Lowe Alpine South Peak Centro 40/30

I bought this pack when I was studying abroad in Austria during the '02/'03 school year. My goal was to find something that would be great for taking off on long weekend warrior outings as well as some backcountry skiing and hiking trips in the Alps. Being a student, I didn't want to spend a ton of money, so I was looking for the best of all worlds in price, size, functionality, durability, etc. This pack turned out to be the best souvenir from the entire year i was there.

Per the website below, the pack was built for ski touring and mountaineering. Attaching skis and poles is a bit cumbersome, as with all these types of packs, but with some practice it isn't bad at all. I haven't done any real mountaineering with this pack, but the extra daisy chains, loops, and misc lash points and some creativity really helped this pack travel well with me.

Also it is just small enough to act as a carry-on when flying, even when fully packed. So, you don't have to worry about checking it if you don't want to.

The only thing I can think of that is missing would be a compartment for a water bladder. But I don't think that trend had started when I purchased this pack.

Lastly, a 35-liter Sea-to-Summit Ultra-Sil dry bag fits perfectly in the event you need some waterproofing in your life.

Used this pack for:

Backcountry Skiing
Weekend long Avalanche Training Course
One month backpacking trip through Italy and Greece
Numerous weekend camping trips.
3 Day hiking trip through the Nepali Coast in Kauai, HI

Website to product info:
http://www.lowealpine.com/Products/Detail.asp?ProductTypeID=11&ProductGroupID=855&Position=16&SpecificActivityID=