GEARJUNKIE - When you go as hard in the paint as Cody Townsend, you know what you like in your gear. So, when the pro skier and Hyperlite Mountain Gear (HMG) collaborated on a new ski mountaineering pack, Townsend came prepared with a list of notes and a sketched design.

From those humble origins arose the Crux 40, a new 40L skimo pack that welds HMG’s commitment to minimalism and Dyneema Composite Fabric (DCF) with a wish list Townsend’s been collating for the better part of a decade.

“I kind of started piecing together ideas from others while soaking up knowledge and experience on my own within ski mountaineering over the past seven years,” Townsend shared with GearJunkie in an interview.

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OUTSIDE — Anyone who’s watched Cody Townsend’s The Fifty series, which documents his multi-year attempt to climb and ski North America’s 50 most iconic ski lines, knows he’s a big fan of large-lens sunglasses—not the type of giant, round-lens glasses commonly worn by celebrities, but outdoor-focused, wrap-around glasses that look like goggle lenses without the goggle frames. Townsend says he’s adopted these large glasses for several reasons. For starters, they keep out more of the sun during his 12-hour days on the skin track. And because they’re big enough to shield his face on most descents, they make for a lighter and less cumbersome option than goggles.

Townsend isn’t the only one choosing glasses over goggles. If you show up to your local ski area before work, you’ll find plenty of uphill skiers wearing large-lens glasses. Same thing out in the backcountry. When it’s not hammering snow, skiers love to wear glasses instead of goggles.

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Whether you have big plans to climb or ski the backcountry this season, quality gear can make all the difference. So take a look at a new product that combined the best attributes of sunglasses and goggles.

The Smith Pursuit is a new kind of eyewear that is versatile, durable and capable of taking you further on your adventure, and can do it all. They blend goggle-like coverage with the airflow and easy-to-wear feel of sunglasses that perform while you're climbing and descending.

Designed with professional skier Cody Townsend, ski mountaineering just got a lot easier to pack with this breakthrough product. Jam-packed with the features of goggles and sunglasses, they were designed with the intent to make them as packable as possible, making this one-of-a-kind product the ideal piece of gear for your next backcountry adventure.

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This bonus episode is a video guide to not only some of the specifics of the Bugs to Rogers Traverse itself, but how to use digital mapping technology to help make your plans more efficient, safer and ultimately more fun.

Not all backcountry backpacks are the same. In this bonus episode of The FIFTY, the details of Avalanche Airbag backpacks and what goes in them is discussed.

This bonus episode specifically details the exact gear that was used during the filming of Line 38/50 - The Sphinx. Watch and find out what is the necessary gear for climbing and skiing steep lines, in glaciated terrain with fresh powder snow!

Pick up a Hyperlite Mountain Gear backpack, and you'll be blown away by what you're not feeling: weight. Bulk. Unnecessary trimmings and features. Hyperlite has built its reputation around constructing lightweight, high-quality backpacking packs, tents and accessories meant to get you outside, without weighing you down.

Today, the brand announced an exciting new addition to its roster of outdoor-oriented, minimalist lineup: the Headwall 55 Ski Pack.

The first-ever ski pack made with abrasion-resistant Dyneema Composite fabrics — a woven, extremely lightweight and tough material — Hyperlite's new ski pack holds 55 liters and up to 40 pounds, and was designed with help from ski legend Cody Townsend to address the needs of backcountry athletes.

The Headwall 55 was built to respond to the rigors of the mountain: it can carry skis, snowboards, or split boards thanks to reinforced side panels, and features a dual closure avy pocket with organizational sleeves to keep probe and shovel easily and quickly accessible. A customizable hip belt allows you to pick and choose what you want right at your fingertips, and multiple compression straps secure gear.

Best of all? Like its fellow Hyperlite packs, the Headwall 55 weighs in at a feather-light 2.6 pounds, making it a no-brainer for this season's backcountry explorations.

The Headwall 55 is available now.