Work isn’t so bad when you’re spending it on the slopes. That’s what The Inertia’s gear team was fortunate enough to do this past January at Palisades Tahoe. Sure, it was a blast, but we were all business: We set up the trip to test out some of the best snowboarding gear, skiing gear, and other winter essentials at one of North America’s premier resorts.
The Inertia 2025 Winter Gear Test
To be honest, as long as there’s snow on the ground, we’re testing winter gear. But when the opportunity arose for us to gather at Palisades Tahoe and do some gear testing as a team, we jumped at it. Getting together in this way also allows us to get high-quality, professional photos to illustrate our winter guides and show you, our readers, how the products look in the real world. That way, when we’re out skiing and snowboarding (ahem, testing) the rest of the season, we can focus on chasing good turns and putting our gear to the ultimate test, whether that’s skiing bell to bell or getting laps in the backcountry.
Palisades Tahoe: Our Testing Grounds
There are few places that serve us better as a testing ground for winter gear. With a vertical rise of 2,850 ft, on those days that hover around freezing, we can get a feel for how a piece of gear performs in springlike conditions at the base, and biting-cold midwinter windchill at the summit, all in one run. And with seemingly endless terrain, we could chase whatever conditions we desired – hunt out pockets of fresh snow, rip perfect morning corduroy, or challenge ourselves on sun-warmed moguls.
And at a place like Palisades Tahoe, where half the lift line seems to have been in a ski movie, you never know who you’re going to run into. We happened to bump into freeride skiing legend Cody Townsend while traipsing around the village, got in line for fresh-baked cookies at the Wildflour cafe with Jeremy Jones and the family, and watched the up-and-coming pros send it off the Palisades chutes from the sun deck of Gold Coast lodge. All in a day’s work.
What Gear We Tested
Snowboarding Gear
This was a snowboard apparel testing bonanza! While we tackled some hard goods testing on our trip to Palisades Tahoe, the primary goal was to test the durability, insulation, articulation, and weatherproofing of a variety of snowboard jackets and snowboard pants. Beyond that, we also checked out a few snowboard helmets and goggles, some mittens, and a few base layers. The variety of weather was perfect for testing apparel – from chilly mornings in the low teens to sunny afternoons hovering near freezing, each kit was assessed based on its ability to keep us warm and dry, how well it kept our temperatures regulated as things warmed up, features such as pockets and ventilation, and, of course, performance while riding.
Skiing Gear
Our main focus in the world of skiing is outerwear. The Best Ski Bibs is one of Will Sileo’s personal favorite gear reviews, both because he gets to ski while testing bibs for the article, and because he’s very proud of the work that went into it – years of testing dozens of ski bibs has lead him to some very interesting realizations about ski bib design, which you can read more about in the review, here. Ski jackets are another area of focus for Sileo, as well as goggles, helmets, ski sunglasses, gloves, and more.
We were also able to do some side-by-side testing of all-mountain skis, with a focus on freeride designs, so stay tuned for coverage on that side of things later this season.
Winter Essentials
From winter boots to jackets, the Palisades Tahoe village provided us with an iconic location for photos, and during our testing dates, bitingly cold morning temperatures, perfect for layering up in some cozy winter jackets that we had the pleasure of testing.
We also got to test some winter boots, from knee-high galoshes perfect for deep drifts to lightweight and warm apres-boots, made for boogying into the evening hours.
Editor’s Note: Check out our full list of ski and snowboard guides here.
The Inertia Testing Team
Nate Lemin is an Affiliate Gear Editor at The Inertia and a lifelong snowboarder. He heads up most of the snowboard coverage on the gear side of our site (best job ever?), as well as camping and backpacking content. Based in Tucson, AZ, quality snow requires a bit of a drive for Nate, but he calls Arizona Snowbowl his home mountain and gets out to California to join Will in Tahoe whenever possible!
Will Sileo is The Inertia’s Managing Gear Editor. A lifelong skier and, more recently, a snowboarder as well, Sileo’s got the California seasonal cycle on lock. He spends his summers and fall months in San Francisco, foiling and surfing. As the snow starts to fall, he trades in the wetsuit for Gore-Tex and spends the winter and spring searching out untouched lines in the mountains around Lake Tahoe.
Editor’s Note: To see the results of our winter gear testing, check out our full list of ski and snowboard guides here.
