Skis, ski packs and cameras: a kind-of review of Triple Aught Design's FAST Pack Litespeed

Skiing. The act of throwing oneself down a steep hill strapped to two pieces of wood, plastic or other space-age materials while wearing cripplingly uncomfortable boots and as many layers as humanly possible to stay warm in the sub-zero temperatures of the wintery mountains. And yet, thousands of us pack ourselves into planes, trains and coaches and head for the mountains every year. For every thousand Alpine skiers in a given day, between two and four will require medical attention[1]. In the thirteen years that I’ve been skiing, I’ve seen numerous injuries. From the person who slipped stepping off the coach on arrival at the resort, breaking an ankle to the hardcore off-piste skier who tumbled down across my path with arms, legs, skis and poles everywhere. Hardly a day goes by in a ski resort where you don’t see the Sécurité en Piste teams rescuing hapless individuals or the medical helicopter evacuating someone to the local hospital.

Why, then, do so many of us risk life and limb (and frostbite) to partake in this sport. Not to mention snowboarding and the myriad of other winter sports it’s now possible to undertake on the mountains. The spectacular scenery plays a significant part, I’d guess. The breathtakingly dark and rugged mountains contrast with the pure blue sky and soft, pillowy snow just begging to be skied on. The quickening of the heart rate as you stand at the top of a particularly challenging run that you’ve never skied before and the rush you get when you reach the end and the safety of the chairlift to head back up and tackle it all over again are hard to beat. As is the sensation of heading downhill in a tuck at speeds exceeding 60mph[2] or carving perfectly smooth turns on the newly groomed piste.

It’s also pretty good exercise. Or, at least, it certainly feels like it. For me, skiing burns around 450 calories[3] per hour. Of course, all of the extra exercise is wasted as soon as you stop for a hot chocolate (an essential in –25ºC temperatures, mainly so you can thaw out your face, hands and feet!), crèpe or a waffle smothered in Nutella. That said, there aren’t many sports where you spend 8 hours a day doing it for 6 days in a row.

I’m well-known among my close friends and family as being over-prepared (I like to think of it as just well prepared) and skiing is no different. There are some items that I just won’t leave the apartment without: first aid kit, extra layers, plenty of water and food, emergency blanket, torch, knife, multi-tool, phone charger and a whistle. Then there are the items that you want to take with you like a camera, hand warmers or a Thermos. It all adds up to a lot of kit that needs to be carried around all day. It also needs to be protected in the event of a fall or when you get battered by the chairlift as it swoops around to pick you up.

This year, I skied in the French resort of Tignes with Triple Aught Design’s FAST Pack Litespeed. I chose it over the GORUCK GR1 which I skied with last year for a couple of reasons: it’s slightly more waterproof and the transporter tail on the Litespeed is really useful should you need to carry skis for any distance. Alternatively, you can use it to carry a ski helmet or just stuff an extra layer in there. As it happens, our apartment was only a short walk from a bus so I didn’t need to, but the flexibility was there should I have needed it. I also appreciated the extra webbing on the shoulder straps to route my Camelbak tube through. Next year, I need to invest in an insulating sleeve for the Camelbak tube though – a couple of days it froze completely solid as the temperature dipped below –20ºC. I’ve been looking at specialist skiing packs which have an insulated sleeve built into the shoulder strap for a Camelbak tube but a dedicated ski pack seems a bit excessive for the one or two weeks a year that I’d be using it. The only downside to the Litespeed is that there are so many straps and clips that it can be a bit unwieldy, especially when wearing gloves. That said, I did particularly like having the ability to unclip the waist and sternum strap followed by both shoulder straps and allowing the bag to fall to the ground if I needed to get out of it quickly, rather than having to try to loosen the shoulder straps and struggle out of them. It is very comfortable though. Even heavily loaded and after a full day on the slopes.

Inside the Litespeed, I used a couple of small dry bags to keep things together and also keep them dry. Even though the Litespeed hasn’t ever let any water through, I was carrying a 2-litre Camelbak which, should it have leaked or burst, would have been fairly catastrophic since it’s inside the main compartment of the bag. On the GORUCK GR1, it’s a separate compartment which seems like it would cause fewer problems in the event of a leak.

I also brought my Fujifilm X-Pro 1 with 18–55mm zoom lens which I carried in a Hama 110 Colt case that I picked up specifically for this trip. In the past, I’ve used the insert from my Billingham Hadley Pro inside my GR1 to carry my camera gear, however it takes up a lot of space and it simply doesn’t fit inside the Litespeed which is much narrower. The Colt is a small, lightly padded sling-type case with a soft, bright red lining to protect your gear.

It fits the X-Pro 1 perfectly both in terms of width and height with lots of space to spare for depth. It also comfortably carries a smaller DSLR like a Canon 550D or 1100D. The larger bodied DSLRs will just be too big. There’s a nice, wide, double-zippered opening so getting your camera in and out is easy, even with gloves on. The front zipped section is perfect for spare batteries, memory cards or lens cleaning cloths. It’s worth bearing in mind that your camera batteries won’t last long in sub-zero temperatures so it’s always better to carry your spares in pockets close to your body to keep them warm. Overall, it’s a pretty low profile case and is ideal if you want to carry your camera inside a larger bag, although the shoulder strap means you can use it alone if you wish. I’d like to be able to remove the shoulder strap when the bag is being using as an insert, but with a few small modifications, that would be easy to achieve. In terms of weatherproofing, I’d say it’s not much more than water resistant. Perfect for nights when it’s snowing though! Thanks to the guys at LoveCases for sending it through to me in time for my trip. They have a wide range of camera cases for all types of camera.

I can thoroughly recommend the resort of Tignes in France if you’re an expert to advanced skier looking for some challenging on- and off-piste runs. Take a guide with you for the day and give La Vallée Perdue in the neighbouring resort of Val d’Isère a try. As for the Litespeed, once I got the straps organised and the long tails tucked away, it worked really well: waterproof, comfortable and spacious. The Hama 110 Colt also performed well, keeping my X-Pro 1 and lens safe and ready for use both on the slopes and in transit to and from the airport. Given that it’s relatively inexpensive, I can fully recommend it if you’re looking for a small shoulder bag or a camera insert for a larger bag.

What do you carry when you’re outside for winter sports?