The LEKI Tour Guide Glove is built for what it is named – touring. It’s a light glove with maximum dexterity & ventilation, but minimum insulation and waterproofing. But, the LEKI Tour Guide glove excels in the category for which it was built. And here’s why.

Dexterity & Grip

The thin nature of this gloves allows it to be very dexterous. But, a few key features add to this. For example, the index fingers are capped with a material that is compatible with touch screens, so you can look at maps and operate the camera on your smart phone with your gloves on. This helps reduce “fiddle time”, and also helps keep your fingers warmer when you are needing you use your phone. All of the fingers have a very rubbery material on them, which really helps improve slipping while gripping.

Thin but Warm Enough

These gloves are generally as thick as a typical bike glove. But, I found them to be surprisingly warm to use while remaining active. The interior of the grip, along the inside the fingers and palm, uses a thicker material which helps improve moisture wicking but also helps increase warmth as it protects you while you hold onto your cold poles. I used the LEKI Tour Guide gloves on some cold days and found them to keep my hands just warm enough, especially while I remained active.

Leash

There are times when you need to take your gloves off. I am a big fan of leashes on gloves as that means I can let them dangle and not worry about the gloves dropping, rolling down a hill, or blowing away. I often will let gloves dangle from the leash while still moving too, saving “fiddle time”. The Tour Guide gloves come with a built-in leash.

Built in Trigger S System

I’ve written about the Trigger S system before. Some people really love it. I really like the concept – the glove locks into the grip on the pole, but automatically releases when the pole is put in a compromising position. This helps prevent injuries to the thumb, wrists, fingers, and even shoulders. Admittedly, I have struggled using the Trigger S system in the backcountry as I sometimes like to let my poles dangle from a regular pole strap. I also found that using the Trigger S on thicker gloves was a bit trickier as it was sometimes hard to get them to lock into place on the grip. But, since this glove is thinner, locking into the grip was easy. I have found that I love the Trigger S system while cross-country/nordic skiing. I like the position it puts my hands in and how easy the system makes it to hold on to the poles, especially when I need leverage. The Trigger S really jives with this glove and makes it the perfect fit for ski touring or nordic skiing.

The Wrap

I have been pleasantly surprised with the LEKI Tour Guide’s functionality as well as performance. The LEKI Tour Guide Glove is a great glove to use during activities that keep you primarily active, like ski touring or cross-country skiing. It would also make a great ski mountaineering glove on warm spring days, and also a great glove for hiking in the mountains in summer, when rain can suddenly burst into snow even in July. If you’re in the market for a versatile lightweight glove the LEKi Tour Guide is a great choice!

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This might not seem like a big deal, but it’s highly noticeable whether you’re trying them on at a store or actually, you know, skiing. Granted, your eyes should be looking well ahead while you’re skiing, not looking at your ski boots, but the increased field of vision does help with your awareness of everything that’s going on. I grew up playing hockey, and there is no way I could stick handle a puck while looking ahead with normal goggles, but I bet I could with the 4D MAG. There is a bit of distortion (if you concentrate on it) where the goggle lens curves towards your face, but you don’t notice it at all under normal circumstances.

As for frame fit, if you have a “medium” fit that worked well with other Smith frames like the I/O Mag or I/O 7, you should be in good shape with the 4D MAG goggle fit. I’m a bit on the small side of medium, but they fit me very well. Rumor has it that Smith will be releasing 4D versions in smaller and larger sizes as early as next year, so if you’re excited about this goggle but they don’t fit your face, you may be in luck soon. Not only does the lens curve towards the face, by the way, but the frame foam also has strategic cutouts to enhance the wider view.

Smith has a number of lens choices that swap out with the magnetic lenses found on the 4D. If you haven’t experienced magnetic lenses, they are amazingly easy to change lenses and the 4D MAG is as easy as any of them- just flip the tabs on either side of the lens and pop in the new lens. I won’t get into the different lens choices since that’s choice that should be based on your preference and typical weather and sun angle. Let’s face it, January light at Alaska latitudes is a bit different than it is in CO or CA, even on cloudy days. I will at least say that the Everyday Red Mirror is one of my favorites here in CO.

