Backpacking and hiking gear reviews from Outdoor Prolink’s professional mountain guides, wilderness guides, retail employees and other outdoor industry professionals.
If the La Sportiva Trango TRK GTX boots could be described in one phrase, I would describe them as an all around go to boot for hiking, canyoneering, and backpacking (luckily this is all in my realm). They are an…
The Vasquez Peak 2 by Mountainsmith is a comfortable two-person design that allows camping in many climates. If you’re looking for a lightweight, breathable, and spacious two person tent, you have found your match! From the deserts of Utah to…
Have you ever dreamt of interstellar space travel? Well, look no further… While travel amongst the stars isn’t available yet, you can climb, ski, ride and travel in a beautiful and thoughtfully designed jacket from Outdoor Research. The Interstellar Jacket.…
The Mountainsmith Scream 55: the ultralight backpack for those who wish to carry more than the bare, 3-season essentials. In testing the Scream 55, I wanted to take this backpack out of the traditional, 3-season ultralight backpacking environment, and highlight…
When it comes to backpacking gear, especially anything ultralight, I’m like a kid in a candy store – well when I first got wind of the Octal 55 Ultralight Backpack by Gregory it was no different! Reading the specs on…
For those that recreate in the lofty mountains of Summit County, variable conditions involving both powder and hard pack snow exposed rock and wild grasses, dense thickets of pine and expansive alpine tundra, are seemingly the norm. Utilizing the correct…
Montana’s Yellowstone National Park is a land of extremes. In winter, the pristine snowy landscape is dotted with boiling hot thermal features nestled amongst epic mountains. Combine this beautiful landscape with some of the deepest snow Montana has to offer…
Get Up to Get DOWN! For when those couloirs are finally filled in, you’ve shaken the summer rust off your ski legs, and you’re ready to really get after it, the Atlas Spindrift Snowshoes are there for you. When it’s…
Recently, my partner (fellow OPL gear tester Patrick) and I went on a 6-week journey to the Balkans in Eastern Europe. We wanted to do it all: climb, hike, camp, sightsee, learn, explore, and eat delicious food. That meant we…
As someone who typically spends every weekend in the mountains, once the snow falls and the lakes freeze over, I don’t want that to keep me from adventuring high above the tree line. I’ve been looking for a pair of…