Chandler

Great loupe for checking out snow crystals. If you have a buddy who isn't into snow science, showing them crystals through this loupe might be your best bet for getting them interested. Seeing the shape of snow crystals in the snowpack never gets old. This loupe does a great job at both magnification but also keeping wind off of your card to keep the crystals in one place. Well worth the investment

I've used this saw to do plenty of pit tests, but also for digging snow caves, sawing through the odd branch, and even making snow sculptures. Being able to attach it to a ski pole is a useful feature, although I'll admit that I don't use it much since getting a proper ECT cord. Similarly with the integrated crystal card. Unless you like getting your face next to the saw blade when you want to take a closer look, it's worth getting a dedicated crystal card. Still 5 stars though since I view those features a...

This is a huge upgrade from the paracord I used to use for my ECTs. The one bummer around it is that the handles can be challenging to keep a good grip on since they're not loops. The metal bits in the middle do a good job cutting through denser pencil and knife hard layers in the snowpack and the cord folds down pretty small. I use a hair tie to keep it compact in the pack.

The best (and only?) book for ski mountaineering in the mountains surrounding Bozeman. Kussmaul has assembled a very useful guide of the major lines in the area along with a lot of other interesting information about the geology and history of the area. I've skied many lines from this book and his descriptions have always been spot on. Enough information to keep you on course and safe, but not so much that it takes the adventure out of skiing these lines!

These radios are slowly becoming required safety equipment for recreating in the mountains. Gone are the days of communicating through rope tugs or yelling down a windy route. I find myself communicating more with my ski partners when it's as easy as button press and talk rather than turning to shout down the skin track. Great radios, well designed for mountain use-cases, and slowly becoming ubiquitous.