Which pack for Denali?

Headed up the West Butt, unguided as a two man team. How big of a pack do I really need?

Here is what I'm considering so far:

Have an Osprey 85L Aether, eh, ok but heavy and has dumb features.

Tried a Mountain Hardwear BMG 105, seemed great until I actually put weight in it and the suspension collapsed.

The Gregory Denali Pro just seems ridiculous and too useless feature prone. Seems like the Osprey only bigger.

Cilo Gear? I need to see one of these in person, and I'm not sure it's big enough. Maybe it is. I still dont see why these things are getting so much hype, materials seem nice but they are full of seems. Simple is good though and it seems to be a simple pack.

Andinista? Need to see one of these in person also, but seems like the suspension might suck for huge loads.

I'm half tempted to buy and HMG porter but I doubt it will handle the load. I love their smaller packs though!

Any that I am missing? I dont want to spend all day trying to figure out how to pack it up because I have a small pack, but do I really need 100L?

75 liters works great up there if you are pulling a sled and double carrying. If you can find one the gregory Makalu pro is awesome. A bag and a lid no extras and comes in around 4 lbs.
i have been up there a couple of times and the 75 liter packs are all the rage these days.
Dallen

I used a Black Diamond Mission 75 on the West Butt and I really liked it. It's about 3.5 lbs and carries heavy loads well. The suspension is excellent for a pack in that weight range. I know several people who have used the Mission on Denali and they were all happy with it. I used to be a die hard Cilo guy, but for the size/weight/$ the BD Mission is hard to beat.

Sunny-D is right, 75 liters is a good size.

McHale packs carry weight better than any other pack I've used. If you will be carrying monster loads (70-100lbs) for many days, McHale should be on your shortlist. Be warned, the website isn't easy to navigate.

mchalepacks.com/ultralight/…

I tried a friend's CiloGear out while training for Rainier. I found it to be very uncomfortable once it was carrying over 50#. It is great pack for light and loose Alpine. If you put most of your weight in your sled and then carry lighter above 14 it might work, but when splitting gear between 2 climbers vice 3 or 4 that could be difficult.

+1 for the BD Mission!

Somehow I forgot to mention that I actually have the BD mission 75. It's comfy and simple, but I'm nervous about it being too simple at only 75L. I will have a sled and skis lower on the route. It does not seem like a strong pack though. That side zipper seems like it could blow easily.

Last time I was up there (2012) I used my Osprey 85L Aether and was plenty happy with it. The features worked for me, I already had the pack and weight wasn't a serious concern since we were double-carrying with sleds and going slow enough anyway.

As an aside, we cached the sleds at 11k camp and double-carried to 14k to avoid pulling sleds around Windy Corner. My first time up there we pulled sleds on Windy Corner and it was annoying and frustrating.

Have a great trip.

MyFeetHurt wrote:Somehow I forgot to mention that I actually have the BD mission 75. It's comfy and simple, but I'm nervous about it being too simple at only 75L. I will have a sled and skis lower on the route. It does not seem like a strong pack though. That side zipper seems like it could blow easily.

I couldn't tell about durability as I don't do many crazy long hikes up big mountains therefore my 75L hasn't seen many days.

My Mission 50 on the other hand as been used like 80 days. That zipper works just fine.

I thought the same thing I know you're thinking. You wanna buy some fancy pack from a small company cause that's cool. black Diamond shit is junk. That was until I bought the packs and tried them out. I'm telling you I have no regrets.

For what it's worth, I've got 60-70 days on my mission 75 mostly pulling 100+lb sleds. I've also got a Mission 50 that I use for ice cragging and shorter trips. Both have been beat on pretty hard, but no issues at all with the side zipper on either pack. The compression straps take must of the pressure off of the zipper. I really like that side zip for quick access to shovel/probe.

I'll second what Kevin Zagorda said. I like Cilo packs, but anything more than 45-50lbs and the straps really dug into my shoulders and bruised my collar bones.

Have fun on Denali!

CCW. I use an ozone now and will prob never buy anything else ever again. Its that good. I would look at there bigger models.

CCW, Cilogear, HMG, and the Andinista packs are designed to trade off comfort / stiffness on the approach in exchange for riding better doing technical rock / ice climbing from a high camp (with the pack compressed down).

I don't think they're the best tool for most people on something like the West Buttress where you aren't going to be swinging tools over your head pitching things out.

aed wrote:Arcteryx Bora 80? Might be a heavy pack on its own, but it's burly, and very comfortable carrying heavy loads.

Get (find) a Nozone 75. Same hip belt and straps as the venerable Bora 85, but much lighter. I have a Bora but wish I had gotten a Nozone. I don't know if they still make the big Nozone but seems like it would be a perfect pack for this.

