Forget chairlifts. No lift ticket required. “Earn your turns” is back in style big time in the ski world, with the backcountry now serving as the preferred playground for ski junkies seeking adventure and deep white turns. This week we wrote a piece for Outside magazine, “The Gear Junkie’s Top 10 AT Skiing Essentials,” that covers a stock of primo alpine-touring gear.
These skis, skins, bindings, boots, avy pack, and poles will get you up and down in any terrain. For the story we poled experts in the AT world, including Lou Dawson, founder of WildSnow.com, and Steve Romeo of TetonAT.com, to help pick an ultimate AT kit. —Stephen Regenold
Top 10 Alpine-Tour/Backcountry Skiing Essentials
1. Do-All Backcountry Ski: K2 Wayback
2. Four-Buckle Boot: Scarpa Maestrale
3. Uber-Light Boots: Dynafit TLT TF
4. Sidecountry Bindings: Marker Duke
5. Touring Binding: Dynafit TLT Vertical
6. Backcountry-Specific Pole: K2 LockJaw
7. Beacon: Ortovox 3+
8. Skins: Black Diamond GlideLite
9. AvaLung: Black Diamond Sling II
10. Avalanche Airbag Pack: Mammut Ride RAS
—Stephen Regenold is the founder of GearJunkie.com and a longtime contributor to Outside magazine. See his bio page on Outside at this link.