Grand Teton Pack List

Planning on climbing the Grand (upper Exum) in a couple weeks. Last time I was up there my pack felt like a million pounds. I've tried to cut down my gear a little. I'd like to stay overnight (at the moraines or caves) so please don't suggest going car to car as a way save weight. I'm also not going to solo it so please don't suggest that. And I'm currently doing a training regimen to get stronger so please don't suggest that.

This is my pack list.

My partner will be carrying a similar set of climbing equipment except instead of the nuts he will have .5-3 BD cams and only a couple draws.

What should I ditch? Am I missing anything? I have about $75 dollars I could spend if you see any cheap but significant upgrades.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Ditch the rock shoes - approach shoes are fine on UExum. I'd also skip the belay gloves. If you have a ~40L pack that can be stripped down, use that for the approach and route - allows you to have a lighter pack on the approach and not need to have a separate pack for the route.

To Start:

-Remove PAS( use the rope).
-Remove Rap kit. If emergency, just use your gear you are already carrying.
-Remove 1 pair of socks to 2 total.
-Remove either belay gloves or fleece gloves, you don’t need both. 

And try just bring 1 liter of water. It still early in the season there are lots of place to fill up your water right now. Just chug a liter before you start climbing and carry 1 with you.

I'm planning two days. If I'm super sacked or just really feeling like another night camping I may stretch to three.

I can ditch the Rap Kit, Rock Shoes.

I can ditch the PAS if there are good ledges on all the belay locations.

I can ditch some food but if I end up staying 3 days 4lbs doesn't seem to bad. Some of it is a little heavier because I decided not to pack a stove/fuel so not everything is freeze dryed. I'll review

I have considered an alternate harness in part because the Corax is super bulky.

I've weighed the idea if ditching the second pack but I don't have a mid weight pack so it's either take the 65l all the way up or ditch it at the moraines and have a much lighter pack on summit day.  I think I'm ok having an extra pound on the approach for 3 pounds less (and a more compact pack) higher up.

And I can ditch the #3 cam but I was going to have my partner carry that anyway :).

and the SOCKS! I will not ditch the socks.  In fact I was considering 9 pairs of socks so I can change them at lunch and dinner.... Nothing like a clean fresh pair of socks

Drop:

PAS, use rope or slings.
Rap Ring (and probably the webbing)
GPS? This shouldn't be needed...
No need for a trowel. There is a poop station at lower saddle. Wag bags are required.
Rock shoes (Most if not all of the climb can be done in approach shoes. There is 1 to 2 moves at the Friction Pitch where I would want rock shoes if leading)

Consider:
Check snow levels. etc. July 10ish the fixed rope to lower saddle was under snow. We used/needed a combination of Boots, Axes, Microspikes, Crampons, Trekking Poles, etc (it was scrappy on our part).

There is a lot of water from trail head to lower saddle. You only need to carry 1L worth and fill up as you go. I found having 2L for the climb very nice but I drink a lot ;-)

DM if you want pictures from July 10ish.

Edit: We didnt need to place a #2 or anything larger.  We did have a lot of runnout but you have a number of gear placement options.  The runnout is super chill and mostly class 4 with a hint of low 5th class here and there.

+1 Change the solid water bottle to collapsible. I have a super light collapsible filter (Katadyn BeFree) and love it. For full day hikes and runs in the Tetons I would never carry more than 0.5L at a time since there are creeks everywhere. Instant water too, no waiting for a pill to dissolve. Maybe you need more for the climbing, you know your own water needs better than I do but definitely don't carry 2L on your way to bivy. 

+1 to ultralight ~40L pack instead of two packs. 

+1 to skimo harness. For easy long stuff this is a great way to cut down on bulk.

Bear spray?

Skyler Mavor wrote:

+1 Change the solid water bottle to collapsible. I have a super light collapsible filter (Katadyn BeFree) and love it. For full day hikes and runs in the Tetons I would never carry more than 0.5L at a time since there are creeks everywhere. Instant water too, no waiting for a pill to dissolve. Maybe you need more for the climbing, you know your own water needs better than I do but definitely don't carry 2L on your way to bivy. 

+1 to ultralight ~40L pack instead of two packs. 

+1 to skimo harness. For easy long stuff this is a great way to cut down on bulk.

Bear spray?

