(Part 2) Top products from r/alpinism

Commercially guided or not, Denali is still a hard mountain. Long days with a heavy sled and pack, constantly changing weather, and altitude make this mountain a serious endeavor regardless of experience level.

I wouldn't even consider attempting it without a guide (commercial or otherwise), despite my experience level. I'm confident enough in my skills to be able to lead a smaller (14,000 ft) alpine peak. But this is the big leagues, I didn't want to play with my safety.

Also, there's something to be said of the experience that a guided expedition can bring. I can legitimately say that I've made friends for life with the guides and the other members of our group. Furthermore, it has brought my skills up to the next level, allowing me to be a more confident climber.

What about my experience tells you I'm not an alpinist? Also, how does one get into this club without first making attempts like this trip? Does being a true alpinist mean that I needed to solo Denali in a weekend? Maybe I should have consulted with Conrad Anker while I was there.

There's a fine line between alpinist and expedition climbs on mountains like Denali. Light and fast is fine, but you'll still need a ton of gear for this trip.

Let's discuss "Beta" for a moment. I thought that beta for alpine climbs covers various logistical information such as equipment, food, water, and climb difficulty. Fine, here's my shot:

• We carried about 23 days worth of food, two of which was cached at base camp
  
• Food primarily consisted of high carb (breads, pasta), high protein (chicken, tuna, salmon), and various sports bars. Candy bars were also plentiful. Freeze dried meals were reserved for high camp.
  
• We each carried about 10 pounds of lunch and snack foods. Daily group meals were separated into 10 to 20 pound bags.
  
• The approach took us about 15 days to get to camp 4, but could have been one or two days less. The descent took about two days, I wouldn't recommend less.
  
• This is not an overly technical mountain. Glacier travel and crevasse rescue are must have skills. Previous experience with rope travel is crucial. Sled experience would be nice, but not needed. Also, good crampon technique will save your legs past camp 2.
  
• Fixed line travel is short, but can be tough in poor weather conditions. There are two sections, one at about 15,000 ft that ends around 16,200 and has a 50 to 55 degree icy slope. The other is just before Washburn's Thumb, I gather that there are lines here simply for safety. Ascenders were provided, but necessary.
  
• There are pickets along the route after 16,000 ft. The terrain makes a running belay a must.
  
• Might be obvious, but water was plentiful if you had the time to boil it. We generally had two pots going in the morning and evening. I preferred to carry three litres of water (one hot, two cold). The park service now requires that groups either carry a stove or that each climber has a litre of hot water on summit days. We did both.
  
  I recommend Alaska Climbing from Supertopo. It's got great route breakdowns for much of the Alaska range.
  
  Key pieces of equipment:
  
  
• Ice axe, I prefer a straight 60 cm axe. My wife likes her Petzl Summit at 52 cm. I prefer an adze on mine, but a hammer would be useful if you are pounding in pickets
  
• Rope for glacier travel, I believe that we had 9.8mm. Each rope team had four people, with about 20 to 30 feet between them. The guides each had a sizable rescue coil as well
  
• Prusiks, but unlikely that you'll use them if you aren't leading. Self rescue would be tough with the weight of the pack and sled
  
• Crampons, mostly used above 11,000 feet
  
• Sled, the air services might provide these. Be sure that it has a cordelette to tie your gear down.
  
• Durrable duffle, perhaps a bit waterproof. This will be on your sled.
  
• Snowshoes for lower glacier travel. I prefer these http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/snowshoes/ascent/lightning-ascent/product
  
• Expedition harness, a climbing harness would be too uncomfortable. Something like the Black Diamond Alpine Bod.
  
• A decent rack. As a client I carried 4 lockers, 4 non-lockers, three slings/runners, and an ascender. Guides carried about 10 lockers, 5 non-lockers, belay device (one had a grigri), one or two ice screws, and ascenders. We also had about 7 pickets, with slings. One non-locker for each would suffice for a running belay.
  
• Shovels, nice light and sturdy shovels. We had about 4. We also had a grain scoop and a small snow shovel for light work.
  
• Tents, the sturdier the better. Gusts were around 40 mph at 17,000 feet.
  
• Games and books, these are key for your sanity. Be prepared to lend your book out.
  
• Music is good for the group.
  
