Presidential Traverse List

[Girard Ordway]

Hey everyone, I'm brand new to backpacking light but have been making lists for my trips and trying to pack light for the past few years.

How's this list looking for the Presi Traverse? I'm expecting temps well below 0 for this trip. Maybe around 10 during some of the days when not peaking. The only thing I'm thinking of doing is taking out the lighter down jacket and adding in a big puffy one which will weigh a tiny bit more. My thinking is since I travel pretty warm that the baselayer, monkey man, and shell will be warm enough when moving and the big puffy I can pull out when having to wait around.

I'm going with a group. The only items I don't have in here is 2 3 person tents that will be split between 7 total and my personal foodwater. I think I'll still come in under 30lbs total.

The big things that stick out to me are my pack and my boots. Both really expensive items that I can't really afford lighter options for right now. I haven't really done any mods on my pack or tried it frameless so I'm thinking of loading it up and trying that out.

Thanks for any tips!

http://www.geargrams.com/list?id=5910

[David Thomas]

A consideration: How big is the group? As mushers say, "You're only as fast as your slowest dog." and as group size increases, you always have a wider range of skills and speed. Which means everyone is, at some point, waiting around when they'd rather be moving and staying warm.

So have just a bit more warmth to your active wear and be prepared to adjust more often what you are wearing compared to a solo or 2-person trip.

[Girard Ordway]

Thanks David. That is a good point and something I considered. As I said, it's a group of seven and I expect to be the second fastest alpinst in the group so I'm assuming I'll be going along at a fairly easy pace for myself.

Packing a four layer clothing system seems to be the standard for the Presi Traverse in winter.
Mine is a four layer system so that should be more than enough, even if I'm just standing around for an hour.

I've found that in my baselayer shirt, the mountain hardware fleece, the shell jacket, the baselayer pants and the softshell pants I can even sit on a ski lift in 9ish degree Fahrenheit temps no problem for about 10 minutes. I was also able to climb to 21,000ft in that system which is a very slow and cold climb. Luckily, other than my feet and hands, I'm usually concerned about being too warm.

That's why I was considering swapping the OR Down Jacket and the Fleece Pants for a Big Puffy Down Jacket. It would weigh almost the same (50g heavier) but be more versatile for me I think. I'm not sure about this yet.

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