Gear Guide: Winter Gifts (Part 3)

Cushe BoHo Chill (pictured above)
($180; cushe.com)
“They’re like a foot hug,” is how our tester described these downtown-ready winter boots. You won’t wear them snowshoeing, but before and after and all around town, they’re perfect and ridiculously comfortable.

K2 Route Helmet
($150; k2skis.com)
Weighing a little more than half-a-pound, is the Route the lightest snowsport helmet out there and the only one we’d wear backcountry skiing. It’s also one of the first to be ski and bike compliant.

Eddie Bauer First Ascent Nail Driver Soft Shell Pants
($200; eddiebauer.com)
Take a classic Carhartt work pant and make it out of a mix of nylon, poly and Spandex and you’ve got the best winter pant we’ve seen. We’ll be using them for everything from chopping wood to skiing.

Icebreaker Atom Half-Zip
($210; icebreaker.com)
By wrapping merino wool around a nylon core and then brushing it, Icebreaker almost doubled the warmth of this mid-weight fleece while maintaining all the benefits of merino.

The North Face Fuse Uno Jacket
($500; thenorthface.com)
A bit mind-blowing, the hard shell Fuse Uno is made from one piece of fabric that varies in thickness to cut bulk and weight. This origami trick is cut so the fabric is thicker in the torso, shoulders, arms and hood for durability.