• Sat phone and radios. The sat phone is key for communication with the outside world. The radio is helpful for a larger group, there is also a weather forecast every day at 8:00pm.
  
• Solar charger, there's quite a bit of sunlight (nearly 24 hours).
  
• The park service provided a CMC (Clean mountain can). This is your toilet (for number 2), you'll get over it quickly. But, we brought a larger luxury version with a seat...it was excellent. We also brought our own bags, but the park service has these as well.
  
• Pee bottle, I prefer a 90+ ounce collapsible one. Many people had smaller bottles and became jealous of mine.
  
• Headlamp might be needed if going in early April. But, there's plenty of light in the later months...especially after the solstice
  
• Cold weather gear. You'll have to do your own research and look at your personal gear. i tend to run very hot when moving. I carried soft shell pants and jacket, belay parka, work gloves, light glove liners, hard shell pants and jacket (gore-tex), heavy gloves, expedition mitts, balaclava, a few buffs. Figure out your kit, it's key. If you are with a service, they should consult with you about your gear.
  
• Glacier glasses and ski-goggles. Being a contact wearer, I also have prescription glacier glasses.
  
• If you wear contacts, bring extra! Also, keep your solution and contacts warm. In the event that you can't wear them, make sure that your glacier glasses and ski goggles work with your prescription glasses.
  
• Toilet paper, one for guys and two for ladies. We were stretching it by the end of the trip...but we made it.
  
• At least a 20 below sleeping bag.
  
• Diamox for altitude, stay away from dexamethasone if you can. I acclimated well, so I didn't need mine.
  
• Dayquil or Nyquil, helps if you get sick and can help you sleep. I also had Advil for general pain.
  
• Duct-tape is my personal secret for blister prevention.
  
• Overboots. Forty Below makes some, but they aren't very durable.
  
• Mountaineering Boots. I have the La Sportiva Spantiks. They aren't the most durable boot, but they worked well. My wife has the Scarpa Phantom 6000, which she loves.
  
• Gaiters, I didn't wear mine much, but I can see where one could need them.
  
• Crevasse probe, like a Black Diamond QuickDraw Probe. Also, bamboo wands for marking various things (camps, trail, cache, etc...)
  
• Black garbage bags and ziplock bags. I huge sturdy bag for inside your pack, oldest trick in the book. Extra garbage bags were used and traded quite a bit. Ziplock bags are always useful.
  
  I'm sure there's more, but this is all that comes to mind at the moment.

I'm an EMT-B and WFR trained my WMI of NOLS. Though spendy, the course taught me everything I needed to know to pass my National Registry test. I work as a Professional Ski Patroller, and the emphasis on remoteness, self-sufficiency, and improvisation have proven the most useful in my professional setting and my off the clock backcountry excursions. Though I doubt I'll ever have to improvise a traction splint at work, the great emphasis on doing lots with little has helped me greatly in the field when patients present atypically, or when backup is a long way distant.

Another great aspect of the WMI program, is the length. It's 28 days of EMS, with not much else. Unlike taking your EMT through the local community college, I was surrounded by raft guides, skiers, and climbers, rather than meathead wannabe firefighters. (WFR only courses are cheaper, run about a week, and are often offered by WMI/WMA through large state universities such as the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the University of Washington, to name two).

I've also taken a Wilderness First Aid class, but it offered little more than what I learned in the First Aid Merit Badge as a boy. I highly recommend the WFR class, at a minimum. The curriculum covers much of what can go wrong in the backcountry, with an emphasis on patient care with only what climbers, skiers, and expedition hikers routinely carry. I greatly enjoyed my WMI of NOLS course, though friends work for WMA and SOLO and the syllabi and emphasis are pretty much the same throughout.

To work professionally, or for many SAR teams, you'll likely need an EMT-B (EMT-1 in some states) or be a registered first responder. Some great armchair resources include Paul Auerbach's Field Guide to Wilderness Medicine and the NOLS Wilderness Medicine: 4th Edition .

For a book on one route, Doug Scott's book about the Ogre has a lot of history of the mountain, the area, then tells the story of the first ascent's expedition in detail (he and Chris Bonington were the summit team). https://www.amazon.com/Ogre-Biography-mountain-dramatic-ascent-ebook/dp/B0779F4RRG/

I also really enjoyed the mountain profile of Jannu in Alpinist magazine 57 https://shop.holpublications.com/products/alpinist-magazine-issue-57?variant=29425193844824 Jannu's north face is one of the great faces of the world and this digs into it in detail.

