SamPetri

As a primary backcountry set up, many of my friends ski the 185 cm Armada JJ mounted with Dynafit bindings. It’s a good, light setup for touring because of the JJ’s progressive shape, and tech bindings are a no-brainer for touring. Seeing all these pairs of JJs in the back of my pickup piqued my interest, but I didn’t want to have the same ski as all my friends. I wanted something bigger and better—the 190 cm Armada Magic J.

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

For resort skiing, there is no other boot I would consider wearing. I love the three-piece technology with swappable tongues for different flexes.

I am totally stoked on these Narrow Ass Snowboards. Narrow Ass Snowboards …. It’s like skiing, but fun! Highly recommended.

Tried and true since 2008, The Bellows has proven to be a durable jacket capable of discretely holding at least a six-pack of beer.

I’m not going to lie: I’ve been sporting the same blue, 48-inch rental ski poles that I borrowed and never returned from Wildernest Sports, at the base of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, since the winter of 2006-’07. I’m not the only one – these rental poles are in the hands of almost every skid in the JHMR tram line. But this year, I’m shedding my past, returning my rentals, and dropping in with these Soul Poles – perhaps the most environmentally friendly piece of ski equipment out there. Needless to say, they’re stylish as hell, too.

If you want to get serious about backcountry ski touring, you’re going to need a tech binding. Although Dynafit invented the ultra-light binding style, the company’s patent expired a few years ago. Ever since then, small binding companies have sprouted up to compete. Plum is one of those companies.

There was so much hype around Line’s Mr. Pollard’s Opus ski this past fall. For Eric Pollard to claim that this iteration of his pro model ski is his masterpiece — a ski design that took over 10 years to complete — well, that was saying a lot. Although I’d never skied a pair of Line Skis before, I had to have a pair.

The best part about my Buck Products KnappSack is that there’s almost nothing on it that will break. There are no zippers, snaps or excessive straps. It’s simple. It’s a bag. It has two straps and two pockets. That’s it. How has life gotten so complicated where people feel they need more than this?

F-15 fighter jets, that’s what the Black Diamond Gigawatts feel like when they are strapped to my feet. Maching through the powder, making huge turns, these are the best skis I had the pleasure to ride all season. Seriously, when I look back at the moments that were the best, most of the time these skis were on my feet.