Those who know me know I can be a little obsessive about gear. I enjoy making detailed gear lists for trips sometimes weighing everything down to the ounce. I shared my first gear list for ski touring in Iceland this past April and most recently in a trip report for climbing Mount Shuksan in the Cascades. I’ve decided to give the gear list its own post that can be easily linked too without taking up so much space in the trip reports located at these links:
Part 1: Fisher Chimney’s, Mount Shuksan
Part 2: The West Ridge, Forbidden Peak
Part 3: Disappointment Cleaver, Mount Rainier
(Note: Originally posted from summer 2017 trip I am currently updating some links to newer or more preferred models)
Having over 20 years in outdoor retail I love chatting about gear so if you have any questions about any of my recommendations, or suggestions for better products, please comment below!
Cascades Gear List
Hyperlite Mountain Gear 3400 Ice Pack
At just over 2 pounds this pack has enough space for 3-4 day alpine endeavor’s, rides comfortably, and is made of materials that will last for over a decade of adventure! Also made in Maine!
Buy from Hyperlite Mountain Gear
A super lightweight and pack-able 2 person single wall tent. I spent 12 nights in this from car camping between climbs to dug in at 11,000 feet at Ingraham Flats on Rainier and the tent performed perfectly through-out!
Buy on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
Western Mountaineering TerraLite 25 Degree Sleeping Bag
This was the best gear purchase I’ve made in over a decade. I have a few sleeping bags from a great heritage -30 EMS down bag to a fairly light 35 degree synthetic sleeping bag but I decided to upgrade for this trip and I could not have been happier for my first Western Mountaineering sleeping bag! I’ll go into greater detail in a review later but for now I’ll just say I slept GREAT in this compressible lightweight sleeping bag!
Buy on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
Sea to Summit Reactor Thermolite Sleeping Bag Liner
This goes with me everywhere. It’s super comfy on airplanes as a blanket and in hostels around the world. I also like that it keeps my expensive down sleeping bag clean (extending its life) even after weeks of griming sleeping!
Buy on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite Mattress
I upgraded from my older, heavier, bulkier Therm-a-Rest Prolite sleeping pad with this in “short” and doubled it up with the closed cell foam pad listed below. It was a great combo for both warmth and comfort!
Buy on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
Therm-a-Rest RidgeRest SOLite Mattress
Affordable added warmth and comfort, I used a full length model to pair with the short model mentioned above for a very comfortable and adaptable combo.
Buy on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
MSR WindBoiler 1.0 L Stove System
This stove was amazing on this trip! Super fast and efficient for melting snow I could easily budget just 2 ounces of fuel per person per day assuming we had water sources at Lake Ann and below Winnie’s Slide bivy site.
Buy on Amazon Buy on Backcountry
Food
For dinner and breakfast I went with Mountain House meals. The egg scrambles were one of my favorite. For a dinner appetizer I carried a Lipton noodle soup packet and combined it with a Miso soup packet, great for replacing lost sodium and electrolytes! The Mountain House Pad Thai and Chicken Fajita Bowl both tasted great!
Sea To Summit Delta Spork With Knife
Simple lightweight option to make meal time easy!
Buy on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
Arcteryx Acrux Mountaineering Boots
My mountaineering boots of choice, full review of them here. While I LOVE these boots for my cold New England ice climbing and mountaineering adventures they turned out to be a little too warm for Shuksan and Forbidden (but perfect for Rainier, more on that later). My co-guide Jordan who has been having a banner season in the Cascades was rocking the Salomon S-Lab X Alpine Carbon 2 GTX Boots… these things look AWESOME! Basically comfy enough for long warmish approaches, crampon compatible, and climb rock really well… I will be getting a pair of these before my next summer Cascade adventure!
Buy Acrux AR Mountaineering Boots on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
Buy Salomon S-Lab X Alpine Carbon 2 GTX Boots on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
Petzl Vasak Leverlock Crampons
Make sure you select the Leverlock or FL option! Great all around mountaineering crampon in my book! I have led grade 5 ice in them and walked hundreds of miles in them from Washington to Katahdin over the last decade and they are still going strong! I do plan to shave a little weight for these longer glaciated non-water ice routes by picking up a pair of Petzl Leopard Crampons soon!
Buy Petzl Vasak Crampons on Backcountry On Amazon
Buy Petzl Leopard on Backcountry On Amazon
Leki Micro Vario Carbon Trekking Poles
The lightest most compatible trekking poles I have ever seen! I’ve been loving these! I’ve used them all over the White Mountains including a 2 hour car-to-car ascent of the Northeast Ridge of the Pinnacle! You can see them during one attempt in this video.
Buy on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
Black Diamond Raven Pro Ice Axe
This has been my mountaineering axe for almost 15 years and is the right balance of weight and durability.
Buy on Backcounty Buy on Amazon
Finally got the latest version of this iconic helmet and went into a ton of detail in a long form review last month here!
Buy on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
I brought this harness for the more technical climbing on Shuksan and Forbidden and my full review of it is here.
