We Tested the Best Backcountry Skiing Safety Gear for 2024

So, you’ve finally bought that alpine touring set up, with lightweight skis, tech bindings, climbing skins, and versatile touring boots. Or you're getting into ice climbing, winter mountaineering, snow camping, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, glacial travel, or winter hiking. As you know, the snowy, untrammeled backcountry is glorious until something goes wrong—which tends to happen very fast. Aside from getting lost, hypothermic, or incapacitated in an accident, there’s avalanche danger if you’re traveling through snow or across a glacier. In the U.S. alone there were 30 avalanche-related deaths in the 2022-23 ski season, and triple that during the same period in Europe. Even experienced winter backcountry navigators can wind up in trouble or simply have a very bad day out there.

None of this is meant to scare or dissuade you. Heading into the snow-laden backcountry is a life-enhancing experience, but also a unique, challenging task that deserves our respect and preparation. In addition to enjoying pristine settings, solitude, exercise, and adventure that only a winter environment can provide, you’ll be testing your outdoor skills in Mother Nature’s unique laboratory. Here’s how to up your survival quotient with a list of the best backcountry skiing safety items we’ve tested this season.

Why You Should Trust Us

Our team of testers spends November through May skiing, snowboarding, mountaineering, and ice climbing. We ascend peaks, traverse glaciers, rappel into couloirs, and explore untracked backcountry throughout some of the wildest terrain imaginable in Oregon, Washington, Canada, France, and Italy. Our testers each have decades of winter backcountry experience, including many winter first ascents/descents in North America and the Alps.

What Is an Avalanche Airbag?

We’ve included three avalanche airbags on this list—and rightfully so. In addition to more traditional snow safety equipment like a shovel, probe, and beacon, an increasing number of skiers (both inbounds and especially in the backcountry) are investing in backpacks with an avalanche airbag. These primarily work with a canister or via an electric charge that rapidly inflates an airbag (attached to a pack) that's designed specifically to keep a skier, snowboarder, snowshoer, or snowmobiler on top of a slide and avoid being buried. As always, the best advice is to keep a close eye on your local avalanche report and pay attention to the risk, but lives have definitely been saved with avi airbags. Our top three picks for the season will round out our list of favorite backcountry ski safety equipment.

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Best Backcountry Watch: Suunto Vertical Titanium Solar Canyon

The Suunto Vertical has way more battery power than an Apple Watch—up to 60 days battery power with its unique solar charging function. You also have free access to off-line maps, dual band GPS/GNSS tracking, and 95 fitness and training apps you can link to your Android or iPhone—plus, an altimeter, barometer, and compass. There’s also a storm alarm and up-to-date weather reports to help you avoid trouble. While it takes some time to master, this is basically the Swiss Army Knife of watches, and will prove to be an indispensable backcountry tool.

Best Optical Tool: Nocs Provisions Zoom Tube 8X32 Monocular

You’re riding the lift and spot an untracked line cutting through a nearby cliff band. Your immediate thought is, “Will it go?” We carry the 9.5 oz. Nocs Provisions Zoom Tube for scoping lines and potential hazards. It’s water resistant, has best-in-class optics, and is pretty much indestructible. Nocs provides a “no matter what” lifetime warranty for added peace of mind.

Best Personal Locator Beacon: Spot X 2-Way Satellite Messenger

Self-rescue is a pillar of a prepared outdoorsman—but in the case of broken bones, crevasse falls, and avalanches, you need all the help you can get. Our more adventurous testers have added the Spot X Beacon to their safety kit, which provides two-way satellite messaging—even when you’re off the grid. Plus, it connects to your cell phone so you can easily access contacts or search and rescue. We’ve tested the beacon in the big mountain ski mecca of La Grave, France, where you'll need to call a helicopter if you’re in trouble. Benefits include bypassing any language barrier and fumbling around for the right country code. The satellite tracking ability is a huge asset when you need a mountain rescue and have no idea how to explain your exact location.

