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In February, we put more than 250 pairs of next winter's skis through their paces at Snowbird, Utah. We're talking 18 testers, three days, and a total of 1.5 million vertical feet. Find out which planks rose to the top in the Winter Buyer's Guide, which hits newsstands in October. In the meantime, let photographer Lee Cohen take you through the test.
In today’s era, claiming an adventure record requires more than skill. You need a laundry list of caveats and qualifiers.
Enough already with skis and headlamps that can talk to our phones. The whole thrill of being outside is in escaping the modern tyranny of tech distractions.
It's hard to know what to make of the sudden rise of electric bikes. But one thing is certain: Racing them is a sign of the apocalypse.
Voters have the power to fix the public lands crisis, but first we need get smarter about how we fund open spaces
If your only exposure to Canada Goose has been an abundance of black parkas on the New York City subway, this rant is for you
Americans didn't crush it in Pyeongchang, but medal-counting haters need to shut it. Let me explain.
The sudden, joyful rise of America's cross-country squad makes you wonder: Is happy faster than angry?
You can take the Outdoor Retailer trade show out of Salt Lake, but you can't take the Salt Lake blues out of the show
Existentialism, rabbit holes, and the pursuit of happiness—with a hundred miles of singletrack and a foot of airy powder thrown in
The simple reality is that, with a touch of nuance, we can have our mountain biking and Wilderness, too
We put 161 pairs of planks through the paces during our annual ski test at Snowbird mountain in Utah. These eight won out.
Boulder, Colorado, celebrates 50 years of Open Space this year. Here’s what I’ve learned as a 16-year resident.
Thanks to a plethora of new materials, skis are getting way more versatile.
His misguided immigration and climate-change policies are worse than January rain
Cylindrical lenses that strike the perfect balance between performance and price.
Keep fit all year with this fast-gliding skinny-ski gear.
Over the years, I've lost count of how many times this road has tried to kill me. And the worst part about it is that there's nothing I can do but rant in resignation.
To start with, long steady rides are a boring waste of time, power meters are both absolutely vital and extraneous bullshit, and you can get faster without training like a lifeless automaton
USADA tried to place a gag order on Armstrong when he partnered with the Colorado Classic to broadcast his podcast. No matter your thoughts about the bike racer's character, that's just wrong—and it's really bad for the sport.
Marc Peruzzi—a small-business co-owner, the parent of a child with a congenital heart defect, and avid skier and mountain biker—on what Trumpcare could mean for outdoor athletes, and the healthcare travails his family has already faced
Have a friend who is a bit too aggro while chasing the goods? They’re not just idiots—they may have a terrible disease.
After years of damage and abuse, the skier's bones have a few things to say
And you probably have it. But with a lot of work—and maybe a few therapy sessions—you can overcome it.
The vertical ceased print publication this winter, after 70 years of great stories
The best planks from ϳԹ's annual test in Snowbird, Utah, are engineered for big fun.
Our testers whittled a field of 132 down to ten. Now shut up and ski.
World Cup skinny-ski gear for your local skate track
Almost as good as our Gear of the Year winner—for $350 less
An in-depth look at our favorite all-mountain ski of the year
Who needs a whole quiver when one set of planks does it all?
From groomers to glades, bumps to short-swing turns in the fall line, these frontside skis do everything you need
From traveling light to going fast and steep, these 8 pairs of planks will help you carve pow all winter long
Intelligent designs that are up for anything—and so fun to ride that you’ll want to take them everywhere.
Buying new skis this year? Lucky you. We tested the latest designs, and these came out on top—so shop wisely.
You're overworked, overstressed, and overconnected. But don't worry. We're here to help.
Sometime in the near future, it’s almost certain that Vail Resorts will be operating a rebranded 7,500-acre mega resort in Park City. Will the Wasatch survive?
There’s a ferocious battle for snowsports business being waged right now between these two western states. So who’s going to win the Wasatch-Front-versus-Front-Range wintry gear smackdown? Marc Peruzzi weighs in.
Most technical ski gear isn’t made in this country—and it never has been.
Shortsighted marketers are riding snowboarding into the ground, but there may still be hope to keep the sport alive.
The rewards of risk are fueling a catastrophic increase in TBIs. How can we protect ourselves?
Burton has been building snowboards in Vermont for more than 30 years. Along the way, it learned a thing or two about what makes a board well balanced.
