Clothing Systems for new climber

Kyle, I have some experience in the mountains, but none in Montana. What are the worst conditions you can expect?

Probably down to about -25 F I am guessing.

Kyle, I lived near Glacier Park at 4,000 feet (low foothills) for over 10 years and we often had temperatures of -30 or lower. We had a stretch once where it stayed that cold for over a week. If it is any consolation, it IS a dry cold.

I guess I should probably plan on temps a little colder. – 35 at the coldest I also forgot to add my OR WInd Pro Balaclava to the list.

Is this only action clothing? or also part of a sleep system?

you might be interested in the montbell thermawrap action jacket instead of the micropuff pullover.

and only with a pile hat, and Xirtam jacket hood, you might have a cold head… I would recomend a different Down jacket. The cumulus is an excellent jacket, but for te conditions you might be facing, I would recomend something like a Rab neutrino endurnace parka. a little heavier/warmer, and with a waterproofish shell, and an insulated hood. but still, one of the lightest winter worthy down parkas you will find.

and as far as the gloves.. have you seen the RBH designs Vapor mitts?? I just ordered some for snowshoeingin the winter. you would probably be interested in the altitude liners.. check out theier website.. RBHdesigns.com. there are plenty of happy customer testimonials for their altitude mitts used on everest, N&S poles ect.

for -30 degrees… also check out RBH vapor barier clothing… not only will it keep your insulation from being degraded because of perspiration.. I remember reading a reveiw from a guy that spent a week in alaska with temps under 0 all the time, and he said he only carried the vapor barrier jacket, and a micro puff jacket
could save you some serious weight

Ryan,

Checked out RBH Designs site, Looks like some nice stuff I might consider those mitts but might spend the money on a insulated parka if my golite cumulus will not be suitable. The cumulus would be used for resting/belaying but from looking at others gear lists it might not be the best choice.

I might consider a DAS Parka or Wild Things Belay Jacket instead. Anyone have experience with either of those? I checked into the Rab Neutrino Endurance it very light but I think synthetic might be a better choice. I assume with the neutrino endurance it would be wise to use a VBL.

Kyle

I would also use this clothing as part of a sleep system

Kyle, wow, -25F; you will be way below ambient temps I have experienced; sorry I cant advise you..! good luck.

I suspect that the weather where I recreate, ND and Northern MN is probably similar to the winter weather in MT (at least in terms of temperature). I haven't done any alpine climbing (though I'm planning on doing some this winter) but my upper body clothing system for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing trips consists of a wicking t-shirt, long underwear top (not always), fleece pullover with a long zipper (I like pullovers), and Golite Phantom Jacket. I also have a half-zip lightweight Golite insulated vest, that I think is probably similar to the Micropuff vest (I haven't seen a Micropuff) that is nice to wear either over or under the shell if it's cold. I have a Golite 6-Month Night parka, which seems similar to a DAS Parka, that I put on over everything when I'm moving if it's really cold (below 0F) or I'm stopped. If I'm stopped and it's below 0, I am cold. On my legs I wear some fleece or wool (very heavy) pants, and, with the fleece, a nylon shell.

I've been considering buying the OR Fraction pullover, on sale on REI-outlet.com for $63, but haven't yet because I think it would duplicate the function of my insulated vest to some degree, and I don't think I'd ever wear both. If I were you, I'd buy either the Micropuff jacket or vest, not both, and then later buy the other if you felt the need.

For now, you might use the OR Specter, but later I think you might like a bit loftier fleece layer, which doesn't need to be windproof/resistant.

I would probably not buy the Golite Cumulus, but instead buy something like the Patagonia DAS or Wild Things Belay Jacket, which I think would be more versatile (you could put it on over all your other layers) and keep you warmer due to the hood.

I might also skip the insulated pants for now, and buy them later if you find that your legs are cold. I have a pair of Polarguard 3D insulated pants somewhere, because I thought they'd be nice, but I've never really needed them.

This system would be OK to a pretty cold temp (something well below 0) if you were moving, but wouldn't really let you stop to belay if it were much below 0. If you want to be warm and sedentary when it's really cold, you'd probably need the insulated pants and to step up to a serious down parka like the Marmot 8000M Parka or the Mountain Hardwear Absolute Zero Parka. The other option is to just avoid climbing on the absolute coldest days of the year.