How to Pack for Mountaineering

How to Pack a Backpack for Mountaineering This is what I normally pack on a weekend mountaineering trip in the Pacific Northwest. This could be something similar to climbing Mt. Baker which is about a two to three-day trip. I’m going to show you how to pack your pack and I’m going to show you the basic equipment that you need. Alright, so I’ve got my pack. I’ve got my equipment now. I’ve got to get it in my pack. Typically, you want your center of gravity low so I like to pack heavy items near my back and items that I don’t use a lot towards the bottom, so you think about accessibility and balance weight and comfort from left to right. You should evenly balance out the weight. The first thing I’m going to do is save my water and my fuel which are some of the heavier items and a lot of these backpacks have pouches near your back, so I would pack those in first. I also like my sleeping bag at the bottom because typically I don’t need that till the end of the day, so I like to use a compression set where I can cinch it down tight and small. In some cases you can actually if you have a Therm-a-Rest you can fit your Therm-a-rest and your sleeping bag in together to save on space. The other heavy item is climbing gear usually, so water your carabiners, inkers, harness that has a lot of metal parts. Fuel, stove sticks, all those near at the back. Now, when I say near your back you have to be careful because you don’t want a lot of sharp items poking you in the back so if it’s a sharp item you can kind of evenly distribute the weight. The other I like to pack at the bottom of my pack or crampons especially if I’m going up to my base camp I might not need them right away. I like to make sure your crampons they have really sharp edges so make sure they have some type of rubber or other protective material on the sharp teeth, and I like to take just a normal bag support them in because later on when you take them off they’re probably going to be wet from the snow, so you don’t want you put when getting wet from your crampons. Some with them would come in special pouches you can carry on the outside of the pack if that works for you great like a helmet, medical kit, some people like to pack easily accessible for emergencies. I tend to pack it towards the bottom of my pack if I feel like I have an emergency, the adrenaline would be kicking in, so I could actually get it out pretty quick and it’s something that I normally don’t use a lot and so I’ll pack that at the bottom. Space blanket for another emergency item packed towards the bottom and then most of your clothing on the trail I typically dress pretty light and I leave my Gore-Tex top, Gore-Tex bottoms, hat and gloves out and maybe one other jacket, but then the rest of my clothing I like to pack towards at the bottom. I’ll take a Therm-a-rest or another type of pad a foam pad. Sometimes I might take both if it’s going to be really cold outside depending on the trip you need to add or remove items if it’s a simple backpacking trip. You don’t need a lot of climbing gear. If it’s rock climbing you might need different climbing gear, so adjust according to what you’re doing. And this thermos it helps if you open them and let the air out before you pack it in and then once it’s nice and tight I close it off again. Now, remember I said have water close to your back but you also need water that’s easily accessible so a lot of times I’ll keep one bottle on the outside or if you have a hydration system inside your pack run it to through. Next, comes my cooking gear and food. Of course, I’m going to leave my lunch and snacks easily accessible but the rest dinner you can pack in, stove, cook kit, pack it in. Any open spots make sure you fill them. Left with Gore-Tex in case it starts raining on me. I have that fairly accessible at the top, essential items, map, compass, radio, sun screen, sun glasses, knife metal match all those things I like to pack at the top. I still got a little bit of room left at the top. You can actually create even more room if you need it. Most packs have a zipper flop at the top and then another one on the top is you open it up on the inside I utilize both spaces. In fact logs and hat can go in there. You’ll never know when you’ll need those. If it’s summer time I probably pack those down lower. I won’t use them until summit thing when I’m going up for base camp to the summit. If it’s springtime or winter time I definitely pack in and towards the top. Water purifier I like to keep it at the top in fact what I’ll do so I don’t have to carry a lot of water I plan my route really well, know where I’m going to cross streams and lakes I have my water purifier accessible that way I don’t have to carry water I can stop along the way and fill up my water gaiters I’m probably going to wear. If I’m not going to wear I just leave them on the outside. The other thing you want to know is initially I keep all my straps fairly loose until it’s time to tight them. Your ice axe, wear your ice axe to peak. The end of the peak can be dangerous so you want to make sure you have some type of protective cover. You can buy those or you can improvise one out of the cardboard or leather and a lot of the backpacks have loops at the bottom. These loops are specifically made for your ice axe most climbing packs have them. So, you insert your ice axe into the loop and then you twist it around three to four times until it’s fairly tight and just leave it later on. If your pack has a strap at the top you can strap it in. I usually wait until I close the top and that’s where I strap it in my rope. I like to carry on top. It helps me balance my pack because I can adjust it from side to side. Some packs have a line that actually clips over and holds the rope in and along with the rope I like to put my tent at the top. Usually when I climbing I’m climbing with buddies if I’m carrying a tent we’ll take the poles the rain ply and actual tent then divide it amongst three people so it’s a lot lighter. Take your ice axe. Strap it in, cinch it down. I’m also left with a snow shovel. I use it mostly for my shelter site in the summer time and in the winter time for snow case and emergencies like avalanches then inside this snow shovel there’s also a snow shovel. Some snow shovel actually has avalanche probes inside them. My snow shovel is in there typically climbers carry pickets. I like to have my picket with my weaving and a carabiner ready to go. I like to keep that on the outside of the pack because it makes some small logical sense and it’s a long metal object or aluminum object and I just packed that in next to my shovel then I cinched down the straps. If I have another pad you can go on the back. A lot of your packs will have straps for it either two or you could even use a single strap if you strap it in tight enough. Mountaineering boots, your crampons will attach these plastic mountaineering boots. Some boots are actually crampon compatible so you could wear your hiking boots off the trail to base camping in from base camp to the summit with crampons on. If you have plastic boots a lot of times you could wear them if they are comfortable enough. Most people like to carry them. That’s where they would use a strap or something and attach them to the outside of their pack. I typically wear mine. They are comfortable enough.