I haven’t used the Smith 4D MAG goggle long enough to comment on their durability, but nothing jumped out at me as a potential problem either. Of course, as with any nice eyewear, you probably don’t want to throw them around on the ski lodge cafeteria table, either. Honestly the only downside that I can think of is the price, but you generally get what you pay for when it comes to goggles. If nothing else, I’d recommend visiting your local ski shop and trying these on, just to experience the increased field of vision.

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Let’s face it. Avalanche airbags are expensive. And they’re heavy. Not to mention that traveling with them on planes can be a a real hassle – some models of airbags can’t travel on planes or you have to discharge a canister of pressurized air and find some place to refill it, or buy a new one. And let’s talk about deployment – how many times have you pulled your airbag? Maybe 1-5 times a year? Did you ever have a deployment fail? How do you know your airbag is actually working and that you aren’t carrying all this extra weight for nothing? And how do you actually practice deploying an airbag?

Improving on the old
But the Black Diamond Diamond JetForce Pro Avalanche Airbag seems to have solved a lot of these problems. This year’s model is an improvement on the old – the JetForce technology is redesigned with a smaller fan, making it lighter, and it’s smaller and repositioned in the pack, making it less bulky and easier to carry.

Modular capabilities called Boosters
Yet the real icing on the cake is that Black Diamond made the JetForce Pro Avalanche Airbag modular. What does that mean? You can buy the airbag in a base size of 10 L or 25 L or 35 L, and then purchase additional modules called Boosters to get the same pack to be the other sizes. So, for example, I can purchase the 10 Liter back to use as a “slackcountry” airbag, and then get a Booster to convert my bag to a 25 L or 35 L size for longer days in the backcountry.

Okay so why is this a huge benefit? Because airbags are expensive – most in the $700 to $1500 range. And many backcountry skiers prefer to have different sized packs depending on what they are doing – one for slackcountry, one for backcountry, another for overnight trips… Maybe even a different one for long spring tours. But most of us aren’t made of dough. And although much of our dinero may go to fuel the passion we love, it’s not very realistic for us to own multiple airbag packs. Sure, some models of airbags have allowed the airbag system to be removed and placed into other different sized bags. But, this can be a difficult process – and what if you didn’t do it right? This process can also mean you’re purchasing a whole new bag for $250-$400. Of course, this is much cheaper than purchasing a whole new airbag of a different size…. But, with the Black Diamond JetForce Pro Avalanche Airbag, the Boosters only cost $69.95, no matter the size. The original pack retails at $1399.95, again, no matter if it’s the 10 L or 25 L or 35 L size. That means, you can have all three sizes for $1539.85. In the big scheme of things, that’s not a bad deal.

JetForce Technology
The basics of the JetForce Technology haven’t changed, and is something we wrote about back in 2014. The system operates using a battery. When the airbag trigger is pulled, the battery powers a high-force fan to blow air in the airbag. A few of the benefits of this design include: 1) You can actually practice deploying your airbag because all you need to do is recharge the battery (practicing improves your familiarity with the system in an emergency and also helps to ensure the airbag system is functioning), 2) The bag can be deployed multiple times before the battery needs to be recharged – great for practice and a better option for multiple day tours, 3) The design is free of hassles while traveling on a plane – no pressurized air, etc. to worry about!

Other Functionalities
Other functionalities of the JetForce Pro Airbag is that the pull trigger can be changed from right to left, skis can be carried diagonally, there is an attachment for a single ice axe, a helmet carrier, and a hip belt pocket. The leg loop is now retractable and easily attached to the hip belt with a built-in carabiner. Also, an alternative 25 L Booster is geared toward all the things a snowboarder desires.

