Fly to anchorage, look for flights arriving before 3pm

Drive to Valdez – 5:30 hrs

March 21 

Human powered touring and conditions assessments from the pass.

March 22 – Basecamp

Human powered touring from pass and swing by opperator in evening for heli checkoff brieifing. 

March 23 – Basecamp

Fly into camp and basecamp and ski. 

March 24 – Basecamp

Skitouring from basecamp. 

March 25 

Skitouring from basecamp.  Break camp and ski out.

March 26 

Rest day and tech skills training around easy to access glacier.

March 27 

Heli bump to into terrain then human powered touring.  Often days look like 4000ft human powered uphill 7000ft downhill. 

March 28

Drive to ANC early

Fly –  Look for flights departing after 2pm.  

Touring Skis

Whatever skis are you’re most comfortable with is usually the best choice. Although, I tend

to prefer a light to mid-weight setup, depending on the snow condition. I frequently use a

100-110 underfoot carbon ski for these kinds of trips. I prefer minimalist lightweight pin

bindings that facilitate easy ski carries. I typically plan on locking and unlocking them on a

regular basis and prefer this strategy to using a heavier binding that I have more confidence

in its release function.

Atomic Backland 107 with Dynafit Superlight bindings

Boots

Good touring boots are the most important part of the kit. You will be living in them for

several days. Make sure your boots are dialed in. If the blisters start there is not always a

great way to truly remedy it in the field. As with the skis, I like a heavier build boot, I

frequently will use something like the Maestrale from Scarpa.

Skins

Spring glacier skiing can routinely involve firm condition skinning. Having skins that are cut

all the way to the edge of the ski can really help give them purchase for firm condition side

hills.

Ski Crampons

These are essential for firm condition travel. This is frequently a large part of spring glacier

skiing. Make sure they are compatible with your setup and be familiar with their use.

Poles

I enjoy adjustable length poles. This can make them much more helpful for uphill travel

while booting. Although any set of poles does the trick, just make sure they have large

powder baskets.

Helmet

GLACIER SKI – GEAR LIST 2I prefer a helmet that is meant to be worn with or without a hat. It can be really nice to be

able to have a cool head and still wear a helmet if its warm. It also makes hearing a lot easier

if you don’t have the insulation integrated into the helmet.

Shovel, Probe, Beacon

Standard issue ski touring stuff here. If your beacon is older than five years please check in

with me about it. I also tend to bring a heavier duty shovel as it will be essential for building

camp in the snow.

Glacier/Technical Gear

Harness

Light weight glacier travel harness. A thin waist belt that fits comfortably on under a large

backpack is really nice. I frequently use the CAMP Alpine Flash or Black Diamond Couloir.

Boot Crampons

When skiing our crampons primary home is our backpack, let’s make sure they are good at

their primary job of being small and light. I am a huge fan of the hybrid style like the Irvis

Hybrid from Petzl.

Ice Axe

Same story as the boot crampons. I am a fan of light weight tools like the  Ride from Petzl or

the Corsa series from CAMP.

Required Glacier Kit

These are the required technical items for this program, you can see my preferred kit as well.

1 Triple Action Locking Carabiner

Double length sling

Prussic Loop

6mm Cord 20ft

2 Screw Gate Pear Shape Locking Carabiners

4 Non Locking Carabiners

GLACIER SKI – GEAR LIST 3ATC

My Glacier Kit:

1 Micro-traxion Pulley

2 Petzl Attache Lockers

1 Petzl Triple Action Sm’D Locker

2 Petzl Double Action Sm’D Locker

4 Matching wire gate non-locking Carabiners

1 Triple Length Dyneema Runner

2 Double Length Dyneema Runner

1 6mm Cord 20ft

1 6mm Prussic Loop

1 ATC + dedicate small round stock locker

1 22cm Aluminum Ice Screw + Threader

Camping Gear

Tent

A double walled all season mountain tent is required given potential for heavy wind and

snow. MSR’s Elixir or Remote series is a good option.

Inflatable Pad & Foam Pad

One of my favorites has been the XLite Series from Thermarest. I do not typically use an

insulated inflatable pad as the foam pad provides the insulation and is versatile for sitting on

the snow outside the tent. I prefer a full length pads in most cases.

Sleeping Bag

Typically, a down bag rated to 0F or WAMER is sufficient for spring on Mt. Baker. If your

sleeping bag is old and worn out you will like be chilly at night with a 0F bag.

GLACIER SKI – GEAR LIST 4Stoves/Kitchen

Generally we will have a more robust shared kitchen that includes a large stove board and

2-3 white gas stoves that will live in the kitchen and be used for cooking as well water

melting. In addition the shared items will include:

• Fry pans

• Boiler pot

• Dedicated water melting pot

• Cutting board

• Knives and Spatula

Typically we will bring with 1-2 canister stoves like MSR’s Reactor or Windburner, for hot

water on demand as well. Typically, these are shared items and need to be figured out as a

team.

Personal Kitchen Items

Everyone is responsible for their own personal items. I usually bring one insulated cup, a

folding bowl-plate, a long handled spork and a small knife. I am a huge fan of the folding

bowls that can become plates/cutting boards as well as the cups that shrink closed.

Water system

Generally we need to melt all our water and it is real costly in terms of time and fuel. We

want the ability to store more than enough water for the whole days drinking and cooking.

This typically involves some kind of dromedary (named after the one humped camel)

system. We don’t want to carry around 4 empty plastic bottles either.