Edit: Also, 50 Favorite Climbs is a great book with profiles of some more challenging routes than a lot of the "classic climb" compilations along with profiles of a ton of badass climbers. The author interviews 50 of the top climbers of the day about their climbing history and he writes a profile of their favorite route in North America. It's a cool mix of rock, ice, and alpine. Goes in sort of the same category as books like Beckey's 100 Favorite Climbs and the old 50 Classic Climbs of North America. All three of those might be good for you. https://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Favorite-Climbs-North-America/dp/0898867282 https://www.amazon.com/Beckeys-Favorite-North-American-Climbs-ebook/dp/B00GCDYVPE https://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Classic-Climbs-North-America/dp/0871568845/

While I'm sure someone will jump in with their favorite, I've read through this one:

https://smile.amazon.com/Climbing-Self-Rescue-Improvising-Mountaineers/dp/089886772X?sa-no-redirect=1

Your library might even have a copy. Also, look for a copy of Freedom of the Hills. 8th is the latest, but 6th & 7th are not all that old.

For navigation, eventually you'll want to be able to pinpoint & track yourself along a bare hillside, no trail.

Simple comfort & awareness, especially, I have found consists of a lot of trial and error. Learning when to switch layers to stay warm but not sweaty. How to pack a heavy pack. Where to find water. Knowing when you're getting dehydrated. Plenty of this can be learned on ordinary hilly trails, no massive peaks required.

I know some of these skills will be quite difficult to work on living in the city, but they're a super important place to start, and you don't need to hire a fancy guide to teach you. Plus, if you do take a class like you linked, you'll get a lot more out of it if you've already learned a lot of the fundamentals yourself. Be the guy who already knows how to tie every knot, knows exactly where he is on the map, and is comfortable in the environment. Don't be that guy who is too busy learning how to tie munters and clove hitches to pay attention to crevasse rescue practice.

Alpine climbing is about self reliance and no text book will make you a competent climber. We must always strive to learn all we can and make our own judgment calls.

Freedom of the Hills is a particularly awful book published by an organizations who's teachings have always been out of date. A friend and I were discussing how learning from it almost got him killed in his early days rock climbing.

http://www.amazon.com/Ways-Sky-Historical-American-Mountaineering/dp/0930410831 is a fascinating read focusing on what people have done in the mountains of North America and how they did it. The section on the mountaineers (publishers of Freedom of the Hills) is particularly interesting... they were founded by en ex military preacher who used to take large groups of Seattleites up mount rainier with a bugle and a team of "experienced climbers" following behind ready to tackle anyone who slipped.

Twight's book is okay but only if you want to climb like Twight. I simply don't enjoy living off power gu and nutritional supplements.

I think Peter Croft's short instructional book is amongst the best i've run across. It won't teach you everything but it contains a straight forward description of the simple systems and equipment used by one of the worlds master climbers:
http://www.amazon.com/Lightweight-Alpine-Climbing-Peter-Specialist/dp/0811728412/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269474063&sr=1-1

Well, in Calgary, the best thing you're going to get is either Nose Hill, or the Bow building.

But the area around here has all kinds of stuff. The question is how far do you want to go? Day-trip from Calgary, there are plenty of great alpine climbs that people enjoy, though the downside does exist of most of the rock being chossy limestone.
If you were to meet up with a buddy here and go on a trip from here, there is some truly spectacular non-limestone a little further west as well (the Bugaboos, Roger's Pass area).

The book for the area is called Selected Alpine Climbs in the Canadian Rockies, and would be very useful if you plan to spend some time out this way.
Summitpost also has a collection of routes and info to read up.
Dow Williams has a great site with a lot more stuff for you.

I'm not sure what's good without knowing what you like, but there is plenty to choose from. Hopefully those give you a start.

The exception to the conventional batteries is charging with a Micro-USB port and bringing a small usb battery pack or solar panel battery combo. I switched to an all usb charging setup this year and love it. All of my climbing gadgetry can be charged with one 6,000mah battery pack:

Cameras (Sony DSC-RX100M ii and GoPro),

Headlamp (ReVolt),

Water purifier (Steripen Freedom model),

iPod (audio books),

SmartPhone/SatPhone,

Satelite Beacon/PLB (DeLorme inReach SE),

GPS Watch (Suunto Ambit 2),

2 Way Radios

.

