Smith Summit Mips Review

We spent months with the Smith Summit Mips on a variety of ski days, from dawn-til-dusk ski mountaineering to half day resort cruising. Ultimately, this became a favorite ski helmet for backcountry touring across our entire review panel.

Performance Comparison

Impact Test

The Smith Summit Mips came in slightly below average in the review's lineup for our impact testing. While the results weren't stand-out, remember all helmets sold in the US pass the ASTM F2040 safety standards, including all models we've tested.

Slow Impact Test Results

In the slower impact testing done at the ACT Lab, the Smith Summit Mips came in a bit further back in the pack.

Fast Impact Test Results

In fast impact testing, the Smith Summit Mips performed a bit better, but still ultimately scored lower than several helmets in our review's lineup.

Comfort

As a model that's closer to a bike helmet than a ski helmet, we loved the more minimalist feel of the Smith Summit Mips. After wearing this model for a few hundred hours, its final score landed very high.

Other ski helmets that scored as well as the Smith Summit Mips generally used more padding, but the “less is more” construction of the Summit was impressively comfortable, thanks to generous shaping and a fit that sat a bit lower on the head. The tightening suspension system also boasts a more secure fit than much of the competition.

Warmth

As a bike-helmet esc design, this is not the model we'd recommend for warmth. The Smith Summit Mips is in a much different category than the resort riding helmets, with much less material and insulation than most of the competition.

The Smith Summit Mips doesn't have any ear flaps or padding that would otherwise help retain heat. Fortunately, wearing a beanie or a buff under the Summit Mips is a quick and easy way to get at least some fabric over the ears and potentially the neck, but we'd look elsewhere if you're needing more insulation in a ski helmet. In our experience, backcountry skiing doesn't necessarily demand helmet warmth, since so much of the day is spent going uphill, and we didn't feel like we were missing any material in the Summit Mips.

Ventilation

We loved the performance of the Smith Summit Mips in this metric and found it to be among our absolute favorites for ventilation. Simply put, if you demand breathability from your head protection, put this at the top of your list.

As we've previously shared, the Smith Summit Mips doesn't have nearly as much padding or features as many of the resort options. This in turn makes for a very breathable helmet, especially when paired with its vent design. The Summit Mips technically has 33 vents onboard, though several of them are on the smaller side. In our experience, the vents that do the “heavy lifting” for its ventilation are all along the midheight of the helmet on all sides, and offered excellent airflow.

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Usability

We loved the ease of use of the Smith Summit Mips, as a fairly no-frills ski helmet. After extensive field testing we put this model towards the front of the pack.

The Smith Summit Mips is an ideal helmet for backcountry use- it's low profile fits quite easily in a pack and it's easy to adjust if needing to fit a buff or hat underneath. However, it does weigh 16.8 ounces in a size large, which isn't the lightest helmet we've tested. When considering there are even a couple resort models that weigh slightly less than the Summit Mips, this isn't the helmet we'd steer you towards if needing the absolute lowest weight option. Outside of its weight, this model fits a variety of eyewear well and even has its own version of a goggles keeper that worked fairly consistently.

Should You Buy the Smith Summit Mips?

If you're a backcountry tourer and are wanting a helmet specifically designed for that sort of skiing and snowboarding, the Smith Summit Mips is worth looking into. This is one of our favorite helmets we've ever tested for out-of-bounds travel, largely due to its profile and unbeatable ventilation, and we think you'll love having a slimmer helmet like this for touring.

What Other Ski Helmets Should You Consider?