The Kresta and Kamber ski touring packs have a smooth formed back panel which is thermal padded and designed to prevent snow from sticking. The internal frame is made of a light wire aluminum material which provides good rigidity and support. At just 30 litres the Kresta is a relatively small pack but it’s suspension system is well designed as it has to occasionally carry your skis and/or snowboard.

In order to access the interior of the Kresta or Kamber packs you need to first undo the buckles located on each of the shoulder straps. Once this is done you can then unzip the back panel access and get at anything you need from inside the pack. You can either keep the hip belt on, and swinging the pack to the front of the body, or you can put the front of the pack onto the snow and access the back panel. Both options will allow you to keep the back panel dry so when you put the pack back on it’s not wet or full of snow.

Huge back panel access so you can easily access your gear.

The main body of the Kresta and Kamber is where you store all your gear that needs to stay dry and away from your wet avi gear. In this compartment area there are a few more zipper pockets. One is a mesh zipper pocket that has a built in hook to secure your keys, the other is for your hydration reservoir. The hydration hose routes through an insulated thermal sleeve in the shoulder harness, helping prevent the hose from freezing. 

The right shoulder strap has a built in hydration sleeve to help prevent your water from freezing when the mercury dips.

All the zippers on the pack have extra large loops so you don’t have to take your gloves off in order to unzip or zip up your pack. All the clips on the pack are also glove friendly so your hands can stay warm rather than exposing them to the elements.

On the sternum strap there's a safety whistle built into the buckle, the whistle is located close to your mouth for ease of use and is oriented upside down to prevent snow from getting into it. Further down on the hip belt there are two large pockets to store items that need to be quickly accessed, such as your cell phone or snacks. 

A build in rescue whistle is found on the sternum strap,… just in case.

Some of the largest pockets on any pack we’ve tested are found on the Kresta and Kamber packs.

The top of the Kresta and Kamber packs has a specially designed snow goggle pocket, it's fleece lined to keep your goggles scratch free. This pocket is quite large, and can store much more than your goggles and has an oversized zipper so access is easy. The helmet carry is found below this pocket tucked away in a velcro area while above the goggle pocket there is a sturdy haul loop/carry handle.

There are a few options for ski or snowboard carry including diagonal and A-frame. The horizontal straps can also allow you to carry snowshoes. Any areas of the pack that come into contact with the metal edges of skis to snowboards are reinforced with durable material to prevent rips and tears. On the bottom of the pack there is also an ice axe loop should your day include some ski mountaineering.

The exterior top pocket is large enough to accommodate your lunch and sunnies.

Last but not least, the avalanche gear storage compartment or “J pocket” in the front of the pack has plenty of pockets for all your safety gear (shovel, avalanche probe, saw) with a red zipper on the outside of the pack to identify the location of your safety gear. Inside this compartment there is another mesh pocket for smaller items. The safety gear storage area was designed to keep your wet avi tools away from the main compartment which provides dry storage for clothes and lunch.

The avalanche tools pouch can accommodate a shovel, save, probe and more. There's also a separate pocket for smaller items.

• Glove friendly zipper pulls 
• Reinforced wear points to protect pack from metal edge abrasion 
• Extra-large front panel J-zip access to avalanche safety kit pocket with shovel handle and probe sleeves 
• Helmut storage
• Insulated hydration tube sleeve 
• Diagonal ski carry 
• Vertical ski carry and horizontal back panel snowboard carry 
• Ice tool loop
• Scratch-free goggle pocket 
• Wet/dry gear division 
• Zippered fabric hip-belt pockets 
• 2 Internal zippered mesh stash pockets
• Light wire Frame
• Thermoformed Contoured Back panel
• Adjustable sternum strap with whistle

Two options for carrying skis, A-frame and diagonal across the back of the pack, which is also how you’d carry a snowboard.

A built in helmet carry system allows you to free up interior space by affixing your helmet to the exterior of the Kresta and Kamber packs.

Looking for a women’s specific ski touring pack (or a men's version in the case of the Kamber pack) which is loaded with features and able to support you on a full day of backcountry skiing? Then the Osprey Kresta 30 may be for you, unless of course you’re now a man, then it’s the Osprey Kamber 32.

Both packs are well designed and allow you to organize your gear in an efficient manner with quick and easy access to your avi tools. They easily fits all your avalanche gear, safety kit and have room for extra clothing and food. The back panel access is super handy and the long list of features makes these packs a winner. If you are a snow boarder, fear not these packs have you covered there as well.

I’m a smaller framed woman with a history of back and feet issues and this pack allows me to carry all that I need without the extra weight. The contour of the women’s specific Kresta pack fits well around my waist and hips and feels great on my back when putting in laps on the skin track.