Outside 2019 Winter Buyer's Guide

Good, Better, Best, Bestest Here at Outside, we evaluate gear for a living, so it takes a lot to impress us. Having a discerning eye and the ability to tell when something is legit or mere marketing hype comes in handy in our line of work. There’s plenty of new gear every year, and my eyes roll when something is lauded for its “new colorways!” or “fabric that evaporates sweat 0.17629 percent faster than the competition!” Progress for the sake of progress is often not progress at all. A journalist friend recently asked me, “When do you think we’ll reach peak gear?” Is there really still room for meaningful innovation? I waffled, and my answer was boilerplate along the lines of, “It’s hard to pick out the truly game-changing products, because the…

By the Numbers Putting together a product-heavy tome like the winter Buyer’s Guide is fraught with logistics. No one knows that better than assistant managing editor Jeremy Rellosa, who was in charge of calling in all the samples, factchecking every last shred of copy, and generally making sure we stayed on schedule and didn’t lose our minds. Here, he presents the data behind the issue. 615 PRODUCTS CALLED IN 24,864 WORDS IN THE ISSUE (BY OUR BEST COUNT), ALL FACT-CHECKED 4,800 E-MAIL MESSAGES SENT AND RECEIVED (ROUNDING DOWN) one hundred and forty-one CUPS OF COFFEE CONSUMED 27 LAPS RUN AROUND THE OFFICE DROPPING OFF PAGE PROOFS…

FOLLOW THESE FIVE LOCALS’ ADVICE TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR MOUNTAIN COLLECTIVE PASS With 34 days of skiing or snowboarding at 17 world-class destinations, the Mountain Collective Pass is the traveling shredder’s dream ticket. This year the deal got even sweeter, with the addition of Big Sky Resort in Montana and Niseko United in Japan. Think of the pass—at only $469—as a powder insurance policy. Follow the lead of the locals below and you can chase the best storm tracks all season long. NISEKO UNITED, JAPAN Vertical Drop: 3,084 feet Skiable Acres: 879 The Local: Colorado skier brothers Charlie and Jake Cohn first hit Niseko in 2012, trading video production for free rooms. Now they have it dialed. “Niseko has the most vertical on Hokkaido,” says Charlie. “And it was the first resort…

SKIS Völkl M5 Mantra $825 How do you freshen up a ski you’ve been making for 12 years and already redesigned four times? You blow it up entirely. That’s what Völkl’s German engineers did with the brand-new M5. Their goal: keep one of the most versatile all-mountain skis in history relevant. Not only did they succeed, but they created the best ski of the year. How? By bringing back underfoot camber for better glide and rebound, decreasing the width (from 100 to 96 millimeters at the waist) for easier edging, and deepening the sidecut for a more dynamic ride on hard snow. But what sets the M5 Mantra apart is its groundbreaking construction. Völkl’s skis are justifiably famous for their sturdy wood cores sandwiched between two sheets of titanium alloy, but they…

ALPINE SKI BOOTS BEST FOR ALL-MOUNTAIN RACING Nordica Promachine 130 $849 The Promachine’s anatomically shaped liner and shell, which seamlessly blends plastics of varying thickness, improve feel without compromising capability. This helps translate the subtlest movements from your feet to the ski, making it our favorite for tight trees. BEST FOR GRAM COUNTERS K2 Recon 120 $650 Just 3.6 pounds but hardly wimpy, the Recon is one of the lightest inbounds boots on the market. It drops weight by thinning the shell where strength isn’t crucial, like the sides and toe, but still comes through on steep, committing runs. BEST FOR FREESKIING Lange RX Superleggera $950 The 120-flex Superleggera merges Lange’s race pedigree with an ultralight liner and sturdy Grilamid shell. The result is power made playful: Testers could punctuate their powder turns with jumps and stomp landings without…

SNOWBOARDS Weston Japow $599 It’s no secret that snowboarders take inspiration from surfers. In everything from carving technique and aerial style to lingo and board shape, we’re closely aligned with our salty cousins. At Outside’s annual snowboard test at Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado, more than 30 riders put 86 decks to the test in variable spring conditions, and the consensus was that, now more than ever, designers are encouraging a surfy approach to snowboarding. Case in point: the surf-inspired Weston Japow was our top-rated board this year, which is remarkable since we never got the chance to ride it in the deep fluff it’s designed for. Instead, testers made do with corduroy groomers, leftover stashes, and slush, and still the retro wide swallowtail “railed responsive turns like an Indy car,”…