Buy on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
I brought this harness for the less technical Disappointment Cleaver route on Mount Rainier. Super lightweight, pack-able, and able to put on while wearing skis. It is everything I want in a mountaineering harness. Detailed review coming soon.
Buy on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
Petzl CORDEX Lightweight Belay Gloves
If ropes are involved these come with me. They were perfect for the warmer daytime glacier temps and offer great protection for rappelling, short-roping, etc.
Buy on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
Sterling Evolution Duetto Dry Rope, 30m 8.4mm
A solid choice for glacier and ski mountaineering trips.
Buy on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
Two per rope team is ideal! I also pre-rigged this with a double length Dyneema sling and Petzl Ange S carabiner.
I customize mine a little but this is a great base kit at the price!
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My favorite and trusted compass/clinometer for the last two decades!
Nalgene Tritan 32 oz water bottle
A staple of every outdoor adventure, I carry two of these for my hydration needs!
Buy on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
Super affordable and weighs less than 4 ounces means there is never a reason not to bring this!
I have the Solar Orange lens on this pair for lower light conditions
Cell phone service is very spotty on Mount Shuksan. I was able to find a bar or two of service (Verizon) at Lake Ann (southwest side) and send and receive a few text messages. We had no service at the bivy site at the top of Fisher Chimney’s however I was able to FaceTime my wife from the summit! For the times with no service the SPOT GPS Messenger easily allowed me to send “check-in” messages home and in my opinion is an important piece of rescue gear should an incident occur.
The new Reactik+ is awesome! Up to 15 hours of burn time from an easy to recharge via USB battery with 300 lumens and able to throw light 360 feet! If you’re due for a headlamp upgrade I highly suggest you check out this model!
I always carry a spare headlamp on multi-day adventures and this is my choice back-up model. It’s small enough to fit in my first aid kit but still bright enough to function as a real headlamp.
Buy on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
Fire-starter is on every gear list, and this one is a good value!
My current favorite GPS navigation capable smart-watch with optical heart-rate! This is the watch I used to create the GPS tracks linked in the trip report. It also allows one-button waypoint saving and the built in barometer/altimeter was a nice plus to our navigation plans. (Updated this to the newest model which is high on my wish list!)
A great little HD cam with advanced features beyond this post. You can see some of the footage about a minute into my Forbidden Peak video! (updated 2019 link to the amazing new GoPro 7 for the great onboard stabilization! <- currently reviewing)
Anker PowerCore 10000 Charger for iPhone, GoPro, etc
This thing was great! About the size of a deck of cards it packs 10,000mAh which easily provided 4 full re-charges for my iPhone 6s and still have 50% juice left!
Clothing
Black Diamond Alpine Start Hooded Jacket
I absolutely love this piece and went into great detail about it in an in-depth review here.
Buy on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
Black Diamond Alpine Light Pant
I’ve been wearing these back east for most of my Spring/Summer climbing season with multiple trips in Huntington Ravine and through-out the White Mountains so I felt confident taking them as my main climbing pant to the Cascades. Having essentially lived in them for two weeks of non-stop climbing I can whole heartedly endorse the comfort and performance of these soft-shell pants!
Buy on Backcountry Buy on Amazon
Patagonia Technical Sunshade Hooded Shirt
This is in my opinion the most critical piece of glacier clothing you can own. I reviewed it in detail here but on a shade-less blazing glacier this one garment offers more protection and comfort than any other article of clothing I own. I’ve said it before and I will keep saying it… EVERY climber should own one of these! I do have a small cult following of “sunshade hoodies” who have “seen the light” or better yet “appreciate the shade” that these things bring… just get one and thank me later ok?
Feather-weight feels like down but isn’t down ultimate “Light Puffy” choice.
Clothing to be linked soon:
Patagonia Fitz Roy Belay Parka
EMS Powerstretch Climb Hoodie
EMS Powerstretch Long Underwear Pants
One synthetic T-shirt
One Ortovox Rock & Roll Boxers
One pair midweight socks
One pair heavyweight socks
One pair lightweight glove liners
One pair midweight Outdoor Research Project Gloves
Outdoor research sun ball cap
iPhone 6s+ with headphones & charger
| Crevasse Rescue Kit- Petzl Micro Traxion, SL OK, Tibloc, Sm’D, Oscilla |
| Personal Climbing Gear- Kong GiGi with Black Diamond Magnetron and Gridlock, Magnetron and Petzl Reverso 4, Cordelette with Petzl Ange S, 2 prussiks, knife, Petzl Cordex Belay Gloves on Petzl Ange S, Petzl Attache anchor biner |
| Group climbing gear- Alpine Rack and Draws |
| Group climbing gear- Sterling Nano IX 60m rope |
| Group climbing gear- Sterling Nano IX 28m rope |
Thanks for reading! Got a question or comment? Please comment below!
All trip reports done!
Part 1: Fisher Chimney’s, Mount Shuksan
Part 2: The West Ridge, Forbidden Peak
Part 3: Disappointment Cleaver, Mount Rainier
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