Key Specs:
Brand: Le Bent
Model: Le Send
Price: $32
Availability: Fall 2019
Unique Features: merino wool/rayon blend, silicon heel lock

Upshot: Australian company Le Bent worked with professional skier Cody Townsend to create a ski sock explicitly designed for backcountry touring. The sock is thicker around the toes for warmth, a weave pattern on the upper forefoot that promotes breathability and silicon strips on the heel to help lock down the foot in the boot.

Who It’s For: Skiers. Snowboarders will probably like it too though.

Insight: How much of a difference does a sock really make in skiing? A lot. As in, make or break your day. In skiing, your feet are the most critical part of your body; they control the skis beneath you, and if they’re cramped or frozen or blistered they won’t do that efficiently.

The Le Send tackles the main goals of a ski sock: to provide warmth, breathability and security in the boot. Townsend’s involvement in the project should be taken as noteworthy; he’s no stranger to product development, and played an integral role in testing and revising Salomon’s revolutionary Shift ski binding. There’s no reason a sock should be considered less seriously — especially by someone who just set out on a three-year goal to climb and ski the most iconic ski descents in North America.