First winter bag....

Hello,

I'm newish here...and about to take my first adventure into the land of alpine climbing. I will be traveling to Denali in March and then to the Himalaya in may and I need to get an arctic bag. I'm set on down however would it be advantageous to spring for the -40 or would -20 with a liner and/or bivy be ok?

--Angus

I love my -25F western mtneering super puma MF. Tested down to -22F so far with a minimal pad and I was nice and warm.

Had a -15 bag for basecamp in the Khumbu and it was a bit on the cold side when wearing just boxers and t-shirt. Would go for a -30 synthetic next time (just because it's the cheapest for that temperature, and since it's just a BC bag I won't have to carry it so the weight isn't an issue). Climbing bag was a 15 deg down bag... with puffy jkt and puffy pants it was doable. This was in November.

Denali in March is going to be the cold one, so definitely see what folks here say about the temps at that time of year.

ExCouchPot wrote:Hello, I'm newish here...and about to take my first adventure into the land of alpine climbing. I will be traveling to Denali in March and then to the Himalaya in may and I need to get an arctic bag. I'm set on down however would it be advantageous to spring for the -40 or would -20 with a liner and/or bivy be ok? --Angus

I snagged an REI Kilo -20 last year for $275.

Tested in down to -17 last year and I had it partially unzipped.

i don't think you can beat it for the price.

I have a Western Mountaineering Puma Super Dryloft for sale if interested.
denver.craigslist.org/spo/2…

+1 for the super puma best bag I've ever owned .
Still use the versatile for everything but the coldest temps

+ another for the Puma. And no one most people don't care where you got the money to do your adventures, as long as it didn't come from selling stolen draws.

Where exactly will you be in the park in March? March is too early to climb Denali itself*, so I'm guessing somewhere else? What are your objectives at Denali and the Himalaya? That will help decide the temp bag you need.

• Before someone points out that Denali has been summited in winter, the context here is of a first time alpine climber...unless he's someone like Lonnie Dupre, who wouldn't be asking this question here anyway.