These gloves are sick. Soooo warm, comparable to mittens. The liner removes in two seconds and goes back in in two seconds, never pulls out accidentally and never bunches up. They are really waterPROOF. And the color rules. The leather is top notch too.

Maybe the only downside is they are very bulky and the wrist part won't stay under your sleeve if you like wearing gloves like that. These things will take you backcountry all day and dry out in an hour at night, ready to rip the next day.

Don't get cheap on gloves. They'll last a couple seasons and you ALWAYS pay the price for going cheap.

Just rode the 157 T Rice without horsepower for 7 days in Whistler with Union Force SL bindings. Im not as in love with it as everybody else. This is the second time Ive tried to buy a board that is supposed to do everything well and eliminate the need for multiple boards, and again I think it comes up a little short. On the positive side, magnetraction is the truth. The thing carves beautifully and holds a nice edge, even in dust on crust conditions. Noticeably better than the burton edges I think. The graphics on the the topsheet and bottom are pretty sick.

Regarding the camber and flex: This thing, like all the lib techs and the burton flying V and a bunch of other boards has like 16 different cambers in it. The end result, I think, is the thing basically rides and feels and pops like a traditional camber board. Not that thats a bad thing at all, just to me I thought the thing was marketed as being closer to a rocker bottom and it's not. In some aspects it's a good thing, its stiff and dependable in the steeps with no sketchiness like in rocker boards and it has a ton of pop. On the down side, the thing definitely does NOT ride like a longer board. The 157 feels like a 157. Im pretty in love with reverse camber in pow and I thought this board felt really short in the pow. I was disappointed in the float. The blunt tip wasn't helping in the deep snow either, though maybe thats psychological. In the same vein, I felt like on the flats it rides like a regular camber so its just not as buttery and playful as a reverse camber board.

The construction seems just awesome. The top sheet is really scratch resistent. Hit a couple little sticks and exposed rock and cant find a flaw on the base anywhere. It feels really, really solid. Better than my burtons actually. Some time ago I think Lib Tech caught flak for construction issues - I think if that were ever true it is ancient history.

Overall, not totally sold. Don't get me wrong. This board is pretty sick overall and can obviously take you anywhere and the board is only a small contribution to how good you ride. I do think though that not even this board can do everything great - its more of a jack of all trades, master of none situation.

I guess my problem isnt the board at all- just the concept of a one board quiver. Im done trying. If I could have my money back, Id get the T Rice in the 161 or 164 for big powder days and a 154 in some reverse camber park type board and pick one or the other depending on the conditions.

Oh - last thing. When I bought I couldn't decide on the horsepower or not. Id say save your money - this board is as stiff as you could ever want and I thought the horsepower looked kind of purple in person and not as good. The horsepower seems like a low volume board thats marketing more than anything.

Hope this review helped someone. Backcountry is a sick company - keep it up guys.