Ortovox Peak 29 Women's Pack
January 27, 2008
Words fail me in trying to begin this review. How to clearly get across how this pack won me over by embracing me gently in its perfectly placed straps, how I couldn’t wait to load it up after intuitively knowing how it could handle any gear in comfort, how its ski carry system wafted me and my skis to the top of the slope in perfect harmony, how I love that little flower embroidered on the flap which boldly declares “this is a woman’s pack, and proud of it!”
Needless to say I have fallen hard for this pack. It fits perfectly, has a (waterproof!) camera pocket that I can actually reach, and fits all my winter gear and then some. The front flap (diagonal zip with a velcro seal) holds probe and shovel, and the interior top-access compartment holds pretty much everything else. There’s a lot of techno-babble about how Ortovox developed the pack with the help of some spinal experts, yadda yadda, whatever – no matter how they did it, it works. This is a pack that carries so well you’ll forget you have it on, even while skiing.
My fellow backcountry skiers know that that pesky shovel blade can take up a lot of room, and that’s true no matter what pack you use. I fully expect to be able to use this pack for overnights in the summer once I can safely ditch that shovel blade. I also had a little trouble fitting my shovel handle into the front pocket; I had to disassemble it completely which will add a little time to deployment, and I’m not crazy about that. However, I do carry a hefty full-featured shovel, so I guess that’s my own fault. Similarly, my avalanche probe doesn’t really fit in the provided sleeve, but it fits fine if I don’t use the sleeve. I think those inner sleeves are my one big complaint about this pack. What are they for? Nothing really fits in them. If I put my probe in the sleeve, it sticks out the top of the pocket. It’s kind of odd, and therefore the sleeves are a bit pointless. I do use them for my shovel handle pieces, but it would be nice if the probe fit as well. As it is, I just let the probe float around in the pocket, which seems to work just fine.
Speaking of avalanche safety, somehow the strap system of this pack manages not to interfere with my transceiver harness. Miracle of miracles. *happy dance*
This pack also has a super cool emergency whistle on the chest strap. For some reason, though, it’s upside down on my pack. Odd, but maybe just a manufacturing error.
One last observation – good for me, bad for you – this pack is hard to find. It’s a shame because it’s such a great pack, but it’s also pretty awesome to be the only person with such a cool piece of equipment.
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