Making the Most of Bad Conditions

I peek out of my tent, the hood of my sleeping bag cinched tightly around my face. Water drips off the nylon ceiling and occasionally catches the tip of my nose or an exposed cheek. My fault for being too lazy to put on a rainfly. Outside, a dense fog wraps the central California coastline. The sun won’t rise for another hour, and the predawn light barely penetrates the veil of water droplets. But, to hell with it, I’m already awake. And we chanted “surf trip” for the whole 12-hour drive here, I’m bound by duty to get out.
I force my way out of my soggy sleeping situation and cram myself into a wetsuit, which I’d left out to dry on a nearby picnic table. Thanks to that pesky fog, it’s equally soggy. And cold.
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Gear
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How the 2027 Gear Guide sausage gets made 🌭
A peek into Gear Test Week. Wherever your home mountain lies, we’re of the firm belief that the season is what you make of it. Having the right gear certainly helps, too. That’s why the 2027 Gear Guide is designed to be the best possible resource for skiers and riders looking to build, expand or…
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The 2026 Dynafit Mezzalama: Reviewed
The updated Dynafit Mezzalama is a comfy, full-featured lightweight boot that speeds up the skintrack and cranks turns after transitions.
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Gearbox: 2026 Goggles
The best ski goggles of 2026, per our editors and testers.
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Gearbox: 2026 Helmets
The editors review a range of helmets on the market. Find the right one for your head and your objective.
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Gearbox: 2026 Packs
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2026 Editors’ Choice Apparel Reviews
Our 2026 Editors’ Choice apparel reviews span the gamut, from kits and hardshells to puffies, midlayers and baselayers.
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2026 Editors’ Choice Splitboard Reviews
The best splitboards of 2026, from mountaineering-ready decks to slashable powder boards.
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2026 Editors’ Choice Splitboard Boot and Binding Reviews
Editors’ Choice splitboard boots and bindings for both hard- and soft-boot setups.

The Backcountry Podcast
From legendary athletes to iconic product designers, activists to guides, our world is filled with new views, wisdom, determination and crustiness.
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From playing NCAA soccer to a successful modeling and acting career to being the top polar explorer of his time, Doug Stoup is an enigma. Host Adam Howard recently journeyed to Antarctica with Stoup and their conversation ranges from Doug’s personal training of A-list Hollywood actors to near death experiences; adventures with Doug Coombs; and taking novice skiers to the South Pole.

Tele Mike Russell: Turns for All
Tele Mike Russell grew up as a sharecropper’s son in Delaware before attending college and becoming an executive in the pharmaceutical industry. Then he watched the second plane hit the World Trade Center and decided he’d better follow another path, this one to skiing in Colorado, where he’d go on to find a family in the National Brotherhood of Skiers and help found its backcountry program.

Eric Blehm’s roots in snowboarding run deep. He started riding during the sport’s infancy, and after college became an editor at Transworld SNOWboarding Magazine. Years later, he was in a lift line when a fellow rider saw the “Craig Kelly is my Co-Pilot” sticker on his board, and asked Blehm: “Who is Craig Kelly?” He was floored by the notion that there were snowboarders out there who didn’t know who Craig was. And this inspired him to write The Darkest White.

Never Miss an Issue
Five fat issues a winter featuring the best writers, photographers and gear testers in the world. Travel to the far reaches of your imagination.
Mountain Skills

Resort Skinning Policies
We’ve compiled a database of U.S. resorts with a little about each individual policy—where and when skinning is allowed, whether or not it’s free during operating hours and the link directly to the resort’s guidelines.











