The Outside Guide to Winter Sports
Gear
Smart purchases for your favorite snow sport
Tested across continents and conditions, these award-winning products deliver ultimate performance on the slopes, trails, and in the backcountry
REI’s current lineup is stacked with our top-rated skis, boards, and accessories for 2026
The S/Pro Alpha C BOA's unique design reinvents how alpine boots flex and transfer power.
The Antimatter lineup fuses performance and creativity in a way that will speak to directional skiers with freeride aspirations.
Skiing
Lessons and tips from the slopes
After enduring icy slopes and massive lift lines, our articles editor sought guidance from a psychotherapist on how to endure—and maybe even enjoy—the 2025-26 ski season
When I moved to France from the U.S., I quickly realized Americans could learn a thing or two from the French's approach to ski culture
Hitting the freeze-thaw cycle just right is tricky. Here's how to navigate the mountain in the spring.
‘Robson,’ the latest ski film from Christina Lustenberger and Gee Pierrel, provides a dizzying look at a historic first descent, and showcases the stress and setbacks that ski mountaineers must navigate on the side of a peak
Snowboarding
Freestyle and alpine runs
Our testers put 59 unisex snowboards to the test. These impressed us the most.
This year’s Warren Miller flick is going to be pretty epic
White recently unveiled a new halfpipe series for professional snowboarders and freeskiers. Lucas Foster, an American Olympian, thinks the Snow League could give athletes more earning potential.
With tough features, it’s designed to challenge even the very best rider
Mountaineering
Surviving the ascent
New research suggests that ketone drinks can raise oxygen levels in the blood.
At an age when most individuals are bouncing grandkids on their knees—if their knees even function—Carlos Soria Fontán returns, time and time again, to the most inhospitable regions on Earth, to test himself
Our Everest columnist shares some intel on how to avoid illness during the 11-day hike. Plus, a rest day adventure in the Himalayas.
The high-altitude, lung-busting challenge imported from Europe has become one of the hottest winter sports in North America. Why? Because this pursuit proves that premeditated suffering can be highly addictive.