Findings (so far):

Inexpensive solar/battery was almost useless as a solar panel.

This Jockery thing put out 2.1amps and worked awesome but it sometimes shut off after 10min when charging consumption was low like on an iPod Nano. This is my sweet-spot solution of choice depending on how long I'm out.

A Goal Zero Nomad 20 panel and Sherpa 50 are awesome for base camps but pricy.

We all have extra AC->USB wall warts and laptops to charge off of too when not going on extended trips so it is nice to keep that stuff charged up without having to pull batteries out and charge them or worse, replace disposables.

For backcountry:

Take AIARE level 1. AAI, as well as a bunch of other outfits, offer this class.

resources for backcountry travel:

• WTA is good for understanding permits, directions to trailhead, etc. Will sometimes have trip reports that are useful for bc skiing as well, but not the sites focus.
  
• TAY is one of the main areas to watch for trip reports, bc skiing news in WA, and a good place to potentially find partners
  
• NWAC, avalanche forecast center.
  
• FB Groups can be a good place to find partners
  
• Guide books - Martin Volken's book (best overall), his older one specific to snoqualmie pass, and a new snoqualmie pass one from Matt Schonwald.

Lightweight multi-purpose gear like a tarp, foam pad, cordelette, tape, and knife are all extremely useful in an outdoor emergency. If you haven't already, you might want to take a WFR course. You'll gain hands-on experience using the gear mentioned above in a variety of applications.

Also, check out Laurence Gonzales' book Deep Survival. It makes the case that survival in a wilderness environment has almost nothing to do with your gear and everything to do with your mindset and skill set. In other words, the more you know, the less gear you need.

My go-to kit includes the SOL sport utility blanket, the foam pad/frame of my Cilogear 30/30 pack, a small, lightweight climbers knife, and a bare bones custom built first-aid kit from Wilderness Medical Training Center.

Hope this helps!

Read Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills. It's one of the best books on alpinism that exists. Very detailed.

I'm just a keep-it-fast full-auto-snaps shooter, and have really liked my Panasonic TS3 point-n-shoot... small, tough, dust/wet-proof, decent enough pics and video...

I also really like shooting with my GoPro! I really like the simplicity, and the convenience of being able to mount it in different ways. I often use timelapse to shoot us climbing just to (hopefully) get a single good shot from a "3rd-person" perspective, ie NOT ass or top-of-head like usual :)

Tripod-wise I just use a Gorillapod Original...

I have a Canon Eos M which I bought with great ambition and the hope of better video, but Magic Lantern for the M still seems problematic, and I'm not yet keen to babysit the thing everywhere... but I'm trying!

(I really want one of those Peak Designs Capture Pro clips but I just can't make myself spend $80 on one...)

There doesn't seem to be any deaths (it's in Portuguese).

Annapurna is also the first 8000 meter peak to have been climbed back in 1950. If you've never read the book Annapurna, I highly recommend it. It's from Maurice Herzog's perspective (not very objective - other books out there put some doubt into some of his perspective), but a good read non the less. Most of the guys putting up big ascents in the 70's - 90's grew up reading this book and it's the original rock/ice/snow porn for the mountain man.

The Games Climbers Play (https://www.amazon.com/Games-Climbers-Play-Ken-Wilson/dp/0897321987)

I read it growing up but can't remember much about it. Would be interested in rereading.

There are a shit ton of climbs that meet that description in the Eastern Canadian Rockies. Joffre and Assiniboine are a couple of my favourites. Each have beautiful staging points and take 2 or 3 days. This is a great book.

For solid information about difficulties of routes, consult a guidebook:
http://www.amazon.com/Mount-Rainier-Climbing-Guide-Edition/dp/0898869560

Anecdotally, climbing Mt. Rainier via the Disappointment Cleaver route can be done with little to no actual technical climbing. Nevertheless, having glacier rescue practice under your belt is fairly essential, as technical skills may be required in the event of an emergency (i.e. self arresting, belaying others on your rope team, setting a Z-pulley to haul them out of a hidden crevasse). Consider glacier rescue courses from any of the Seattle-area mountaineering guide services and practice on your own afterwards. Reactions in an emergency will be no better than your training.