Backcountry Beacon

Using the Camp Starlight Helmet on the Southwest Ridge of Mt Frances.

The last time I went on an alpine trip, I brought along a heavy hard-shell helmet for two reasons: it was tough enough to withstand travel to base camp, and it’s what I had always done. In recent years molded helmets have gained popularity for their extremely low weight, and I’m all about low weight. For this Alaska climbing trip, I chose the CAMP Starlight Helmet for its low weight, low profile, and excellent fit. Every item has room for improvement, and this one is no different. But all things considered, it got the job done pretty well.

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Testing out the Spantiks on a pre-trip training day on some Wasatch alpine.

In my opinion, boots are the most important piece of gear you take on a trip. It’s also one of the hardest pieces of gear to get right. A perfect fit is absolutely paramount, or you’re going to have sore feet the entire time. Warmth is extremely important if you like to keep your toes attached to your foot. Weight, crampon compatibility, durability, and a host of other considerations come into play as well. I have really strange feet (size 7, extra wide, and the right is bigger than the left), so I got my hands on a pair of boots several months in advance of my climbing trip to Alaska to make sure things were completely dialed for the trip. After checking out several pairs of double boots, I chose the La Sportiva Spantiks and began the long fitting process required for my damn goblin feet. Between training and the trip I spent dozens of days in these boots and used them on everything from ski approaches to snow slogging to ice and mixed and even pure rock climbing. Here’s how they did …

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On any expedition, you're gonna spend tons of time in the tent.

A good base camp tent should be plenty roomy, be relatively easy to set up, have a large vestibule and two doors, and most important … be tougher than a coffin nail. We were blessed (cursed) with really warm, calm weather during a recent climbing trip in Alaska, but I’ve been on trips where things didn’t go that way. Several years ago I was on Mt. Rainier early in the season when a huge storm moved in on our group. Winds measured 100mph, and snow buried the entire camp. Three of us took turns shoveling out the tent in hour-long shifts for a whole day so the tent wouldn’t get completely covered. We started the trip with a brand new four-season tent from a very well-respected company. When we got down the mountain, the tent was so thrashed, that we just threw it straight in the dumpster before going for beers. For the Alaska trip, I wanted a tent that would have handled the Rainier experience with a shrug. My partner and I brought along the Black Diamond Bombshelter. We were not disappointed.

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Alaska takes lots of gear.

I’ve been lucky enough to spend the last couple weeks climbing in the Alaska range under beautiful blue skies and temps hotter than what I left in Utah. Although we didn’t get all that much done due to obscenely warm temperatures (88 degrees in the tent one day), I did get the chance to beat the crap out of a lot of gear. Now, I’m a big fan of brutally honest gear reviews. When people post rants that aren’t based on any real-world use, it helps customers no more than when others post flowery praise about untested gear based on nothing more than brand loyalty. So, in an effort to dilute the ocean of “I don’t really like the color” reviews out there, I’m going to post a few reviews of gear that I used on the trip, beginning with the Western Mountaineering Puma Sleeping Bag.

If you want to read an obscenely lengthy blog post with way too many photos, then go HERE. For the review, read on …

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