Snowboard bindings have come a long way from pieces of plastic and EVA foam hastily slapped together. With bindings being better than ever it was hard to pick our favorites, but these five rode on a level above the rest.

If you’d rather spend time tweeting about first chair in the lift line, this might not be your boot, but if you prefer to take your time for the perfect fit, these are for you. I found this to be a non-issue—after about 10 wears your lacing skills get pretty speedy.

The Voyager is Zeal’s rimless lens to frame interface goggle meant for the ultimate peripheral vision and the quick exchange of lenses.

I was drooling over those boots after just a few hours in them. Last week, I caught up with Jonathan Fischbein, a Director of Development at DC Shoes.

The beer that delivers “refreshment as cold as the Rockies” is offering a bit more this spring to fans of snow-topped mountains. The K2/Coors Light cold-activated skis and K2/Coors Banquet cold-activated snowboard feature mountain imagery that turns blue at the right temperature, a sign that it’s time to hit the slopes.

Big, red and flashy, I feel like Cyclops from the X-Men when I’m wearing my Smith I/OX goggles.

Behold, the Cobra, the newest inception from Never Summer Industries. Hailed as their most versatile, highest performing all mountain slayer, I was excited to see for myself how this stick would handle. Could it charm this picky shred enthusiast? Turns out, yes, and then some!

After three years of backcountry development and testing, Jones Snowboards unleashed their latest splitboard innovation - the Ultracraft.

Swany Toaster Softy Mittens are made to wear while skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and during any other winter activity. Let these Swany Toaster Softy Mittens keep you warm and toasty wherever you go.

When it comes to outerwear, looking good is only the beginning. The true value of jackets and pants lie within their ability to not only keep us warm and dry, but to actually progress our riding and enhance our experiences. 2012 was particularly generous in offering us a sweet stash of outerwear options that refuse to fail when fueling our passions. Now that we have stomped our landing in 2013, it is worth taking a look back at some of the jackets and pants that helped get us here, and promise to continue pushing us further.