Lowe Alpine’s Mountain Ascent 40:50 is a versatile, comfortable backpack designed for a variety of mountain disciplines from basic mountain walking to ski-touring and ice climbing. While it’s more than capable of satisfying the former and catering to all of your everyday needs well, there are some great features in there that accommodate the trickier terrain as well.

Let’s start with the build. This bag is resilient. The Trishield fabric coating is both lightweight and ultra tough. The Pu bonded to the inside face of the fabric prevents water absorbency and there is a high abrasion rate thanks to the TPU coating as well. Basically, what you need to know is that this is a bag that won’t flood your gear, won’t weigh you down and won’t break on you even in the most extreme conditions. It’s a bag custom-built for the serious mountaineer.

For ice-climbers, the double HeadLocker ice axe attachment system does exactly what it says on the tin. It features a unique buckle which secures the head of the ice axe to the pack and is designed to be as lightweight and mitt-friendly as possible while still ensuring your axes won’t be falling off the pack. Gear loops and ice screw krab slots on the hip belt are also incredibly convenient.

“If that sounds good on paper, it’ll sound even better after a tough day spent battling the elements.”

There’s also a rope under the lid and crampon straps to keep all of your kit safe, easily accessible and to prevent it from tearing up the rest of your gear. A lower entry zip also adds even further to the convenience; it’s designed so that you can separate your climbing gear from the stuff that you’ll need when you come to a stop for the day. It’s a feature that we love – if it sounds good on paper, it’ll sound even better after a tough day spent battling the elements.

If it’s ski-touring that you’ll be focusing on then you’ll take interest in the wide ski slot which caters for the typically fat modern powder ski and a custom-built Tip-Gripper is there to keep your poles attached and in position while you’re on the move.