Best Heated Ski Gloves: Battery Life, Warmth & Top Brands Tested My fingers used to go numb by the third chairlift ride of the day. That was before I started running battery-heated gloves on every sub-20°F day on the mountain. If you ski cold zones — think Jackson Hole in January or anything above treeline…
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How to Tune Ski Edges at Home: File Selection, Angle & Technique You can tune your own ski edges for less than the cost of two shop tunes. After your third or fourth pass, you’ll do better work than half the mall shops out there. I started tuning my own after a shop in Summit…
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Lightest Skis on the Market: Backcountry-Focused Models Compared The lightest production skis right now sit in the 900-1,300 gram range per ski (170-176cm length), and they’re almost all touring-specific carbon builds from Salomon, Atomic, Blizzard, and Dynafit. If you’re skinning uphill for your turns, weight is the whole game. If you’re lift-served or dropping cliffs,…
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Ski Socks Thickness Guide: Merino Wool Weights & Fit Optimization Thicker isn’t warmer. I see this mistake on every chairlift — skiers cramming heavyweight socks into boots sized for a thin liner, cutting off circulation, then wondering why their feet are ice blocks by lunch. Sock weight is a fit call first. Insulation is second….
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Ski Boot Liner Replacement: Cost, Brands & When to Upgrade If your boots feel like they’re packed with day-old oatmeal instead of holding your foot, it’s time for new liners. Expect to pay $80-$250 depending on brand and whether you go stock replacement or custom foam. Do it now and you’ll save a boot purchase…
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Can You Wax Skis Yourself? DIY Guide, Tools & When to Go Pro Yes. Wax your own skis. It’s not a specialized skill, and after three or four tries you’ll do better work than the tech rushing your skis through a Saturday morning shop queue. I’ve waxed my own skis for over a decade, and…
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Best Ski Helmets with Audio Systems: Music, Communication & Safety The best ski helmet with built-in audio is the Smith Vantage MIPS paired with Smith’s Aleck 006 audio chips. If you want speakers baked in from the factory, the Anon Merak WaveCel is the one I reach for on 90% of my resort days. I’ve…
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Best Women’s Backcountry Skis 2024: Lightweight, Responsive & Tested The best women’s backcountry ski right now is the Salomon MTN Pure 84. It skis 1550g per ski in the 168, drives a turn on firm skin-track crust, and floats fine in 8-10 inches of fresh. Start there if you want a straight answer. Keep reading…
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Best Cross-Country & Nordic Skis for Backcountry Touring If you’re skiing groomed track, buy classic XC skis. If you’re breaking trail through untracked powder, skiing off-piste, or covering variable terrain where you’ll never see a corduroy groomer, you need backcountry Nordic skis — wider underfoot, metal-edged, with a binding system that can handle turns instead…
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Best Skis Under $1000: Value All-Mountain Models Without Compromise You don’t need to drop $1,200 on skis to ski well. Six seasons of testing everything from flagship $900 planks to closeout deals on last year’s molds taught me the sub-$1000 category is where the real value sits right now. Brands aren’t cutting corners on core…
