Packing for a Multi-Day Ski Tour
MY PACK
for a month long ski tour.
The freedom you have while ski touring largely depends on your pack’s weight. A heavy pack makes the uphill heavy and the ski down awkward. But at the same time, you need a lot of gear to comfortably (and safely) do a multi-day ski tour. How do you balance weight with comfort on a long ski tour?
This winter, I did a ski tour in the Alps that took 26 days, almost one month. When packing for the tour I was surprised to find that my pack was not much different from an overnight trip.
I saved weight by using specialized clothing, organizing food drops, and creative use of equipment. One major difference between an overnight tour and a multi-week is the durability of equipment and clothing. Suddenly lightweight carbon skis become a little less enticing as they will have to put up with a lot of abuse and a broken ski or binding could put an end to the trip. I went for comfort and durability over carbon for critical items, like skis, boots, and pack.
This post explores exactly what I decided to carry and why.
Clothing by Norrøna
Clothing
Jackets: 1x Hardshell, 1x 850 Down, 1x Primaloft
Midlayers: 1x Softshell, 1x fleece, 1x merino base layer, 1x spare t-shirt
Pants: 1x Hardshell, 1x Downshorts, 1x Long underwear, 2x underwear
Gloves: 1x Lofoten200 (warm), 1x Lygen Dri1 (waterproof shells), 1x fleece liners
Headwear: 1x beanie, 1x cap, 1x light buff, 1x fleece buff, 1x Julbo Explorer sunnies
Feet: 2x Socks Smartwool, 1x lightweight runners,
I was really happy with my choice of clothing. For the first stage I carried mittens but send them out with a friend as they were overkill. Although it was helpful in certain situations I probably could have done without the softshell jacket. There isn’t much else I would change. I only had one spare pair of socks, underwear, and a t-shirt. This worked just fine as I knew I would be able to dry out in the huts every evening.
I used the Norrona Lyngen collection which is specialized for ski touring. I have reviewed my favorite items here: The best of Norrona's Lyngen collection
HARDWARE
Equipment
Ski setup: K2 Wayback 85 174cm with Salomon Mtn Pure bindings. Pomoca fitted skins. fitted Technica Zero G boots with Intuition liners.
Hardware: ski crampons, petzl gully ice axe, petzl Leopard crampons, Arva race probe, Arva lightweight shovel, blue ice harness, glacier kit (4x carabiners, 120cm sling, tibloc, micro trax), Black diamond vapor helmet.
Accessories: Leki Haute Route poles, repair kit, first aid kit (with foil blanket), phone with maps, ski staps, lip protection, small sunblock, headtorch, GoPro, skin & ski wax, corded headphones, Garmin inreach, power bank, charging cables, sleeping bag liner, 1l PET bottle, 500ml Nalgene, Nalgene cover, foldable cup, spoon, small knife, Jetboil Zip, notebook, short storybook, deodorant, soap, toothbrush+paste, toilet paper, ski googles (for storms)
Pack: Deuter Guide 44+ - this took me a long time to choose but it was worth it. Comfort all the way!
The K2 Wayback 88 was the perfect weapon for the job. A buddy lent them to me last minute so it was my first time using them but they performed really well over all snow conditions and I have since bought my own pair when next winter rolls around. I was worried about the width but as it turns out, besides waist-deep pow you can ski anything with 88mm.
I went pretty light on the hardware as I knew I was traveling over relaxed ground most of the way. At this point in the season, crevasses were well filled in so my glacier kit was pretty slim (relied on self rescue) and I carried a 6mm tagline in case of any sneaky abseils. At times when I was a little more concerned about snow bridges (towards the end of the trip there wasn’t as much snow), I organized a rope for glacier travel.
The Deuter Guide backpack was the item that took me the longest to choose. A pack’s comfort and support are often overlooked in favor of weight, but I have been using flimsy alpine packs for the last few years and decided I would treat my back and shoulders to well-framed and padded packs where possible. The 44+L translates to about 55L and was probably overkill for this tour.
Food by
Radix Nutrition
Food & Fuel
Food & Gas: 30x Radix dinners, 30x Radix breakfast, 20x Radix Recovery Smoothie, 1x 230g gas per stage (4-6 days), chocolate, cheese, baby food, snickers, bouillon.
Food is a great place to shave off those grams. Getting dehydrated meals for breakfast and dinner is key to saving weight and space.
I used the Ultra meal series from Radix Nutrition. These small bags pack an all-natural 800kcal punch and are specially designed for expeditions and high-intensity activities. They provide all of the nutrients, fats, and proteins you would need for a long trip. The meals I had were also plant-based and delicious enough that I can still eat them after the trip ;)
A 500ml Nalgene is kind of a must-have for overnighters. It’s nice to split up fluids for the day (electrolytes, water, tea etc). I like having warm, sweet tea in the morning and I found an insulated cover from Decathlon that I stitched to my shoulder strap. This way it was handy for when I came across a creek or wanted water on the move.
I organized a couple of food drops along the way and there were plenty of restocking points in the valleys. This meant I never carried more than 6 days’ worth of food and gas at a time. I went outside of hut season on purpose which is why I had to carry my own dinners.
What would I do differently next time? For the most part, the equipment I took suited me really well. But if I were to do the same trip again here are some things I would change:
Less stiff boots. The Zero-G is a great ski boot and its 130 flex is nice for the downhill, but the reality is I spent much more time going up, and even on the descent I was pretty cautious, often on-sighting with a heavy pack and tired body. Sacrificing downhill performance means I would have a boot better suited to uphill performance.
A lighter base layer. I knew the merino base layer wasn’t a great idea. Spring mornings are cold but when you’re in the middle of a glacier and under the spring sun it pays to have something very thin and breathable. Black Diamond sun hoody is a good option.
No phone - An idea I got towards the end of the trip. My most immersive days were ones where I had no service and was thus disconnected from the outside world. Next time I would consider taking paper maps, GPS, a satellite communicator, and a camera to replace the phone.
Free downloadable checklist
Here is a comprehensive checklist that I made to make sure I never forget the essentials: Mountaineering Checklist