If you already have a mission 75. Get out and train with that I think you will find it works really well

First I'd figure out just how big it needs to be. For example everything I wear is an XL and I hate having a bunch of stuff strapped on the outside of my pack - so for me I needed a pretty big pack. I also was doing the traverse (WB over and down the Muldrow and out) so big was truly better in my case. Your needs might be quite different depending on your size and how you plan to do the climb. Then I would highly recommend going somewhere you can spend time trying things on and carrying weight even if just around the store. Comfort is critical on a trip this long. Packs are sort of like climbing shoes - what one guy loves doesn't work for the next. A comfortable pack that weighs a pound more is a much better choice than a lightweight one that hurts like hell after a few days. Lots of things can affect what you need - syn vs down bag for example (huge size difference) and on and on.

So its down to the BD Mission 75 or the Arcteryx Nozone 75. I've been training with the Mission but I find the suspension starts to collapse around 50 lbs. Arcteryx is pretty simple too, but at least it has a daisy chain to strap some crap too on the outside, a wand pocket, and ski carry. No side access though.

On a side note, I think people tend to overestimate the weight of a loaded pack in general. I'm training with a true 65+ pounds, but damn its hard to imagine people actual climbing with this much. I can see 45 pounds, but holy shit this is going to suck if people are really carrying this much.

Do you really think your gonna be carrying more than 50# on your back?

last year for a month in the AK range I had 120# total. That included lots of things I wouldn't take up denali (like two burner coleman stove, 2 Rubbermaids)

I think you can get all your food and gear to around 100#'s. 60 on the sled, 40 on your back.

christoph benells wrote:Do you really think your gonna be carrying more than 50# on your back? last year for a month in the AK range I had 120# total. That included lots of things I wouldn't take up denali (like two burner coleman stove, 2 Rubbermaids) I think you can get all your food and gear to around 100#'s. 60 on the sled, 40 on your back.

I have no idea what my pack will weigh yet, I'm basing it on what I read about others. Thank god I'm not the only one thinking 60# is somewhat bunk. Only bad thing is I will be skiing down low so that adds more weight than snow shoes.

There are a few books out there on climbing Denali. Read them and call one of the guide services - they have more experience up there then anyone and should know what works and what doesn't - go through the suggested equipment lists. Then lay out the entire list and weigh it - if you haven't bought it all yet, maybe do that first before getting the pack. Also try stuffing it all into a pack. You might be surprised how big a pack you need - or don't need. But either way it's better to know that what needs to go into the pack will actually fit in there. Expedition rated sleeping bags, parkas, tents etc are not small or light - and some of the clothing etc isn't all that compressible. The difference between a -30 synthetic or down sleeping bag and parka can easily be a thousand cubic inches for example.

Do NOT underestimate this mountain - trying to pare things down too far could land you in a world of hurt.

If you are pulling a sled, then a 75 or 85 liter pack should be just fine. You want a pack that is soft in suspension( back packing as apposed to technical climbing)and is relatively lightweight. I have an Osprey Argon 85 that I like very much. Great load hauler at a reasonable weight. What Jared had to say up thread is spot on, worth remembering. I use CCW packs for technical climbing, but Denali and Aconcagua, by the normal or regular routes, are best served with comfortable backpack verses a technical climbing pack. Look at what packs guide companies recommend for their guided trip. Dana Designs Terraplane, Osprey Aether 90, Gregory Denali Pro, Arc’teryx Bora 85-90 Mountain Hardware BMG 105 are examples listed by AAI.

Since this thread popped back up, I'll give my post trip thoughts. I trained like mad with both a BD Mission 75 and an Arcteryx Nozone 75, I liked them both and just couldnt decide between the two. At the very last minute I felt very concerned when I tried to pack these up and could not fit all my stuff (not even close) into either pack. Also, neither of these packs carried well above 50 lbs as the suspension started to deform. I realized this situation was not likely on the mountain though. So, I bought a new style Gregory Denali Pro (totally different from the old red style) and man what a dream that pack was for the trip. Very comfy, all the features I needed and none that I dont. Yeah, its a heavy pack.

While I only did a single carry without a sled once on the mountain, from 14k to 17k, I doubt I could and have done that with a 75L and a lot of junk hanging off. My pack probably never got above 40lbs except probably that one day. The sled loops worked great too.

I think 75L is definitely doable but it was nice to not have to get really creative while packing, and just throw crap in and be done. The big pack was a time saver in that respect. To put this in prospective, almost all my other packs these days (except the three above) are dyneema and sub 2 lbs. For this trip, the heavy pack was worth it.

I should be noted that I had skis and ski boots lower on the mountain, so that takes a small amount of extra gear. I would never do that mountain without skis.

Edit: All great advice here, to sum it up I'd say if you go with a BD 75 or similar, expect to spend some time getting it to fit right, or just get a big cum dumpster Denali pro.