Backcountry Magazine September 2012 - Gear Guide Alpinist 55

Backcountry Magazine September 2012 - Gear Guide Alpinist 55FEATURES 2013 SKI TEST & GEAR GUIDE Backcountry gear has gone mainstream. That's a good thing, and here's why. The industry big boysthink Lange, Atomic, Salomonare focusing their attention (and money) on the backcountry. That focus drives competition, which, in turn, breeds innovation. And that means things are only getting better, lighter and more solid. This year, our 40 person test team evaluated more than 400 backcountry skis, boots and bindings

Thanks to Scotland’s “right to roam” law

Off Belay Phil Broscovak elucidates the crash-pad dance

camping roadside and skiing a La Niña winter's worth of snowpack en route

The solution

and Henry Tyce decides he won't

Stalking couloirs on Icefields Parkway

The Last Time I Saw Him

read and climb for the same reason: to remain alive

With the help of two-time Olympic gold medalist Seth Wescott

Over the next two years

WISDOM: RETURN TO EVIL

Peter Jensen-Choi looks back at some of the origins of modern Korean alpine-style