Pre-season is not mid-season: Now is the time to thoroughly check your gear to ensure your backcountry skiing dreams aren’t kneecapped by faulty gear. Here’s a pre-season checklist to help guide you on this important task.

A down puffy is key for backcountry skiing wellness: use it as needed to warm the core. Rab’s Electron Pro Down jacket is a go-to in near-freezing temps.

As a navigation tool, CalTopo offers a complex feature set that sometimes takes time to hone. With a little savvy, CalTopo offers some hidden gems to make backcountry skiing/riding trip planning more useful. Here are three specific features to dial in your ski and winter climbing plans.

If not the golden age of ski touring bindings, then it’s somewhere close to it. Consumers have many choices and numerous feature sets to consider when opting for a backcountry ski binding. We offer up four options in this ski touring binding gear guide that covers the full-spectrum from lightweight jewel to freeriding burly.

Welcome to the world of tech bindings. The emerging backcountry skier should be informed; it makes the conversation between you and the salesperson two-way rather than one-way. And, you’ll know what questions to ask to secure a product suited for you.

A 2020 Q&A with Hilaree Neslon, North Face team leader and 8000 meter peak skier on lessons learned over decades of ski mountaineering, favorite expedition gear and tips for aspiring ski mountaineers.