Insulation for active mountaineering

Fleece will definitely be more breathable, since alpha is always limited by the face fabric.

Base layer and jacket when active – the problem is not sweating

Possibly a fleece layer would be good if really cold/windy

With a group of people there are inevitably periods where you stand around so you want some thick insulation handy to pull out when needed – synthetic or down

Thanks. Will take a synthetic l/s baselayers along with my high loft fleece jacket and hard shell. And down or synthetic puffy (depending on wet or dry conditions) for when I am not moving.

TIA.

Eric

Take a light fleece and a breathable windshirt. On a mountain it will be windy and the hard shell will defeat the breathability of the fleece and cause you to overheat like crazy on the uphill.

Alpha is not as breathable as a fleece but it is wind resistant.

things can get pretty brutal on Rainier in May even if you’re not venturing above 10k feet. what mid layers, if any, do you already own. as a one day event, you have the benefit of picking what you wear that day based on the then current conditions. having spent a lot of time wearing a mammut guye jacket over the last year, i’m very impressed with and a big fan of how versatile alpha is as an insulation. with breathable side panels that run from the wrist to the waist i’ve had no problems with venting/overheating. the only reason i’m not recommending the guye is that it doesn’t have a hood. in many if not most situations i like a (scuba) hood on my mid layer. if i didn’t already have too many r1 style hoodies (you can’t go wrong with any of the popular ones) and a wind stopper vest, i’d pick up an OR deviator hoody. it does a great job as a hybrid of integrating the best of alpha and power grid insulation technologies. pair it with preferably a wind shirt or a hard shell along with a temperature appropriate (if in doubt, go warmer) belay/sitting around eating lunch jacket and you’re good to go.

Hi Richard,

I have a lot of light baselayers from Mammut, Montane, Moutain Equipment and Mountain Hardwear. As for my Alpha, I’ve got a Millet Alpha jacket, the Kinesis from Mountain Equipment and the Eigerjoch Light from Mammut.

Eric

Honestly it won’t matter either way.

If you are doing a class where they just teach rope travel and ice axe skills, a baselayer and shell of some sort will be fine. I don’t think any single day courses use a real crevasse (if it’s a rescue course) but if they do, just add any insulation layer under the shell.

Hi Jeff,

Crevasse rescue will be another day for me.

Thanks for the input.

Eric