Over twenty years ago, Craig Kelly approached the design team at Burton with a concept. After spending time in Alaska season after season, Kelly saw the gear that guides used in the highly technical conditions and wanted outerwear that performed just as well but had the aesthetic and fit of the gear he was accustomed to wearing at the resort. Kelly named the line [ak] in homage to Alaska, and twenty years since the line’s launch, Burton continues to push the envelope of snowboard-specific performance, stylishly. And like those early days, riders have continued input through the entire design process.
Not a brand to rest on its laurels, two decades in the crew behind [ak] decided to do a complete revamp, assessing every seam and every zipper, creating not just outerwear but entire layering systems designed to work together in some of the harshest cold-weather conditions on the planet.
Late last year, we had the unique pleasure of testing a few pieces from the men’s and women’s lines and were thoroughly impressed (more on that here).
