Sept 1, 2015 (BOULDER, Colo.) — Backcountry magazine has recognized the La Sportiva Vapor Svelte with its coveted Editor’s Choice award for the 2015-2016 ski season. The La Sportiva Hang5 ski and Spectre boot also earned Powder magazine’s Skier’s Choice award, doubling down on the brand’s first ski awards from the publication last year.

“Our Vapor lineup of skis has continued to impress everyone who tries them, says La Sportiva president Jonathan Lantz. “The carbon nanotube construction remains unique in the market and produces a really powerful ski at very low weight. Pair it with the award-winning Spectre boot and you’ve got an incredible setup for technical backcountry adventures.”

Building on the overwhelming success of the Vapor Nano, which has the lightest weight-to-surface-area ratio of any ski on the market, the Vapor Svelte features the same construction as the Vapor Nano, but in a narrower profile. The Vapor Svelte weighs just 1,050 grams and is constructed from a pre-impregnated composite resin matrix with carbon nanotubes that are sourced and produced in the USA. The result is an extremely lightweight and stiff material that molded into a 96-millimeter wide ski is easy to initiate, does not waiver at speed, and turns effortlessly in soft snow. The Vapor Svelte is available in 168, 178 and 188-centimeter lengths. It retails for $1,200.

Backcountry praised the Vapor Svelte in its annual Gear Guide by saying, “Superlight, but with guts and a backbone. I felt more confident in crud than with many skis that are much wider. Perfect for long, light, fast spring traverses and peak bagging.”

Powder was equally complementary of the Spectre in its 2016 Buyer’s Guide, stating, “A boot that tours and climbs this well should not be so powerful on the way down. But that’s how dialed the Spectre is. Combining 60-degree cuff rotation in tour mode, with a stiffer-than-listed 110 flex, the Spectre has no compromises.” A dedicated backcountry boot, the Spectre is the lightest 4-buckle AT boot on the market.

They continued by heaping praise on the Hang 5 ski, saying, “the fattest ski in the Five series, [the Hang5] has an amazing floatation to weight ratio, and is light enough for a full day of touring. It is certainly wide for the backcountry, but when it comes to downhill performance in powder, the outsized platform means you can fly over the snow.“

The La Sportiva winter collection, available now at top specialty retailers and direct from sportiva.com, features new styles of ski mountaineering hard goods and apparel.

With over 80 years of heritage, La Sportiva has unrivaled experience in building the world’s finest performance mountain footwear. Creating innovation through passion, La Sportiva now offers the most versatile technical climbing, mountaineering, Mountain Running® and hiking shoes on the market as well as ski mountaineering hardware and apparel. For more information on La Sportiva visit www.sportiva.com or visit their Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/LaSportiva