Best 2-Way Radio: Rocky Talkie Mountain Radio

Outdoor athletes know that cell coverage is never dependable, especially in the mountains. But whether you’re following buddies down tight couloirs and trees or timing a photoshoot at your local terrain park, communication is key. We’ve tested a lot of radios, and the 6-oz Rocky Talkie Mountain Radio is ideal for its four-day battery life in sub-zero conditions and excellent range of up to five miles in mountainous terrain. Radios come with lightweight, super strong (20kN), light (24g, 0.8 oz) Trango Quantum carabiners, so you can clip them directly to your backpack strap or harness gear loop. One caveat: If you were thinking of taking these to Europe—don’t. The U.S. FRS and GMRS frequencies overlap with emergency radio frequencies that the EU and UK use, so radios you buy in the United States use restricted frequencies in France, Italy, and Switzerland—especially in the major ski areas.

Best Headlamp: Petzl Swift RL

You might think a headlamp is only necessary when you’re getting up early for pre-dawn ski/snowboard missions, snow camping, or a hut trip. But if you’re traveling in the backcountry, especially in unpredictable terrain, a headlamp is essential gear in case you end up lost or incapacitated. Petzl's Swift RL headlamp is designed for skiing and climbing—armed with a blast of 1,100 lumens to let you see up to 500 feet away. The compact, 100-gram headlamp features reactive lighting, with a sensor that automatically adjusts brightness and beam pattern while optimizing energy use. You can also select standard lighting or red lighting (for reading), plus a red strobe option designed for emergency situations when you need to signal your location. It comes with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

Best Harness: Black Diamond Vision airNET RECCO

This lightweight harness is designed for ice climbing, skiing, and alpine climbing. Weighing in at just 250 grams, Black Diamond's Vision airNET RECCO Harness is supportive, packable, and comfortable. In addition to four molded gear loops (there’s a fifth one that’s made of webbing on the back for a haul line), the Vision airNET has a built-in passive RECCO transponder/reflector that requires no activation and makes you searchable to rescue teams using RECCO detectors.

Best Mountaineering Ax: Trango Altum

If you're backcountry skiing, snowboarding, hiking, or snowshoeing, there’s always a chance of freeze/thaw—especially if you’re traversing rocky bands, dropping couloirs, or moving through areas with creeks, rivers, and waterfalls. When you look at a big-mountain ski guide’s kit, you’ll see that they all carry an ice ax. You want something lightweight, with a straight shaft which you can use as an anchor, hand hold, or self-arrest device—or to dig out your car after returning from the backcountry during a storm cycle. The Trango Altum comes in three lengths, 45 cm, 55 cm, and 65 cm. For ski-mountaineering and other backcountry travel, the 45 cm, at only 309 g (10.5 oz), is ideal. It has a lightweight aluminum shaft and ultra-durable steel pick, and testers love the textured surface on the handle for a secure grip in all conditions.

Best Avalanche Rescue Kit: BCA Tracker4

When it comes to backcountry snow sport safety, BCA (Backcountry Access) is one of the brands we trust the most. You can buy a shovel, probe, and avalanche beacon separately, or you can go with the Tracker4 Avalanche Rescue kit and save about $80 for the whole package. The Tracker4 kit provides the essentials with a Stealth 300 probe (330 g, 11.6 oz), Dozer 1T shovel (545 g, 19 oz), and Tracker4 beacon (6 oz). The aluminum probe collapses into 43 cm sections and the shovel breaks down to 38.7 cm (16 ¼ inches) for packing. We like the Tracker 4 beacon for its big display and glove-friendly ease of use. The transceiver features Signal Suppression (SS) and Big Picture (BP) modes for multiple-victim searching, plus a motion-sensing auto revert-to-transmit mode (AR). There’s also a mini USB port, so you can always be updated with the brand’s downloadable software updates.

Best Avalanche Airbag Systems