What I’m still waiting for…
I love what Black Diamond has developed in the JetForce Pro Avalanche Airbag. But, I also love being able to stay hydrated in the field. I don’t usually have time to stop and grab a water bottle from my pack and then keep going. In fact, I loathe that. I rely on CamelBak style hydration, from a tube. For me, if I can’t use a hydration bladder in a backpack, it’s a no-deal. I won’t use the pack. I am hoping Black Diamond can find a way to design the pack to allow a hydration tube to pass through alongside the airbag, without interfering with deployment. A bigger hip belt pocket would also be a bonus. Last, I’d like to see a Booster in the 40-45 L range that would be better for overnight hut trips.

The wrap
The Black Diamond JetForce Avalanche Airbag backpack is a revolutionary design. So many things about it are perfect. Hassle-free on planes, you can practice with the airbag, the innovative modular design… If you can deal without a hydration bladder, then the Black Diamond JetForce Airbag is the pack that you want!

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When folding poles first came out I played with them a little bit and quickly determined that they weren’t for me- they were simply too flexy. The connections added too much slop, so even a little bit of pressure would make the pole bow like a bow and arrow. That might suffice for hiking but it would quickly prove to be annoying on a steep icy skintrack or during those rare occasions when you’re making old-school jump turns initiated off of a hard pole plant. Thankfully, the LEKI Tour Stick Vario Carbon Ski Poles don’t suffer this fate, and they feel as stiff as any other backcountry pole.

One might think that with so many things going on that these poles would add a bit of weight, but it’s actually pretty negligible. The reported weight is 271g, while the Aergonlite2, one of LEKI’s lightest offerings, is 249g. One compromise for the folding design comes with their range of adjustability- the Tour Sticks will only adjust from 115- 135cm, whereas the aforementioned Aergonlite will go from 110-145cm. So if your’re particularly short, tall, or just really like to adjust your ski poles, the Tour Stick may not be the best choice.

The grip is one of LEKI’s standard touriing grips with a lower handhold for sidehilling as well- it’s good and it also has LEKI’s safety strap, which will pull off if the pole gets caught on something. Trust me, it works. Keep in mind that if you like a really low sidehilling pole position and want to add athletic tape to create a lower hand position, or keeping duct tape on your pole, you can’t do that on the top section since that’s what slides into the upper shaft when you’re folding them down. The baskets, long forgotten as an area of innovation, are actually quite slick. The black plastic is a stiffer plastic complete with lips for adjusting AT binding climbing positions. And the wider part works well to scrape snow off your skins if they start glopping up on the skintrack.

I am curious about one thing, but unfortunately I can’t check it. The lower pole will spin freely on the upper shaft, so perhaps that will make this pole difficult to use with Dynafit bindings- especially the older ones where the risers are used by spinning the binding as well. Thankfully, we haven’t had to suffer through Dynafit use for several years, so we don’t have any bindings to check this theory out on. Please comment if you have tried this pole with Dynafits and let us know. I’ll update this post once I can try it out on some one else’s binding…

The Verdict

The LEKI Tour Stick Vario Carbon is a great choice for a number of applications. Splitboarders immediately come to mind- these poles fold up so short that they can easily fold up into your pack and not get hung up on trees or anything else. Climbers should take a serious look at these as well, for the same reason. Backcountry skiers have less reasons to switch to a folding pole, but even then I can see myself wanting to put my poles in a pack on a highly technical climb, as one example. Plus, these are great for summertime hiking since most hikers only use poles on the descents and they can live in the pack on the uphill. If you’re in the market for a new adjustable ski pole, be sure to give these a look.

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Dynafit Hoji Free

The Hoji Free boot is significantly different that the Hoji Pro boot that came out in the winter of 2018-19. It ditches the speednose which is incompatible with many bindings and crampons for a standard toepiece, it’s stiffer, and it’s a different last than the Hoji Pro. Just because the Hoji Pro boot fits, don’t assume that the Free model will.