Bear Spray will be on my partner's pack  I don't expect we will be far apart enough to need two.

S Anderson wrote:

Bear Spray will be on my partner's pack  I don't expect we will be far apart enough to need two.

Just make sure your pack is light enough or quick to drop so you can outrun your partner.

At most of the campsites in Garnet Canyon are bear boxes there (ask the rangers for which specific sites), so maybe no need to bring a bear bag

All you need to take is one extra pair of trousers and two bacon sandwiches. 

Alex Fischer wrote:

At most of the campsites in Garnet Canyon are bear boxes there (ask the rangers for which specific sites), so maybe no need to bring a bear bag

Yeah unfortunately the two campsites we are considering (moraines, and caves) don't have them.  I think they are at the lower saddle and the meadows.

S Anderson wrote:

Yeah unfortunately the two campsites we are considering (moraines, and caves) don't have them.  I think they are at the lower saddle and the meadows.

We saw one bear bin at the lower saddle.  Doesn't mean there were more... but thats all we saw.

S Anderson wrote:

Yeah unfortunately the two campsites we are considering (moraines, and caves) don't have them.  I think they are at the lower saddle and the meadows.

The caves have a bear box. Marmots are your biggest threat. Skip the bear spray if you don't see a sign warning of grizzly activity at the trailhead. Don't pet the well-acclimated black bears and they won't pet you.

The fact that you have such an extensive pack list that is so well documented is scary.  

Pro tip: Split the rope and rack between your partner as customary. However when your partner is parking the car, slide your rack into their backpack.  

• If you're bringing a daypack, an REI Flash 22 is little more than half the weight of the Osprey Mutant 22. Right now you can get some colors on sale for less than $40.
• For a two-night trip for two, your overall weight may be lower if you bring dehydrated food and a lightweight stove. Ready-to-eat food is heavy because it's got a high water content. A lightweight burner, gas canister and pot weighs about the same as two cups of water.
• Longer-term, you could invest in a lighter pack and a lighter sleeping bag. There are quite few packs with the same capacity as yours but less than 3.5 lbs. A high-quality, summer-weight down sleeping bag weighs about 1.5 lbs, and if you wear your down jacket would be good for three-season use. But those will cost you much more than $75.

Ditch the fleece. The down jacket does everything your fleece does, so it's a little redundant; and it's bulky. Fleece is outdated compared to the insulation technology out today.

This may be a controversial opinion, but ditch the rain shell. If there's extended rain in the forecast, you won't want to be climbing anyways. Any afternoon storms that come through are done in 30 min, then it gets warm again and you dry out. This is my thinking on routes in the Winds anyways.

Ditch the fleece gloves. It will never get cold enough to warrant these mid-summer.

Everything else I'd nix has been mentioned. Keep the first aid kit. You never know. But honestly, a few crevats, duct tape and a roll of gauze will suffice. The Adventure Medical Kit .5 has a lot of stuff meant to treat small cuts, like band-aids, that are frankly quite useless in any emergency situation.

DavisMeschke Guillotine wrote:

This may be a controversial opinion, but ditch the rain shell. If there's extended rain in the forecast, you won't want to be climbing anyways.

You've got a lot more confidence in Teton weather forecasts than most of us...

Ditch the fleece gloves. It will never get cold enough to warrant these mid-summer.

Having been snowed on while climbing the Grand in August I'd say that's a risky way to save 2 oz. And even if the weather's nice it's often below freezing before the sun comes up (the Grand's notorious for verglas).

Assuming you have a good weather forecast, I wouldn't bother with the bivy sack, just bring a tarp and sleep out in the open. If the weather turns bad you will be fine with a tarp to keep you dry.

OK updated my list here.

Ditched

• Climbing Shoes
• PAS
• Rap Ring and Slings
• Fleece Beanie (Down Jacket and Fleece have hoods)
• 1 Pair of Socks
• Some Food
• Food container
• Spork

Upgraded

• Harness (to BD couloir)

I'm still looking into consolidating to one pair of gloves  (my fleece gloves are not durable enough to stand up to a long rap but my belay gloves are finger less and not very warm.

Now Planing on only carrying a liter or water on the approach and going to grab a Gatorade bottle to replace one Nalgene.

I'm feeling a bit better about this pack list.  Thanks everyone for your help.

You rap two pitches to get down. Don’t bring belay gloves for that.