Mountainsmith Ride Ultrapack

Mountainsmith and Ride (a snowboard company) co-designed a middle sized pack for backcountry snowboarding/snowshoeing. I don't snowboard, but I was searching for a well designed winter daypack to quickly put my snowshoes on when I don't use them (often a pain on most packs).

The panel system with the little "bottom holder" that maintain the snowshoes tight in place works marvelously! The padding is tremendous and the pockets system (one large on top that hangs over the inside of the bag, therefore useful to cover the items when you open the pack in a storm, another inside for valuable objects, a small one on the panel and a Camelbak pouch) works fine. The size is perfect for a winter dayhike or a 2-3 days in summer. But as it is a bit wide, use a smaller one if you only carry a few things, or it will sag a bit.

In all, one of the most comfortable bags I had (comparable to my Dana Design and Lafuma) and the perfect bag for winter snowshoeing if you bring clothes, crampons and food and don't want to spend precious time to attach, remove, attach again, remove again your snowshoes...