Buying skis and snowboards in Val Thorens

The mountains have received their first snowfalls of the autumn, leaves are starting to turn and the mornings and evenings have a chill in the air. Winter is just around the corner and­ you can smell it.

Following on from last month’s article on big mountain skis, here’s a look at 3 freeride orientated snowboards to check out for this winter season. These boards are designed to perform in all big mountain situations from deep powder to...

Seeing as though it’s less than a month until the big day, this month I thought I’d make a few Christmas gift suggestions. 

Mountain Equipment have a long and rich history when it comes to designing and manufacturing down products. They pretty much led the way in the 60’s and 70’s when they supplied many of the big Himalayan expeditions at the time, including...

Avalanche airbag packs are now an accepted part of the backcountry skier’s arsenal and are becoming an increasingly popular sight all over the mountains in the Alps and North America throughout the winter.

In the past couple of winters Burton have developed their more freeride and backcountry focused snowboards into a range called the Family Tree. The Pile Driver is a new addition to the Family Tree line for winter 2014/15. It’s a powder specific...

It’s not often that all the major players in the climbing hardware market have big updates on the same type of product but 2016 will see the biggest overhaul of camming devices out there for years.

Anyone who has spent time skiing in the popular freeride resorts of the Alps will be familiar with the Norrona Lofoten collection. Stand in the lift line on a powder day in Chamonix, Engelberg or St Anton and there’s bound to be a Lofoten Jacket...

Do a quick google search on the Volkl Mantra and you quickly get the idea that it is one of the most respected freeride skis ever produced.

Autumn is always an exciting time to be a gear freak. September rolls around, manufacturers websites are updated with new gear and clothing for the upcoming season as everyone's thoughts start to turn to winter..

You could be forgiven for thinking that the market for Merino wool base-layers is pretty much saturated. It’s been more than a decade since everyone started wearing wool again whilst outdoors and in recent years there have been a glut...

Alpinism has always been at the heart of what Patagonia are about.The brand have a long history of designing and manufacturing state of the art clothing for alpine climbing.

To celebrate the fact that most of the Alps got buried with snow in the last few days, I thought this month’s gear feature really should be all about powder specific skis and snowboards.

Spring isn’t too far away which means touring season is here. For this month’s gear feature I thought I’d put together a list of recommended products for the ski tourer and splitboarder.

Following on from last month’s article on ski touring hardware, this month we’ll take a look at some of the best clothing for ski touring and splitboarding that’s currently available.

Spring is here and so is touring season. Whether on skis or a splitboard, the requirements needed in a good backcountry shell are universal; lightweight, flexible, breathable protection.

It’s usually accepted that layering is the key to comfort in the mountains. However, sometimes you just can’t beat a big insulated jacket when it’s cold.

There's always a headline grabbing new tech whetting our appetites for the winter.