How to carry a lightweight pack

Seventy years ago New England ski pioneer Arthur Comey experimented with "going light." He even went so far as to be the first naked skier -- or at least the first to write about it. Once he hitched up his pants and cinched his pack, Comey still took the minimalist tack; his standard was a 10 pound load.

The 21 ounce Granite Gear Virga pack is a good bet for superlight travel. It's designed to use a rolled up foam pad as a frame. For backcountry day skiing, cut a back pad out of foam and insert it in the pack. Shop for this pack

Inspired by Comey and other pioneers who traveled light, a few years ago I began experimenting with a feather-weight load. (I'd already tried skiing naked -- but loosing weight that way hurts too much.) For want of a better standard I used Comey's, and attempted to get my pack weight down to little more than that of a gallon of milk (not counting clothing layers). With some thought to each item of equipment it wasn't hard to do, and the results were an incredibly gratifying twelve pound pack. Here's what I decided to carry for my average day-trip. Combine this with a lightweight shell and your fleece, and you will fly:

Pack: about 25 ounces (Granite Gear or Lafuma)
Athletic drink in hydration bladder: 5 pounds (80 ounces)
Repair/first-aid kit & headlamp: 20 ounces (put some thought into this)
Shovel: 21 ounces (carry a small one if you're a cautious skier)
Goggles: 4 ounces (essential item in most cases)
Spare gloves: 5 ounces (watch the weight of these, as some heft like lead)
Face mask: 1 ounce (you don't always use it, but carry one)
Avy beacon: 8 ounces (use a small one such as the Barryvox)
Food: 14 ounces (leave the apples at home)
Ski Crampons: 8 ounces (optional)
Total: 187 ounces; 11.7 pounds

Admittedly, my cloud-weight load lacks things other alpinists may consider essential. For emergencies, you might want a bivouac sack. Ortovox makes a good one that only weighs 13 ounces. A camera is often part of a load; use a small point&shoot digital or a light SLR such as the Cannon Rebel X with a small zoom lens. Another sometimes necessity is a thermos; Nissan makes several small and light models, the best is their plastic armored HSO-500, but it's hard to find. Other thermos bottles are slightly lighter; but they're easily ruined from dents. If you need crampons and ice ax, use the lighter weight aluminum or steel models (depending on your locale and goals). I've found that some of the fiberfill insulated jackets are warmer per pound than fleece, so think about that option, especially if you'll be traveling in colder climates.

Perhaps the hardest item to deal with, regarding weight and packing, is a helmet. Anyone skiing avalanche terrain should wear a helmet, both while climbing and descending, but there is plenty of safe terrain on most trips where you might as well carry your helmet in your pack rather than boiling your head (all helmets are too hot when you work hard.) A pack with plenty of expansion capability and good compression straps allows you to carry a helmet, then trim the pack down once you're wearing the helmet. Such packs weigh a bit more, but may be necessary.

One of the most important items you need for a light pack, but don't carry with you, is an accurate scale. Use a digital postal scale and weigh everything you consider loading in your pack, then compare weights with various flavors of the same item. For example, the difference between a lightweight and heavy headlamp can be almost ½ pound!

When I got started with my experiment, it was easy to strip my load down to about 20 pounds. But getting closer than that to Comey's standard seemed impossible. Then I weighed my pack while empty. The thing weighed about 4 pounds -- 20% of my load! I immediately got on the phone, dug out the catalogs, and started shopping. The ideal pack for my project would weigh about 2 pounds, have ski attachment straps, and enough volume for my clothing layers when I'm not wearing them. It turned out there wasn't much out there. Some packs looked light, but had the heft of steel plate. Others were feathers without enough volume. The packs I found owed their light weight to simplicity and use of lightweight fabrics. Even so, some had amazing amounts of excess junk hanging off, mostly in the form of extra webbing. I wasn't shy about cutting gewgaws off the packs--it's amazing how much all that stuff amounts to. For example, one sack had a handle stitched to the side. A nice feature I'd probably use once or twice a year, and be carrying on my poor back the rest of the time. Out came the razor blade.

There are obvious arguments against super-lightweight packs. One manufacturer was adamant when he told me that "how a pack carries is so much more important than how much it weighs." True for a 90 pound load on a Yukon glacier; but he didn't understand that at 13 pounds, you can put strings on a shopping bag and it will feel fine on your shoulders. Others argued durability--a valid point--but how much wear does skiing place on a pack? If you're guiding 100 days a year you probably want something ironclad. But most of us can get by with less.

One of my favorite lite packs is the Lafuma Activ Light 37. I also like packs that are slightly more technical and include a hydration bladder, of which the Backcountry Access Stash packs are my favorite. The Lafuma lightweight packs are hard to find. Instead, consider any of the Granite Gear packs in their Ultralight Packer series: Virga, Vapor Trail and Nimbus Ozone.

Lafuma Activ Light 37
Weight: 25 ounces

(This Lafuma model is discontinued, but may be available on the used or close-out market. Lafuma has bought into the heavier more complicated type of pack design, but some of their models may still be worth a look. Only their complicated and heavier packs are imported to the U.S., the better ones can be viewed on their French website at http://www.lafuma.fr , and perhaps ordered via various web equipment shops. A few other companies make packs that are simple and light. Check out Granite Gear for some interesting options. (Just look at the weight while you're shopping, and shoot for under or around 32 ounces.) The problem with the pack industry is that average shoppers like packs that look "technical" and have a beefy feel when they handle them in a store. Very few shoppers look for a pack that is simpler and lighter... (Sad, but with a razor blade and sewing machine you can sometimes make things right once you get home.) You can view the North American Lafuma website here.

Of all the packs of tried in the last few years, the Lafuma 37 does Comey the proudest. It's not much--and that's good. A basic top loader, the Lafuma is built with lightweight nylon, reinforced with medium weight fabric on the sides and bottom. The top flap closes with a single buckle, and has the basic zipper compartment common to most toploaders. Inside you'll find one large compartment with a foam back-pad easily accessed via a Velcro flap; this doubles as a place for a water bag. You attach skis to the Lafuma via compression straps on the upper bag and fixed length straps lower down. This system worked with the pack fully loaded, but with a deflated sack my skis flopped without a way to cinch the tails. To solve that problem I sewed better ski/compression straps on the sides. Another mod I did was replace the weird belt buckle with a more standard version.

One Lafuma feature I could do without is the porous fabric on the back panel and waist belt. All this stuff does for me is get wet then freeze. A snowboard can be easily attached to this pack using a few extra straps, and a traditional ice-ax loop does the usual job. The Lafuma waist belt is wide and comfortable, and includes a zipper compartment that's perfect for sunscreen and the like. The mesh on the outside back is a carry-all that works quite well, but does tend to catch on branches and junk in your car while you're unloading. It can be easily removed if you don't like it. In all, this is a fine piece and has served me well for several years. I even use it for elk hunting, as it's the right color!