Lots of people have been asking me how I brought everything I needed and still kept my pack weight at a max of about 32lbs. Did I skimp on survival gear? Did I only take gear for the forecast weather, and not for potential weather? Did I bring less food than advisable? The answer to all of these is no, I brought everything I thought I would need and knew I could survive with for multiple days down to -40. Notice I didn't say comfortably survive, but this is a race, not a glamping trip.
First things first, I used a Hyperlite Mountain Gear Windrider 3400 backpack. It's a roughly 50L pack, I'm not sure if it's 50 max or 50+, but it's the perfect size. Empty, this pack weighs 2.2 lbs. Before you mock me for weighing my empty backpack, go weigh your empty pack and get back to me. I used a 70L pack this summer that weighed 6.6 lbs dry, and it was often soaking wet. That's a lot of weight to carry that isn't doing anything except carrying more weight. Not worth it to me.
Starting with a light pack, and moving down the list of essentials for the trip, next up is a sleeping bag. I didn't have a good negative temp winter bag, so I bought one specifically for this trip but also for all future winter camping trips. I don't want a -40 bag that I'll only use once a year or only on the ITI, I don't have that kind of money. But a -25 bag... that's the perfect range for something I'll use all winter. If it's colder than -25, I'd wear my puffy coats and puffy pants and sleep for a little less time. If it's warmer, I'll leave it unzipped a little.
So I settled on the temperature range, but I also want a bag that can compress small and not weigh a ton. I settled on the Western Mountaineering Puma MF(microfiber) bag, 6'6". That's two inches shorter than me, but I don't need four extra inches of sleeping bag when I'm carrying it in my small pack. The price point is quite high, but it stuffs to the size of a basketball in a compression sack, and only weighs about 4 pounds. The MF version is water resistant, described as you
can use it in the snow a few times and it'll be fine, but after a while it might collect moisture. Sounds perfect for ITI. The other option was GWS, goretex wind stopper. That would be even better, but also heavier and harder to stuff. After talking to a guy at AMH who owned one, I settled on the MF version.
I almost brought a tarp tent that would be supported by adjustable trekking poles. But this is a race, not a glamping trip, so I figured I'd go hardcore and just open bivy. I brought my REI tent footprint for use as a sort of waterproof blanket in the event it snowed or rained. It worked just fine, and I now really enjoy the idea of an open bivy, at least in the winter. It's so incredibly simple, and also makes you feel like a badass when you just stretch your sleeping bag out on a sleeping mat in the snow and go to sleep.
For a sleeping pad I decided on a foldup foam pad, the Nemo Switchback, as opposed to an inflatable one. I like the blow up ones, but they take a fair bit of time to blow up, and to deflate and put away in a decent way. The fold up ones are setup in two seconds and put away in two seconds. And weigh practically nothing. Worth it. Oh, and mine was only like 5' long. So, my legs were off the mat from my knees down usually. And sometimes my head.
I brought an MSR Whisperlite International stove, one that I've had for years and used a ton. I brought 20 oz of fuel, which I figured would be more than enough for the few times I would use the stove. It was plenty. I think I used the stove three times total, twice for breakfast along the overland trail and once for a lunch break along the overland.
I tried to carry three days worth of food with me at all times, but started the race with only two days of food, and ate hardly any of it thanks to all the lodges along the way for the first 120 miles. In my two drop bags I had three days worth of food, and I didn't even use anything from my Rohn drop bag.
The food I brought was three meals of Peak Refuel freeze dried meals, they're almost 1000 calories, high in carbs and protein, and only require about 8 oz of hot water to make, as opposed to most other brands needing two or three times the water and having less calories and being bulkier. I brought two packets of instant oatmeal per breakfast, with a packet of 200 calorie nut butter to mix in. I took instant coffee along and barely used it, for some reason. For daily snacks I used little almost 1000 calorie bags of mixed cookies. Nilla wafers, Golden oreos, Ritz PB crackers, BelVita PB sandwiches, and those wonderful magical peanut butter filled pretzels from Costco.
Crackers don't freeze, so they're a great winter snack. However, they're also dry. If you aren't hydrating well because you're like me and don't want to stop to drink, crackers dry you out as you eat them. I could feel my already dry lips drying out as I chewed the crackers.
I brought three days worth of chemical hand warmers. I used *two* packets the whole time. It just never really got cold. I brought three nights worth of lithium AAA batteries for my Black Diamond Storm headlamps, and only needed to access my drop bag battery stash at Finger Lake on the way back.
