Stache Ice 50

Fairly nice overall but a few basic details not in place. As the other reviewer mentioned, the opening is not always sealed against water getting inside. There are several permutations of lid extended/unextended, pack stuffed or half-full, and it only works well with some of them. The non-molded hip belt stashes quite nicely around the back when climbing, and still is reasonably comfy when worn, but the buckles don't click together sometimes (why change from a time-tested plastic buckle design?) Side compression straps come undone easily, somewhat annoying. The crampon pocket is great, and even better for snacks when crampons are on or with no crampons. Hip belt pockets are theoretically nice, though I haven't found enough use for them yet since they're on the smaller side. Side compression straps work decently well when climbing with a half-full pack. Plus points for load lifters. "Pockets" for avy gear are reasonably sleek without adding too much for when you're going without. The pack carries weight nicely, just enough curvature in the frame for some airflow, but not enough that it affects performance.
And some preferences more on the personal side: 1) the orange is too flashy of a hunter's orange and 2) I don't have a ton of confidence that the exterior fabric will last a long time. We will see. But I would gladly take a slightly more durable fabric in exchange for a bit more weight. I know it's an ultralight pack, but the fabric doesn't necessarily spark joy.

Overall works well for a pack of this size, and the hyper-specific (climbing, skiing) features are well thought out. Just more that the basic "backpack" features seem to have been overlooked in the process. I would look forward to a second, revised version.

You can't close the top of the pack. The lid doesn't even cover the opening properly. The material in the top around the opening is a like sponge to water. How can you design a pack that doesn't protect from rain and snow? Really bad.