I like to have one 10L pot that is dedicated to drinking water and remains mostly full in the

kitchen and can be used with 3 white gas stoves for extra melting speed. Typically I like to

bring one 10L water bag that the team takes turns refreshing with melt as well.

But I would suggest brining your own personal dromedary bag as well, its really nice to have

some extra water hanging around in your tent so you don’t have to get out of the tent for

little things. I am a huge fan of the HydroPak soft bladders.

My preferred water system is my own 3L HydroPak in addition to a 3/4L Stanley thermos

with integrated lid. At a minimum you will need 2L of water carrying capacity with 1 bottle

being a hard bottle. It does have the potential to get cold and we want to bring an insulation

sleeve for one of our bottles.

GLACIER SKI – GEAR LIST 5Backpack & Expedition Duffel

Your typical 35-34L ski backpack is all we will need in addition to a large expedition duffel.

I use a 120L north face duffel that will serve as my garage on the glacier as well as to carry in

all my gear on the flight.

Optional: Avalanche float pack. I tend not to use a float pack because of the added weight

and reduced risked tolerance touring.

If we are planning on traveling up the slope we are going to ski the consequences of all

getting avalanched together—even with float packs—is high enough to be unacceptable. We

generally have a far higher degree of confidence in the snow for these objectives as opposed

to top down access we get from a helicopter, where a float pack is great.

Clothing

For ski and split board touring I think its most valuable to think about it in terms of the three

primary modes of existence in the mountains: uphill movement, downhill movement and

rest. My kit will include layers that fit all of those modes for pretty much all my gear except

my boots.

– For uphill think cooler breathable layers, usually just a sun shirt or a fleece.

– For downhill we want wind protection and increased warmth, similar to the ski resort

setup but lighter ideally.

– For rest we want lots of warm down, basically the ability to exist in the mountains without

needing to move to generate heat.

*Generally layering systems need to be evaluated as a system and if one piece of gear does not match the list

precisely there is some room to find another way to fill the gap in the system.

Gloves

– 1-2 light wight uphill gloves that dry easily after getting sweaty. Liners are great, I also like

using climbing belay gloves.

– 1 mid weight soft shell glove that is good for rope work in the snow and climbing when its

cold, like the Khroma Tour or Baltoro from RAB Many times in the cascades I bring with a

light weight waterproof gloves as well.

GLACIER SKI – GEAR LIST 6– 1 warm water proof glove that is key up on the summit or as a backup in wet and cold

conditions, something like the Guide Glove from RAB.

Hats

– 1 warm hat that can fit under your helmet if your helmet isn’t insulated.

– 1 sun protecting hat thats for the sun but also, great for up hill so you don’t sweat out your

warm hat.

– 1 light buff for sun protection. Don’t underestimate the sun reflecting off the glacier, I have

seen people literally burn the roof of their mouth.

Eyes

– Goggles. Generally for downhill but also essential for poor conditions while uphill at

higher elevations.

– Glacier glasses. Essential. Category 4 glacier glasses are required, you can really hurt your

eyes on the glacier this time of year.

Upper Body

– 1-2 base layer. This your backup layer if your sun hood gets wet, also great to sleep in.

– 1-2 sun hoody. If you are not familiar with a sun hoody look into it, it is most peoples

favorite piece of gear.

– 1 light breathable mid layer, generally fleece. This is generally an up-hilling layer for when

its cold out.

– 1-2 synthetic/down insulated jacket OR uberpuff. The main resting layer, great around

camp in the cool hours and for cold summit days. A really robust jacket system is

necessary for hanging out in camp when its cold.

–

– 1 water proof shell jacket. Generally the downhill layer but also key in the rain.

Lower Body

– 2 base layers. Light weight and warm long johns. One is generally the dry backup pair.

GLACIER SKI – GEAR LIST 7– 1 breathable uphill pants. These typically need to be non insulated pants. It gets really hot

on the glacier and overheating is a really danger.

– 1 pair of waterproof full zip pants. These are the way we can change the temperature of

our legs, with full zips we can add and remove them without taking off our soft shell

pants.

– 1 pair insulated full zip pants. This is essential for hanging out in camp when

temperatures drop in the morning and evening.

Socks

– 2-3 pairs. One is the dry backup.

Camp shoes

– Insulated camp booties are required. With ski boots you can take out your liners and step

into your shells with the booties to give your feet a break.

Misc.

Battery power

Solar/battery packs are awesome tools on longer expeditions. While it’s nice to unplug our

phones are really important navigation tools that need a charge. Usually everyone doesn’t

need a solar charger but having your own battery pack that you can hook up to someone

else’s when they are not using it is a great move.

Sun screen

Make sure you have your own and keep track of it. You will want to put it on often and

sharing all the time will be a headache.

GLACIER SKI – GEAR LIST 8Wipes

Small pack of wipes goes a long way on day 5.

Headlamp

Wag bags

Carry it in carry it out. I would recommend at least more than the number of days out.

Trash compactor bags

These are very versatile tools for water proofing among other things. Everyone will be

required to bring 1.

Misc personal items

– Tooth brush

– Hand Sanitizer

– Extra TP (most wag bags don’t come with enough)

– 3-4 extra gallon sized sip locks for water proofing and garbage collection

– Lots of lighters

– Books and games for storms.

Season: Mid March to mid April.

Not included in trip cost:

Flight to ANC

Food while on trip

Included:

Lodging

Car Rental

One Heli bump

Guide Fees