK this gear would have set me back around $500. Not the kind of purchase I usually make whilst on holiday at Disney, Florida... but hey, it was worth it! I purchased this together with the Black Diamond Covert with Avalung pack and all together it makes an excellent package! Super light and snugly stored away on ya back!

Nice pack! Fits snugly and has enough space for my daily junk (left over breakfast posing as lunch, fleece, beer tokens etc) even after my probe and shovel are stowed away. I love the housing in the right hand shoulder strap for the hydration tube.. some great forward thinking form BD! Just need a thermal pocket for ya MP3 player in the belt strap and BINGO!

My only gripe, as a snowboarder, is that there are way too many dangling bits! Being as this pack will be used (by me) on the lifts a fair amount, I am always conscious that one of the loose straps may get caught up in the chair and leave me hanging! I note that the 2 bottom loops can be partially pulled into the avalanche equipment section.. but they are not completely flush with the packs exterior. You are however, able to remove the 2 bungee things from either side, which is nice. Now I just need some kind of loose-end tidy to keep the lengths from the side fasteners blowing around in the wind!

Other than the above niggling problems I think this is a great pack and I can't wait to put it to some good use (avalung excluded!).

I went to the Jamie Lynn Phoenix 154 from the Youth in Asia 152.
My aim was to give me as much flexibility in the park and with flat tricks as the Youth in Asia offered but with the ability to ride powder and cut through ice with the BTX system. Best of both world right?

I've rated the following out of 10
On Piste - 7 - Solid feel but slow moving
Powder - 5 - OK if you are moving with speed but you still have to work hard to keep afloat (the Banana shape is supposed to help out here)
Jibbing - 3 - solid enough for rails but I found the board too stiff to work flat tricks
Park - 6 - No metal edge on tip and tail makes for some safe rail antics and the stiffness of the board makes for some solid landings/take off's
Over-all Feel - 7

Like I say, my aim was to get a board that had the flex and pop to get some great jibbing but also allowed me to hit the rest of the mountain without having to head home and dig out a board for shredding and surfing the powder. Unfortunately this board falls somewhere in the middle of all that and fails to do anything particularly well. It's also worth noting that this board is fairly heavy when compared to other similar boards from Burton etc.

If I were to buy this board again I would go for the larger 157 or even the 160 and use it solely for riding the groomers, piste and powder :)