We asked our outdoor adventurers to outfit us for some winter thrills.
For our winter adventure series in the Rockies we turned to some of our accomplished outdoor enthusiasts for recommendations about how to suit up and venture into the cold.
This issue, we’re in Wyoming with contributor Dina Mishev, who didn’t have to stray far from her own Jackson Hole back yard to find good clean winter fun at the Snake River Sporting Club. She has lots of savvy gear recommendations.
“If you tend toward cold hands,” she says, “arm yourself with Outdoor Research’s Lucent heated sensor mittens, which have touchscreen-compatible leather thumb fingertips, a Gore-Tex insert for waterproof protection, goat-leather palms, and three heat settings. If your hands aren’t quite so high-maintenance, go for local company Give’r’s all-leather 4-season gloves, which are weatherproof and insulated, and can be customized with hand-branded initials.”
From another favorite maker close to her home in the Hole: “Support Jackson-based Stio and rock the company’s new Amalia down jacket, which is as stylish as it is warm — sorry guys, it’s only for women,” Mishev says. “Stio’s capri-length Fernos insulated knickers come in men’s and women’s silhouettes though and, since Jackson Hole is colder than many Rocky Mountain towns, are warmer than traditional base layers but still breathe.”
Mishev also likes Black Diamond’s new Solution 150 Merino Baselayer crew and bottom, which are made from Australian merino wool and are ultralight, durable, and stretchy, whether you’re downhill or Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, or snowmobiling. And she’s a fan of Smith’s new 4D MAG goggle, which features a proprietary new lens shape that offers a wider overall field of view than most any other goggle out there. “The fact that this goggles’ lenses can be easily (and quickly) be swapped out if the light changes is Smith just showing off.”
In our February/March issue, Matt Crossman will take us through snow and ice across Colorado. He keeps to the basic time-honored advice to wear wool socks and a wicking base layer, with no cotton anywhere near your skin. For your feet, you might try the Darn Tough Men’s Merino Wool Hiker or Fits Medium Hiker Crew. Your tootsies will thank you.
Just in time for spring skiing, Los Angeles-based Jordan Rane returns to his native Canada for some downhill derring-do on Banff ’s “Big Three” in our April issue. Rane admits he’s not a gearhead but does love his lightweight, breathable, middle-layer Arc’teryx Dallen fleece pullover “and virtually anything else they make.”
And because C&I editors always appreciate high- quality gear that’s good-looking, durable as all get out, and submersible (!), we’re throwing our necessities in Yeti’s Panga Backpack 28 and Panga 50 duffel when we head out.
More on Snake River
Soloing at Snake River
Snake River Sporting Club
Photography: Courtesy of Dina Mishev, Arc'Teryx, Bombas, Smith, Yeti
From our January 2020 issue.