Rossi is the industry leader when it comes to balancing rocker (upturned tip and tail), camber (for edge hold and glide), and taper (the pin shape in the front and back, which delivers a loose feel in and out of turns). This year it packed all that institutional knowledge into the Super 7.
The Helldorado is nimble in strangled chutes but stable and absorbant when you’ve got room to open it up.
With a tight 14.3-meter turn radius, a powerful system-style binding, and Head’s World Cup race construction, this Austrian setup should have tossed us Yanks around by our Cinnabons.
The Annex 108 doesn’t really have a weak spot. The wood core and metal construction make chatter a nonissue.
For its redesigned Super 7, Rossignol found the perfect balance of rocker (upturned tip and tail), camber (underfoot for edge hold), and taper (for easy turn entry and exit).
The remarkably well-priced Theory features damping wood-core construction, powerful vertical side walls, and energetic carbon fiber stringers.
A terrific new documentary about injured snowboarder Kevin Pearce takes a searing look at the dark side of action sports
Pants are fine, but if your goal is waist-deep powder, a good pair of bibs like FlyLow’s Bakers ($330) are what you need.
If you're the kind of skier who books travel based on the 10-day forecast, here's where to go
Most goggles feature fog-resistant double lenses, but the cheap ones are built flat and bent into the frame, creating distortion, which can cause headaches. Invest in optically correct spherical lenses. Polarization? It cuts reflected light, but it can mask ice, too.
Those lift-line elitists snickering at your old traditionally shaped skis could use some manners, but they’ve got a point: the new rockered shapes make skiing more fun. Which ones should you buy? There are two schools of thought.
Cyclists, climbers, alpine skiers, and trail runners are all crossing over to nordic skate skiing for two simple reasons—it’s fun as hell, and it delivers a freakishly efficient full-body workout. First know this: skate skis aren’t alpine skis; you don’t choose them by length alone.
Dare to live a moral life—and encourage your kids to do the same—but remember that moral decisions aren't always clear-cut
ϳԹ reviews the best gear in the 2012 Winter Buyer's Guide, including the K2 Rescue Shovel Plus.
ϳԹ reviews the best gear in the 2012 Winter Buyer's Guide, including the Rossignol Super 7 Skis.
ϳԹ reviews the best gear in the 2012 Winter Buyer's Guide, including the Arnette Mercenary goggles.
ϳԹ reviews the best gear in the 2012 Winter Buyer's Guide, including the Fischer RCS Carbonlite Skating Hole skis.
ϳԹ's best writers share their thoughts on fatherhood and nature-bonding with Dad.
From billiards to big air competitions—downtown—these four ski towns have the best nightlife.
From couloir skiing to punchy chutes, the terrain at these resorts will keep you on your toes.
From ski school and childcare to tubing hills and mini-terrain parks, these four resorts put family first.
MOST VERSATILE Good for Big Mountain The most confidence-inspiring ski in this year’s big-mountain field, the Blower offers impressive stability in all conditions. At 110mm underfoot, it’s more than fat enough for powder and crud skiing, but the wood core, vertical sidewalls, and 26m round-turn sidecut…
Last year, consumers were buying $9,000 bikes and bad mortgages like there was no tomorrow. Then tomorrow showed up. The spendy bikes are still out there, and still worth it for racers who have the cash. But in a time of great frugality, it's nice to know you can get…
Good for All Mountain If the Watea 94 were ten millimeters wider, you’d call it a big-mountain ski. From the “powder hull” tip—it’s shaped like the prow of a ship—to the loose and playful feel, this ski was built with the resort powder skier in mind. On…
Testers were impressed with the Prophecy’s secure fit and crisp lenses, but the coolest feature is its Porex Filter. This tiny little portal lets air but not water pass through, which prevents moisture buildup between the lenses and also regulates the air pressure, thus decreasing the chances that the…
THE TWOFER Remember what we said about simple ski design being the best? Forget that for a moment. Atomic’s DoubleDeck (D2) technology actually delivers. Each ski is essentially made up of two decks: The bottom one contours the snow surface—boosting edge hold, control, and glide—while the upper one responds to…
When paired with high-quality base layers, CRAFT‘s full-zip ACTIVE CROSS COUNTRY TOURING PANTS are all you need 90 percent of the time.