The Wailer 106 Tour1 skis are a special midseason release. Match them with Marker Kingpin bindings and Line Snakeskin skins. They’ll slay pow as well as the next ski, but we particularly love these boards for mixed conditions when we need something that will charge through anything.

These skis are plenty light (7.3 pounds for the 186 centimeter), so you can use them on big tours, but we like them because, like all Line skis, they ride like a Cadillac, thanks to their burly sidewall construction. In other words, Line is not well known in the touring category. Line is known for making park skis and big-mountain, multidirectional planks for people like Eric Pollard, who likes to butter off 20-foot cliffs. Match them with Fritschi-Swiss Diamir Vipec 12 bindings and Black Diamond Ascension Nylon STS skins. These skis make up for the extra weight with superb dampness, thanks in large part to a layer of rubber in the sidewalls, that’ll boost your confidence when you’re trying to stay safe on a 50-degree pitch. These boards, made with a paulownia wood core and prepreg fiberglass layup, aren’t the lightest on the market (7.3 pounds for the 180 centimeter), but we’ve used them for full-day outings and never felt slow on the ups. (Jakob Schiller)īlack Diamond proved with the Link 105 that carbon isn’t a necessary ingredient for building a lightweight, high-performance backcountry ski. For everything else, check out the following list with all our top new gear picks, including everything we’ll be skiing in, wearing, and carrying this winter.īackcountry Skis Left to right: Black Diamond Link 105, Line Sick Day Tourist, DPS Wailer 106 Tour1. For a general overview of our favorite backcountry skis and jackets, check out the 2016 Winter Buyer’s Guide. (Thank you, Godzilla El Niño!) Now there’s enough coverage (and a stable enough snowpack) to head out of bounds, where having the right kit is key. We at Outside have been skinning up the local ski area near our headquarters in Santa Fe, New Mexico, since October.

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