Unfortunately, the boots at the OR show were far from my size, and I was not able to try them on or get any feel for fit, stiffness, or other features. So all I can report on here are the features of the Hoji Free. I was able to ski the Hoji Pro boot, but again, it isn’t the same boot.

Both Hoji boots have a claim to fame of the “one-motion” system which locks the boot into downhill mode at the same time as the cuff buckle. In theory, this saves time. In reality, it’s a solution in desparate search of a problem. Who cares about a few seconds in a 1500+ gram boot, and the fiddle factor may very well be higher, since depending on the terrain, you may want the boot tighter, or looser, or any of a number of other things. Let’s hope no other boot manufacturers jump on this bandwagon, since there really is no purpose to it.

Beyond that, walk mode with the Hoji Pro was impressive, so I would expect it to be similar with the Hoji Free. Skiing the Hoji Pro was better than expected. While it still lacks the progressive flex that can be found with overlap boots, it was reasonably stiff and wasn’t quite as badly “on-off” as other tongue boots including the vaunted Vulcan boot that many skiers loved. Depending on fit, this may be a boot to look at, but keep in mind that this boot is a tank at over 1550 grams. That was a perfectly fine weight a couple years ago for an AT boot with downhill capabilities, but with the two boots below clocking in at 150-200+ grams less, and they ski great too, I’m not sure why anyone would choose the Hoji Free other than fit issues.

Atomic Hawx 130 Ultra XTD

The Atomic Hawx is a 4 buckle overlap design that has been around for a couple of years. Weighing around 1400 grams, this was one of the first boots of this design, with this type of downhill ability, to break the 1500 gram mark. The Hawx is narrow, so if you have a narrow foot, this might be the perfect fit. That said, the shell is also heat moldable, so your bootfitter should be able to dial in a good fit if you have wider feet. I have average feet and did not find that the Hawx were too tight for my feet.

What I noticed the most about this boot was the way the cuff would bulge outward around the ankle when I flexed. While nearly any boot will do this, especially if they are warm and in a shop, the Atomic seemed particularly prone to this. It isn’t really that surprising- to drop weight, while keeping stiffness, why wouldn’t you keep the shell then in places where you can- like the ankle. What was worse was that this wasn’t simply something that I noticed while on the carpet- I could also feel it when I was skiing. Still, the boots skis well, with a nice progressive flex that one would expect in an overlap design. Cuff mobility felt smooth and adequate for a boot like this.

Tecnica Zero G Tour Pro

For the past couple of years, I had been using the original model of this boot. In 2018-19, the boot went through many changes, with a new lock mechanism and significantly reduced weight (now an incredibly impressive 1,320 grams). The previous lock mechanism had some issues- mine were warrantied twice. The new one is simple, external, and appears bomber. Not only that, but it makes a very positive feeling connection and if anything, the new generation boot is stiffer because of it (despite the lower weight).

This boot skis the way it looks- like an overlap 4 buckle boot, with a nice, even progressive flex. The walk mechanism- while it doesn’t have the same range of motion compared to a tongue boot, the motion it does have is very smooth and the boot climbs well. My one complaint is the buckles- they may have dropped weight by using them, but they are definitely finicky, especially with any snow or ice in them. I will say that they have a nice lock feature on the upper cuff to keep them side open for those of you that like to tour with them in that position. Overall, I think a friend that I skied with last weekend said it best when describing his Zero G’s, when he called them the Holy Grail of AT boots. That has been my experience as well thus far, but as always with ski boots it depends on fit before anything else.

Those are my initial impressions of the Hoji Free and Hawx boots, with far more time in the Tecnica boots. As I mentioned a couple of times, start with boot fit, and go from there- and tell us your thoughts if you have any experience with these boots.

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As mentioned above, the I/O Mag goggle has magnets in it, making it incredible fast and simple to switch lenses. Why would you switch lenses, you might ask? If you haven’t tried out different lenses yet, you’re missing out. A yellow storm lens on a snowy or cloudy day can make all the difference in the world between saying “the light is pretty flat out there, isn’t it?” versus “wow, what a great run”. In the northern latitudes, even sunny days on shaded north faces in the heart of winter can make a yellow lens the go-to choice. Orange and rose lenses are a great choice for “in between” days with both sun and clouds, while a dark lens is the go to on those brilliantly clear Colorado bluebird days.