For water I brought two hydroflasks, one that was a 22oz bottle that froze way faster, and one was a 40oz bottle that I found on the side of the road and had a cap for, and that one kept water hot for hours. I had these in the side pouches of my pack, with the side straps through the cap loops in the event of a faceplant. Faceplants tend to launch everything that isn't strapped down. The only downside was I had to stop, take off my pack, and unstrap one side just to be able to drink water.
The clothing I wore while skiing was pretty much the same the whole time. I had cheap wool socks, Ortovox long johns that I really didn't need, it was plenty warm, and a Smartwool sweater with my favorite Patagonia Nano-Air Hoody over top of. For pants I used Arcteryx Trino Tights. These are super warm and useful, and I haven't been able to find the same style recently. Honestly I was too warm most of the time, but I like the pockets on that coat so I kept it on. Pockets make or break gear. If I could find a sweet base layer shirt with a pocket for a cellphone, I'd buy it forever. I went between an Apocalypse Design hat and an OR light hat. I used a buff for over my face in the wind or after I sunburned my face. I just wore some light polar fleece gloves under my pole pogies and my hands were always warm enough.
For warm gear, I had a pair of Columbia rain pants for the wind and hopefully not rain. I had a North Face rainjacket for the same purpose, and I only used it for the first morning when it was snowing a lot. This gear works very well for when it's -25 or colder and theres a slight breeze, but it gets super warm if there's no breeze. I decided against bringing a parka, due to personal experience of never having needed one even in -40 and colder. For an extra layer I brought a Patagonia Micro Puff coat with a hood, and a pair of Rab puffy pants that are insanely warm. I only used each of these a couple times, either to stay warm in a cold cabin, or for the first miles of a cold morning. I had a pair of Rab Expedition down mittens that I used a couple times, but didn't need them very much. They're very stuffable and light, and feel like sleeping bags for your hands. I brought along some down booties that I bought from the Hoarding Marmot, they're some no name brand but they're an essential for a winter trip!
I was able to put my puffy pants, coat, and mittens into a small compression sack in my pack, and the rain/wind gear on the outside for easy access, as well as the booties on the outside for quick access.
The way this was all organized in my pack was in order of needed use. So, freeze dried food and extra socks/clothes on the bottom, fuel bottle, then my organizer bag (with stove, kettle, breakfast, batteries, lighter, matches, pillow), and then any extra daily snacks in a ziploc, sleeping bag on top of that, then puffy layers above that. It worked excellently.
What I carried in the outside pack is mostly listed above, except I carried a pair of kicker skins for any steep or slick segments, a pair of Apocalypse gaiters that I never used, my liquid glide wax, and sometimes my gloves if I got too warm.
ON BIVYING
Here's my process for when I stopped to sleep or nap.
Ideally, find an old snowmachine trail so it's already packed down, but if not, find a flat spot out of the wind, preferably against trees. I like trees around me. Pack down said area with skis as best as I can, and then take off my pack and lay out my sleeping pad. Unpack sleeping bag and lay it out, and set the organizer bag near the head. Put any unused layers or loose things back in the pack, and close it enough so snow won't get inside it. Take off skis, set skis up so they prevent someone from driving over my sleeping spot, and sit down on the bag and mat, hopefully not making a big hole where I sit. Remove ski boots, knocking off as much snow and ice as possible, and put on down booties and put my feet in the sleeping bag. Turn sleeping bag compression sack inside out, put ski boots inside, and then put this whole bag inside my sleeping bag. Put any leftover water bottles inside my bag, inflate my pillow, charge anything that needs charging, set an alarm, and go to sleep.
Pretty much reverse this order was how I packed up. If I cooked, I just used my stove sort of near my head and stayed in my sleeping bag. I melted some snow for water, usually making hot water so it lasted longer throughout the day.
Anytime I was close to a checkpoint or lodge, I made a mental list of things that I absolutely needed to do (charge my watch, charge my phone, work on my feet, wax skis, eat as much as I could) so that I could get in and out as efficiently as possible. Sometimes I still ended up taking more than two hours to get in and out, but charging takes time and is necessary and sometimes you have to wait a while to get food or it just takes an hour of eating to be ready to tackle the next miles. There's also a lot of cool people coming and going, and friends, and fun volunteers to get to know and thank for their help.
That's all I can think of for gear related stuff... I'm really happy with my setup. Any questions on gear or strategy?
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