Ski touring and split boarding in the backcountry have become an ever-greater part of the winter sports experience.
In many ways this is going back to the early decades of skiing a century ago when you earned your turns by hiking up and had the mountains to yourself, the peace and pristine beauty of a stunning mountainside.
After the exertion of the ascent, it is time to take a breath and drink it all in before the whoops of joy as you start your descent through the perfect powder.
What is very different to a century ago is the gear we ski with and the kit we wear, with Picture’s new Backcountry Touring Collection featuring their most advanced technologies yet.
The full range of jackets and pants brings together everything that defines Picture’s ethos, be it venturing out of bounds, riding new lines with friends, exploring the backcountry, pushing your limits, exploring the great outdoors and promoting sustainable solutions for everyday life.
That onus on sustainability means making clothing designed for the circular economy using eco-friendly and non-toxic production techniques, materials, including in packaging and distribution. On the tech side Picture’s nano-porous Xpore membrane incorporates 10 billion nano-pores per inch – each pore an incredible 20,000 times tinier than a water droplet but 200 times larger than a water vapour molecule. So, in low tech terms – the damp stays out, but moisture can escape.
Picture clothing features a light and durable shell with the Xpore 25K membrane coupled with Dryplay 20K stretch fabric.
Picture outdoor clothing has subtle prints and colour palettes delivered in functional designs and ergonomics.
‘Ride, Protect and Share’ are the three words that best describe who Picture are. The company was created by and for outdoor lovers who want to change the rules of their sports and protect their playgrounds.
All Picture’s gear stands out for its bold design and colours, which have won the company numerous design awards. Behind the design it’s good to know Picture produces 100% sustainable products and has committed its business to doing everything in a climate-friendly and low carbon strategy way. In a world of global corporations, often owned by disinterested financial houses with profit the only focus, it also good to know that it remains an independent, French brand.
Top Choices For Women
Picture’s Allea 3L Xpore Jacket with matching 3L Xpore Bib Pants
The jacket has fully-taped seams, an adjustable ergonomic hood, YKK® waterproof zips and waterproof pit zips to keep you cosy and dry. There’s a removable stretch snow skirt, lycra wrist gaiters with thumbholes, again keeping the jacket in tune with your body whichever way you move and however fast on the slopes.
All the details are covered including adjustable cuffs with a hook and loop system, a tightening drawcord hem, chest pockets and front pockets both with waterproof zips as well as an interior pocket with zip, a ski pass pocket and a goggle cleaner.
The pants feature fully-taped seams, adjustable straps, YKK® waterproof zips and a zippered pouch pocket. There’s also two-way zippered openings/vents and snow gaiters with lace hook.
Both jacket and pants are available in XS-S-M-L and XL sizes and feature hard-shell 3-layer stretch fabric. There’s an Xpore 25K/20K membrane, Teflon Ecoelite™ which is PFC free durable water repellent and made to global recycled standard and Oeko-Tex® Standard 100.
Top Choices For Men
Men’s Lassen 3L Xpore Jacket and Lassen 3L Xpore Bib Pants
Picture’s Lassen 3L Xpore jacket with 3L Xpore Bib Pants are the perfect combination for your next backcountry adventure.
Picture’s Lassen 3L jacket has an adjustable ergonomic hood, YKK® waterproof zips, waterproof pit zips, a removable stretch snow skirt, Lycra wrist gaiters with thumbholes and adjustable cuffs with a hook and loop system.
There’s a tightening drawcord hem, chest pockets and front pockets both with waterproof zips and an interior pocket with zip as well as a ski pass pocket and goggle cleaner.
The 3L Xpore Bib Pants has adjustable straps, Lycra side panels. front entry with zip under flap, a mid-rise bib, thigh zips, snow gaiters with lace hook, bottom hem reinforcement and front pockets with waterproof zips.
In other words, Picture have thought of everything.
Both jacket and pants feature fully-taped seams, and the Xpore 25K/20K membrane with Teflon Ecoelite™ PFC free durable water repellent. For their eco credentials both items are made from Global Recycled Polyester Oeko-Tex® Standard 100.
Sustainability
Picture’s main motivation is to make the textile industry less polluting and more sustainable.
There are many ways in which Picture are working to achieve and constantly improve in these areas, but three themes clearly stand out for the entire textile industry and really, all of us buying and using gear too.
- Firstly, we need to produce less, consume less, make clothes last and repair them.
- Second, we need to get away from dependence on coal and gas for the production of electricity to power spinning, weaving and dyeing machines.
- Thirdly we also need to get out of using oil for materials.
Picture’s full scale commitment on these three core aims has led to a whole host of additional environmental and sustainability benefits. They’ve included reducing their greenhouse gas emissions as well as air, soil and water pollution as well as easing pressure on workers and pressure on ecosystems.
For this coming season, all of Picture’s technical gear will be part of The Circular program and made from fabrics using existing waste within the clothing industry.
Picture is using existing waste within its own industry to create new clothes. This ‘Circular Program’ is part of Picture’s never-ending sustainable product innovation policy. 40% of the material used comes from recycling used garments with the other 60% from factory cutting scraps.
The Circular Process emits half the CO2 emissions compared to using new materials but delivers the same level of high technical standards. The yarn is essentially a new technical fabric and has the same level of certification as using new material.
Chronoception
Picture’s new movie this fall, Chronoception, sees athletes Thomas Delfino, Léa Klaue, and Aurélien Lardy embark on an adventure to one of the most remote and still unexplored places in Asia: the Kokshaal-Too Mountains of Kyrgyzstan.
Their twenty-two day expedition follows in the footsteps of the country’s nomadic people along the route of the ancient Silk Road, supported by legendary high-mountain guides Hélias Millerioux and Jean-Yves Fredriksen.
The team find themselves thrown into a world where time and space appear to stand still. There are wild animals, of course, but just as wild are the mountain landscapes and weather patterns.
“Like a modern fable, composed by local musicians who wrote this story in three acts, we immerse ourselves into Kyrgyz culture, a nomadic, shamanic people with ancestral rituals that offer a glimpse into their unique way of life. Like an ode to Adventure, one that early explorers told through watercolors in their travel journals, encountering the wider World and its many people,” says Chronoception director, Guillaume Broust.
Time ultimately accelerates when the riders drop in and make their first turns, sketching stunning lines down truly immaculate peaks.
This very personal adventure ingrains Kyrgyzstan and its culture into each of their hearts.
Chroncoception will be released on YouTube in Spring 2024.
We regularly review the latest gear on our youtube channel see our 2023/24 Gear Playlist Here, or for the latest snow forecast and updates on where is best to ski now, as well as up to date gear reviews, you can check out our regular podcast here Apple | Spotify | Podcasts or search The White Out on your chosen podcast directory.
