A jacket-and-bibs combo named after Utah's Cottonwood Canyons — terrain famous for both lift-served laps and serious skin tracks — has arrived, and it's built to handle both without a costume change.

The Cottonwoods Xpore LT G2 kit from Backcountry's in-house brand BGA uses Xpore technology, a waterproof, breathable membrane that keeps snow out while letting sweat escape. The stretch fabric is light enough for uphill travel yet robust enough for resort days, and reviewers note the fit allows a full range of motion whether you're touring or carving.

Several updates over the previous generation stand out. The jacket's oversized pit zips have dropped their mesh lining for more direct airflow, and a ventilated storm flap means you can dump heat without letting snow in. On the bibs, a mid-chest cut gives you room to strip or add layers mid-tour while still keeping deep powder where it belongs — outside your pants.

Backpack integration is the theme of the redesign. The jacket's flaps are cut so a pack's hipbelt can slide underneath and stay secure, which sounds minor until you've spent a day fighting a waist strap that keeps riding up. The chest pockets are oversized enough to hold climbing skins, and there's a dedicated accessory pocket with routing for corded headphones. Wrist gaiters, a stowable hood, and self-adhering bib straps round out the details.

There's a sustainability angle too: both pieces are made without intentionally added PFAS — the so-called forever chemicals increasingly being phased out of outdoor gear — and use recycled, Bluesign-approved materials.

For travellers, this kind of do-it-all kit matters when you're packing for a trip that mixes resort skiing with sidecountry touring — think Utah, the Alps, or Japan's powder zones — and you don't want to bring two separate outfits. One kit that skis well on-piste, breathes on the skintrack, and packs down light earns its space in your bag. It's also a sign of where ski apparel is heading: lighter, more versatile, and increasingly free of PFAS treatments that other brands are only now phasing out.

Backcountry has been selling outdoor gear and its own apparel lines since 1996, with advice available from its Gearhead experts both online and in its stores.

Story first reported by Ski Magazine.