best headlamp for emergencies or late skiday trips

I'm good with the Icon and in any event put my trust in the known brands. I like the features Scott mentions and carry a multi purpose battery pack (three full phone charges, or other mixed use..). Red light capable and dimm-able are a big deal for me. Other than that, I imagine the relationship between output and current consumption is near linear..

You really want a good lamp for night skiing? Broaden your horizons. Do you ride a bike at night? USE A BIKE LIGHT for night skiing.

Seriously. The only drawback: It is a little wonky getting it on your helmet.

I have two of these. Each has 850 lumens...and each is brighter than that Petzl thingy...and these bike lights are cheaper. And each is rechargeable with a USB. These suckers put out A LOT OF LIGHT!

PLUS: You can use it on your bikes too!

www.amazon.com/Cygolite-Expilion-Light-H...-Mount/dp/B00LXTOPNU

+1 for the bike lights, they are insanely bright ...

haven't tried to fiddle it for skiing yet, but it would be awesome.

Lupine lights my mountain bike rides. Here is the link to their headlamps:

www.lupinenorthamerica.com/headlamp_sets.asp

Another super bright option besides bike lights are some of the headlamps made by Fenix. I have a 350 lumen one that I love but they also have some serious photon cannons that make mine look dim. I like the removable batteries for zero downtime (and not having a headlamp that eventually sucks when a built in battery starts losing capacity like they all eventually do) and you can use Eneloop rechargeable batteries if you love recharging.

+1 also on the bike light idea, super bright and usually have a much longer throw. I'm not sure what the measure is for throw, but you can have 2 lights with the same lumens, both will appear equally bright when looking 'at' them, but one will focus the light much further than the other. Bike lights are fine when wearing a helmet, only problem is if you're skinning in the dark and not wearing your helmet (I only wear on the way down) there's no convenient / comfortable way to wear without a helmet.