The LEKI Tour Guide Glove is built for what it is named – touring. It’s a light glove with maximum dexterity & ventilation, but minimum insulation and waterproofing. But, the LEKI Tour Guide glove excels in the category for which it was built. And here’s why.
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OK, goggles don’t sound that interesting and at this point it’s true that there are a lot of good ones out there. But the Smith 4D MAG goggles are actually pretty different- possibly even revolutionary. 4D presumably stands for a fourth dimension, but the basic idea of the goggles are that they add a significant amount of peripheral vision.
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Let’s face it. Avalanche airbags are expensive. And they’re heavy. Not to mention that traveling with them on planes can be a a real hassle – some models of airbags can’t travel on planes or you have to discharge a canister of pressurized air and find some place to refill it, or buy a new one. And let’s talk about deployment – how many times have you pulled your airbag? Maybe 1-5 times a year? Did you ever have a deployment fail? How do you know your airbag is actually working and that you aren’t carrying all this extra weight for nothing? And how do you actually practice deploying an airbag? The Black Diamond JetForce Pro has solved a lot of these problems.
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When folding poles first came out I played with them a little bit and quickly determined that they weren’t for me- they were simply too flexy. The connections added too much slop, so even a little bit of pressure would make the pole bow like a bow and arrow.
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Today, there is a dizzying array of AT boots out there, from featherweight models made for speed on the up, to downhill boots with a bit of a walk mechanism. While no AT boot can match the performance of a dedicated alpine boot with alpine bindings, the gap gets smaller all the time. Choices that you may want to consider for next season include the Hoji Free from Dynafit, the Atomic Hawx 130 Ultra XTD, and the Zero G Tour Pro from Tecnica.
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If you haven’t tried out different lenses yet, you’re missing out. A yellow storm lens on a snowy or cloudy day can make all the difference in the world between saying “the light is pretty flat out there, isn’t it?” versus “wow, what a great run”.
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The Sharp End pants are a straightforward, no-frills pant meant to combine light weight with durability. That means they don’t have a lot of bells and whistles, but it also means that they aren’t paper thin and one sneeze away from blowing a seam.
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The Maple Energy Boost is now a staple food in the backcountry for me. Not only does it taste great, but it provides quick energy without the sugar crash. I’ve been finding I now have less need to carry energy bars and other food because the energy boost can carry me through my energy needs for an extended period of time. This is definitely a product that every endurance athlete should try!
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As a backcountry skier, I need several pairs of diverse gloves and mittens to keep my hands warm and protected through a wide range of activities and weather. My hands also tend to be on the cold side of things, so I seek extra warmth and high-performance moisture-wicking. On top of that, I seem to blast through gloves as fast as I can eat a pound of chocolate. It’s seriously hard for me to find a glove or mitten that can withstand my use for a year or longer. Yet, LEKI’s products have served my hands well for both durability and performance.
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