Osprey Switch 26 review

(Cross posted to snow hugger)

Skiing with a backpack may be a foreign concept to some people, but it's really quite useful. In the backcountry, it's essential for carrying avalanche gear, food, extra layers, maps, and various other gear. I don't bring a back with me as much when I'm skiing in-area, but they're very useful there too. I usually pack at least some water and lunch to save myself from the wallet destroying ski cafeteria food prices.

The past couple years I've been skiing around with various backpacks that weren't designed for ski use. They get the job done but not typically in the most graceful fashion, so I decided to do some ski backpacking shopping this season. As with most gear purchases, I spent way too much time reading about and looking at various packs before I settled on the Osprey Switch 26.


This bag is packed with so many useful features that I'm not sure where to start. One of my favorite features is the way the drinking tube is integrated into one of the shoulder straps. Not only does it help keep the the tube from freezing up (although it still will on a cold day if you don't blow it out), but it also keeps your water within easy reach. I find that I'm far more likely to stay adequately hydrated if I have easy access to water.

The roomy hip pockets are a good place to store an energy bar and a camera for those sweet shots of your ski buddy eating powder. Or if you favor a little warmer-upper instead of an energy bar, there's room for that too.

Skis strap on in either a-frame or diagonal style, and you still have access to your gear because of the backside entry. You can also carry a snowboard vertically.

The helmet pocket is nice, but I'm not sure it's a really useful feature for me yet. Usually, I'm either wearing the helmet or leaving it in the car, so I don't typically have the need to pack the helmet. The other day, however, I stuffed my helmet in there because I was getting too hot with it on my head. I wish they would have made the pod just a little bigger, because my large helmet just barely fits in there. The helmet pod also has a nifty fleece goggle pocket. Again, not a super useful feature, but it's kind of nice. Rounding out the helmet pod features is the standard car key clip.

The layout of the storage are is a little unusual. There's one compartment (the "dry" compartment") that you access via the back panel, and another (the "wet" compartment) that you access via the top. I've never really worried about getting things wet while I'm out skiing, but I'm learning how to make use of that feature. The Wet side contains space for my shovel, shovel handle, lunch, and any other snow study gear that I've decided to take with me. I've also started storing extra outerwear (like mittens) in the wet compartment.

The back panel is made of a material that's supposed to shed snow. So far so good; the snow tends to brush right off. The back panel also contains some sort of rigid material to help it keep its shape. The first time out I found that this irritated my shoulder bones a little, but I think it has broken in since then. I still think it would have been nice if it were a little more narrow (to fit between my shoulder bones). It's also more comfortable if I don't stuff that section of the pack with too much stuff.

A couple more small features: The adjustment straps for the waist belt are arranged like a pully system which makes it easier to snug up to your waist. The sternum strap contains an integrated whistle. (I'm not sure if that's for rescue purposes, picking up snow bunnies, or just annoying your friends.)

In the half dozen trips I've taken with this pack, I'm pretty happy. It does what I need it to do without being too large and it looks pretty good to boot. It's available all over the place, but I got mine at REI.