Two low-profile packs that stand out are Deuter’s Freeride Pro 30 ($149; deuter.com) and Mammut’s Nirvana Snowpack ($170; mammut.ch). Both ride well, hold just the right amount of gear for anything from quick laps to a big day and make it easy both to carry skis/snowboards for bootpacking and to access gear. Inside, we like to stuff Arc’teryx’s Atom LT Hoodie ($199; arcteryx.com), a light, insulated Polartec shell that can serve triple duty as an emergency mid-layer, skinning or spring-day shell. For women, we recommend Patagonia’s Skinnard ($300; Patagonia.com), a breathable, light (22 ounce) shell with guts. For a classic mid-layer, check out Melanzana’s Micro Grid Hoodie ($61; melanzana.com), a multi-functional piece, perfect for a cold-conditions mid-layer and made here in the U.S.A. in Leadville by a true Colorado homegrown business. Down below, nothing beats FlyLow’s Chemical Pant ($270; flylowgear.com), which provides ample venting for the skin up and burly reinforcement for the tumble down. Many people forgo the helmet in the bc, but we have yet to test a helmet as suited to hiking and touring as Smith’s Maze ($100; smithoptics.com), which provides all the protection you need in tight trees and loose-rock couloirs, yet weighs in at just 11.5 ounces, ideal for huffing it uphill. Combining Gore-Tex and leather, Scott’s Bolt ($80; scottusa.com) glove holds up to wilderness rigors without too much bulk. All you ask of your skins is not to fail. BCA’s new Climbing Skins ($102–$140; backcountryaccess.com) impressed us as far as being easy to stay on and strip off with ease. A spot of tea always makes a backcountry trip more civilized, so we put some Puh Ehr in Stanley’s Nineteen13 vacuum bottle ($25; Stanley-pmi.com).