Hi Jess,

I'm not sure if this is the answers you're looking for since your post is pretty general.

I hope I don't have to mention you need a probe, shovel and transceiver. You also need to practice using the transceiver at a beacon practice basin (or similar). It is strongly recommended you take an AST course at some point. If you have some experienced friends, I would recommend taking the course mid-winter or first thing next season.

As far as equipement goes, here's what I wish someone gave me as advice:

Boots: Get something very light with 3-4 buckles. Along the lines of the Scarpa Maestrale or Dynafit One, or equivalent. Try them all out and pick the one that fits best. Also, make sure your foot is not tight lengthwise, because when you skin up your feet move a little bit (and you probably want to keep your toenails). Intuition lines are good.

Bindings: Get Dynafits with ski brakes.

Skis: That is very much personal preference. Since you are new to skiing, it probably won't matter much. Get something cheap and used maybe, until you figure out what you like. I find that a roughly 100 mm waist works great in most conditions. I like a ski with camber and a longer radius. Keep in mind the wider you go, the heavier on the tour up. So I wouldn't recommend a set of Rossis S7 with metal in them...

Skins: Black Diamond are the standard and everyone is happy with them. I prefer the mix or the full mohair versions for the obvious reasons, although a bit pricier. I have the full mohair Geckos and like them a lot. Stay away from any G3. Dynafit skins look pretty good too.

Clothing: That's generally pretty obvious. For pants, I use the Arcteryx Gamma SK softeshells. They are cool enough in the spring and I layer up a bit in the winter. They are pretty nice for skinning up. No vents though.

For backcountry winter camping, I have no experience so I'll let others advise you.

Hope this helps. Welcome to ski touring. I'll be on my 2nd season without a season pass, touring only, and it's awesome! Even though I just said that, slackcountry is the best way to get into backcountry. It's a great transition with lots of people around and short laps.

Cheers, Joel in Revelstoke.

All sound advice... although why don't you like G3 skins?  I always get G3's and I've never had any problems with them.

I've had bad experience with the grey series of G3 skins. The glue turned super gooey after two years to the point I didn't want to touch it with my hands. My dad's set had the glue come off in patches after 5 days. But that doesn't really matter since that was the old models.

The new models, which are selling right now, those are the shitty ones. The grip is really weak. I pass people swearing at their G3 skins all the time at Roger's Pass. As soon as a skin track becomes somewhat crusty/icy, G3's don't work anymore. I also have a friend who's been swearing at his set all season last year, he was too cheap to throw them in the garbage and get a proper set. And that is just the common word in the community from everyone I know. The other complain I've heard is from the tip clips/attachement. I hear they ofter get kicked while skinning up and the tabs bend, and they fall off more often than they should.

On another note, I bought a pair of G3 skis a couple years back. I figured they had been in business for a while so they must have their shit figured out. And I thought I might as well support a canadian company. Turned out the skis sucked. I felt like an intermediate skier skiing in variable conditions. They even were not very good in perfect powder conditions. 

That was it for me and G3; Genuine Garbage Gear.

I found some other canadian made skis which are awesome: Prior Husumes. I guess I'll keep skiing Priors until they make garbage.

Hopefully my gear feedback is useful for some people.

Cheers, Joel.

Thanks very much for the help guys! Will look into those products.

~ JF