what do you carry on trips?

Watch this video and learn how to go light.
This guy is an avalanche forecaster in Utah and he doesn't even need a pack!!! Towards the end he shows what he carries..

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Great video.

Cookie, check out this sled -- it's what I've been carrying since the Phantom.

It requires some modifications to your gear.  Drill holes in tips and tails, plus holes in the ends of your shovel handle pieces (and the blade, if they're not there already).  That, plus 1/4" bolts and wingnuts (4) and a length of 4-5mm cord makes a board-stiff, bombproof rescue sled.  It's pretty impressive.  I carry that gear with me anytime the skis come out.

do you need to seal the holes in your skis with epoxy or something?

cabon fiber poles will not work well in this system

a second person on a goat rope on the back of this sled would be helpful - a belay, like the sleds on the ski slope

do you need to seal the holes in your skis with epoxy or something?

cabon fiber poles will not work well in this system

a second person on a goat rope on the back of this sled would be helpful - a belay, like the sleds on the ski slope

Yup, epoxy the holes.  Why would carbon be a problem?  The poles are mostly stiffeners to keep the skis from shifting on the shovel handles, they don't take much of the body weight (assuming the head is toward the tails).

You can easily rig a tag line off the tails.  Works well enough.

Firstly you should know where you are ALL the time.
Not an old codger skill.....its an essential skill regardless of your generation.

Despite having spent 30 years developing my map reading skills, I have to confess that I don't always know where I am. This is particularily true below treeline or in a white out. I have a somewhat high failure rate when hiking up a forested valley looking for that particular drainage that takes you to the high country. After a few particularily inconvienient experiences I have updated my GPS (with downloadable topography) so I can actually get a signal in the trees (some of the time). To balance the anti-GPS sentiment in this thread I would like to extol the virtues of modern GPS. Maps and compass (and altimeter) navigation is a essential skill, but I find the GPS to be an essential supplement (not replacement) that can save you time and effort and make your explorations safer.

I have completed an in depth volumetric analysis of the ever increasing list of equipment required in your day pack from all the posts above and had my team of trained technicians put together this photo rendition of the average skier complying with the approved TAY safety list.

This is only the day pack. We are working on the "overnight" pack analysis and will report back shortly.

Patagucci's new Utah Avalanche Center Special Edition backcountry parka :


Backpacks are now obsolete.