America’s Best Backpacking and Outdoor Adventures
By Michael Lanza
There’s one certainty about the clothing layers we use in winter: We get our money’s worth out of them. While a rain shell or puffy jacket may rarely come out of our pack on a summer hike or climb, we almost invariably wear every article of clothing we carry when backcountry, Nordic, or downhill skiing, snowshoeing, snowboarding, climbing, or trail running in winter. That’s money spent wisely to make us more comfortable and safer.
Soft-Shell Hiking Pants
Beyond Clothing Ascent Glide Pant
$135, 9 oz./326g (men’s 30 short)
Sizes: men’s 30-42, short, regular, and long
beyondclothing.com
On the second morning of a three-day hike in early October on the 22-mile Boulder Mail Trail-Death Hollow-Escalante River Loop in southern Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, we started hiking down Death Hollow in the deep shade of canyon walls, wading in the chilly creek through pools as deep as mid-thigh with air temperatures in the 40s Fahrenheit (around 5° C) and a steady wind blowing. We had to wear pants for the occasional, unavoidable bushwhacking through stands of head-high poison ivy along the creek banks. Inevitably, the legs of my Beyond Clothing Ascent Glide Pants got soaked (as did my boots; I relied on insulated top layers to stay warm).
Several hours later, we reached our campsite with my pant legs still soaked from walking most of the day in water. But in the short time I took unloading my pack and pitching my tent, they dried completely on my body. I never had to remove them and wore them throughout that evening in camp.
By Michael Lanza
Let’s start with two truths about mittens: 1. We know they’re warmer than gloves. 2. We often choose gloves over mittens, anyway, for some reasons that make sense and some reasons that, well, don’t make as much sense. Whether you need them for resort skiing or snowboarding, hiking, walking, snowshoeing, bike commuting, trail running, clearing snow, or something else, this review covers the best mittens for a wide range of temperatures and cold-weather activities.
Winter Shell Jacket and Bibs
The North Face Ceptor Jacket
$430, 1 lb. 9 oz. (men’s medium)
The North Face Ceptor Bib
$410, 1 lb. 12 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes for both: men’s S-XXL, women’s XS-XXL
backcountry.com
When you love skiing, you commit yourself to enduring almost any weather conditions for your sport—and that requires a shell jacket and pants that really protect you from the elements. Through numerous full days of skiing at Oregon’s Mount Bachelor and the full range of Cascades weather—dumping snow, cold temps and wind, occasional sunshine and, yes, even winter rain—TNF’s Ceptor Jacket and Bib kept my college-age daughter, a former ski instructor, smiling and ripping all day.
Water-Resistant Down Jacket
Rab Mythic Alpine Down Jacket
$390, 11 oz./313g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XXL, women’s XS-XL
backcountry.com
A weeklong backpacking trip in Glacier National Park in mid-September presented a quandary: Starting out with the weight of a week’s food gave me added incentive to trim all superfluous weight from my pack; yet the possibility of temperatures dropping near or even below freezing made bringing adequately warm layers essential. The Rab Mythic Alpine Down Jacket achieved both goals, keeping me warm on our coldest mornings in Glacier while weighing less than most comparably warm puffy jackets.