Let me start by saying that I really love this backpack. It has a large capacity, but can be compressed if you aren't using all the space. The pack is separated into two main sections: a dry section and a wet section. One thing I don't exactly like is that as you shove more things in the dry part, the space you have in the wet part decreases, and vice versa, so you don't have as much space as you think you do.The wet section is pretty simple. It has a small reinforced metal hole at the bottom to allow for drainage. Inside there are two sleeves, designed to store a probe and shovel handle, and a mesh pocket that could house a beacon or something of similar size. The top closure is a pull string, not zipper, so you can really cram a lot of stuff into this pocket even if you don't exactly have the room for it.
The dry section is large and accessible via a zipper on top (under the top compartment) or via zippers that run along the entire front side of the pack (the side touching your back). Inside is a zipper mesh pouch with a clip for your keys. Other than that this compartment is wide open. One thing I don't like about this compartment/pack is that the top is wider than the bottom. This may not be a problem for most, but I found that my heavy items (which are supposed to be at the bottom of the pack) were also my bigger, more bulky, items, and so they didn't fit as well as I would have desired. This is really my biggest problem with the bag, but I imagine that other people don't have this issue. I avoid it by simply padding the bottom with clothes in order to push the bulky stuff further up to where the pack is wider.
Inside the dry compartment is a long zipper that gives access to the hydration pocket. This pocket has a reinforced metal drainage hole at the bottom of it. There isn't much to say here except that this pocket can easily handle the 100oz camelback hydration pouches.
The top compartment is designed to store a helmet and goggles. The bottom of the top part has a zipper pouch that could store a few small things. I have some tools in mine. Opening the main zipper of this top part will give way to the helmet storage and a soft pouch with a Velcro closure that stores your goggles. This whole compartment also has a zipper that allows you to expand it in order to accommodate larger helmets, or whatever you want to put in it.
On the outside there are straps for skis, a snowboard, snowshoes, or pretty much anything you can think of. What I love about these straps is that they aren't all over the place. There are few straps and they aren't overly long or made for obscure scenarios. One thing that I can see people may have trouble with is strapping a snowboard to the pack if it is fully loaded. One can stuff a lot in the pack, but that will decrease the amount of space you have to work with the limited length of the straps. Overall, I don't think fitting a snowboard on would be a problem even if the pack was very full. One could probably fit skis and a snowboard on it if they had the desire and strength to carry it all.
Bottom line I think this is an excellent pack. I would recommend it to anyone who does snow sports and needs a little extra cargo capacity. If you're going to go on a backcountry expedition this is probably the pack you will want to take. You can fit the avalanche gear you need as well as spare clothing and food for a few days.
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