The problem with changing lenses has long been the ease of changing the goggle lens. In most cases, you feel like you need a PhD to decipher the changing process, or even worse, you’re terrified that the lens is about to break in half as you attempt to wrestle the lenses in and out of the goggle housing. In my case, I’ve long kept multiple goggles ready to go with either a storm or sunny lens, and kept lens changes to a minimum.

Magnetized lenses and goggle housing make difficult changes a thing of the past. With the I/O Mag, you simply flip a lever and pull the lens off the magnets, then toss the new one in with a satisfying “click”. It took longer to write that sentence than it takes to change a lens on the I/O Mag. This is the fist goggle I’ve seen that I could imagine taking both the goggle and different lens on a tour, with the capability of changing the lens if the weather changes on the way up. Even in a blizzard, it just wouldn’t be that hard to change a lens with these goggles.

Beyond the lens changing system, the I/O Mag has great optics like one might expect from a high-end Smith goggle. They match up perfectly with my Smith Quantum helmet, though you would probably want to check helmet/ goggle compatibility anytime you’re searching for new goggles. The peripheral vision hasn’t been quite as good as the I/O7 that I was previously using, which is probably my main complaint at this point. It isn’t bad, mind you, just not as good as the I/O7.

If you’re in the market for new goggles, I would definitely give these a look- if they fit your face they should be at the top of your list. For a short demonstration of the goggle lens change, here’s a video:

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The Sharp End pants are a straightforward, no-frills pant meant to combine light weight with durability. That means they don’t have a lot of bells and whistles, but it also means that they aren’t paper thin and one sneeze away from blowing a seam.

To that end, you’ll find just two pockets- one on each thigh. The pants are fairly tight in the thighs, so you may not find a ton of room in either pocket. In my case, I keep my beacon in the right one. Unlike some other models of Black Diamond pants, these do not have a dedicated “Pieps pocket”, but it still fits the beacon well and there is a ring to connect the drawcord. I put mine in a koozy primarily to protect the pocket from any abrasion caused by the beacon. (In fact, on my Black Diamond Mission pants which do have a Pieps Pocket, I found that the plastic beacon buckle started to wear the fabric and I removed it and went with the koozy pocket instead).

While the Black Diamond Sharp End pants are a bit tight in the thighs, they’re perhaps a bit loose in the boot area. It’s great while skiing, but with crampons you’ll need to watch things carefully so you don’t accidentally catch a pantleg. On the plus side, the pants are well reinforced if you do catch an edge. The gaiter is well designed and slips easily over ski boots. There is also an integrated RECCO reflector in case there is an avalanche and the ski patrol or other organization is nearby with a RECCO receiver.

One thing I really like about these pants is the integrated belt as well as two buttons. I’ve had other pants that come undone easily just by reaching down- and anyone who knows me knows I’m as skinny as they come. I haven’t had any issues with these pants (or any other BD pants for that matter). I’m not totally sure why one would use the exterior belt loops when there is already one built in, but they’re there if needed. While the pants are advertised as full side zip, I wouldn’t quite call them that. They are nearly full, and allow for great ventilation. But if you wanted to take them off without taking your boots off- they don’t go all the way up through the waist. It’s minor, but there are some circumstances that you might want to do that.

My final verdict? I really like these pants. They’re simple, relatively light, yet bomber. That’s my goal with most of my gear. Fit-wise, they work well for me, although I could see someone with thunder thighs having a bit more trouble. I do wish that the boot area was a bit tighter, although that seems to be one that is nearly impossible to get perfect, since so much depends on the boots and I’ve certainly had pants that were a real hassle to get over the top of my boots. If you’re looking for new shells, put these on your list and use the link on our website, just to the right.

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