Outside 'Gear of Year'

And the winners are. . . Twice a year, Outside magazine issues its “Gear of the Year” awards and a special edition buyer’s guide magazine. The latest edition, Outside’s 2011 Winter Buyer’s Guide, is on newsstands this month, and it includes eight top picks in categories ranging from snowboarding to winter running shoes. Gear Junkie’s founder Stephen Regenold worked with Outside this year to test outerwear in the “All-Purpose Jacket” category. Regenold tested more than 30 jackets in locations as far flung as Nepal, Iceland, southern Chile, and Duluth, Minn., to distill a final roster of seven top jacket picks, including the “Gear of the Year”-winning The North Face Kishtwar Jacket.

The Outside 2011 Winter Buyer’s Guide will be on newsstands all winter, from October 11 through April 30. Here’s a sneak peek at this winter’s “Gear of the Year” picks. . .

> Snowboard: Jones Snowboards Mountain Twin

> Alpine Ski: Völkl Kendo

> Resort Jacket: Arc’teryx Sabre SV

> Running Shoe: Saucony ProGrid Kinvara

> Snowshoe: Tubbs Mountaineer

> Alpine Touring & Telemark Ski: K2 Coomback

> Winter Pack: Backcountry Access Stash Squall

> All-Purpose Jacket: The North Face Kishtwar Jacket

Congrats to all the winners! The full rundown on the award winners — as well as reviews of hundreds more pieces of gear from the Outside Winter Buyer’s Guide — will be online at OutsideMag.com this month.