Denali - Clothing Layers and Gear List

I did a LOT of reading of old Denali prep threads on here before heading up there myself, and got a lot of good info out of them; I wanted to list what worked for me up there this season, and hopefully it will help someone else.  There are probably a million different ways to do Denali and this is just what I did, so it doesn't mean it's the only way or the right way, just another data point.

Upper Body

Baseball cap

Fleece beanie (for sleeping and cook tent hangs)

Sun hoody (below 14k)

Long sleeve wool base layer (above 14k)

R1 hoody

Wind shell (Houdini, etc.)

OR Ascendant hoody (any ~60g breathable insulation would be fine)

Kor Strada Vest (any ~60g breathable vest or jacket would be fine.  I run a bit cold and was happy to have the 2nd layer.)

OR Helium hardshell (barely used at all)

MH Nilas parka (plenty warm)

Lower Body

Capilene thermal long johns

ME Kinesis Base pants (I liked these a lot, but capilene is probably fine.  Never wore both together)

Rab Spire softshell pants

Rab down pants (no side zips.  Occasionally annoying but mostly fine)

(Didn't bring hardshell pants, we ended up with great weather so I didn't regret it)

Feet

Atomic Backand boots (for the approach to 14k, and some mellow recreational skiing in the 14k basin)

Scarpa Phantom 6000 for above 14k and the Cassin

40 Below Overboots were worn a lot around camp but never used over my boots

Rab hut booties were a godsend for lounging around camp and sleeping.  I also brought these on the Cassin to keep my feet warm at night.

BD Snaggletooth crampons (worked great, but likely not a critical choice, we had all sorts of different crampons in our group and they were all fine.)

Hands

Wore fleece liners or uninsulated softshells for the majority of the WB

Camp Geko Hot were really good above 14k and on the Cassin, wish I brought 2 pairs

OR Alti Gloves (actually OR Vitaly in my case) were the warmest I needed, but I was happy to have a pair of midweight mitts just in case

Sleep System

Rab Neutrino 800 sleeping bag (-10 deg) + 30 degree down quilt over the top at 14k camp

(A -20 bag would have worked better, but I didn't want to buy one just for this.  This system worked well enough, I slept in my down pants at 14k but never my parka.  Didn't bring the quilt on the Cassin and slept in my parka.  If you need to buy a bag anyway, probably just get a -20, my partner was cozy warm in his.  17k camp might need a warmer bag?)

S2S Ultralight Insulated Air pad (R3) (My partner used an XTherm, which worked great, those are kinda the gold standard anyway I think?)

Z-lite SOL (R2) (full length on the WB, 3/4 length on the Cassin)

We also used the 40 below 1/8" foam sheets on our tent floor, which was nice and added a bit of warmth

We used some Eureka "3 person" expedition tent and it was awesome for 2 people.

(We used a BD Firstlight on the Cassin and it worked as expected.)

Camp Kitchen

A BD Megamid cook tent was an absolute necessity, we spent a lot of time in it and having this was huge for team morale.  Dig it out DEEP so you can stand comfortably.

MSR Whisperlite stove (we used 2 of these for a party of 5)

Water pot: GSI 4.7L aluminum (we used 2 of these for a party of 5, one would be fine for 2-3 people)

Cook pot: 10" frybake with lid

Stove board (plywood + foam) was definitely key, it doesn't need to be fancy, I overengineered mine and it was a waste of time.

A 1 cup measuring cup for scooping water out of the pot was REALLY nice

I brought a metal spork, which was heavy but nice when my partner's plastic spork broke. :)

1 gallon of white gas per person was overkill for 3 weeks, probably would be about right for 4 weeks.

(We used 1 each of MSR Reactor/Windburner on the technical route, and they worked awesome.  We brought 24oz of fuel for 2 people and 3 nights and it was more than enough, 16oz would probably have done it.)

We mostly cooked real food on the WB and it was great; burritos, pizza, couscous, mashed potatoes with gravy, etc.  We ate freeze dried meals on the Cassin and once or twice on the WB after long days.  Real food is worth it on a longer trip like this, in my opinion.

Packs and Stuff

I used a BD Mission 75 for the WB, plus a ~150L TNF duffel in the sled, that system was fine.

BD Speed 40 on the Cassin was barely big enough but climbed pretty well.

I used the Speed 40 in the sled as a second duffel to carry the extra technical stuff and 2nd pair of boots.

We didn't camp at 17k, so your gear hauling capacity might be different if you need to schlepp stuff up the fixed lines.

As you can see, there isn't really anything super fancy or expensive on this list, simple stuff does the trick and I tried to mostly use gear I already owned.

The West Buttress is a surprisingly physical climb, it's pretty burly dragging your stuff uphill at altitude day after day!

Hope this helps someone.  Also happy to try to answer questions, although there are certainly people around with WAY more Alaska experience than me who are better resources.

Kyle, thanks for sharing this. As opposed to the commercially guided trips which post their gear lists on their websites, I find it to be very valuable to know what un-guided and successful climbers are using up there each year. I also think it's good to hear what people are using each year as equipment evolves. 

Hey Kyle, we're interested in hearing what lighter worked reliably for your team at high altitude. Thanks!

Jennifer Zuber wrote:

Hey Kyle, we're interested in hearing what lighter worked reliably for your team at high altitude. Thanks!

Not on Denali, but I’ve found a large fire steel with a large striker to be great for lighting stoves at altitude and in the cold. Never runs out of gas or breaks, and you don’t have to worry about leaking. The ones from a spot called firesteel.com have been the best. 

Jennifer Zuber wrote:

Hey Kyle, we're interested in hearing what lighter worked reliably for your team at high altitude. Thanks!

Just buy a 5 or 10 pack of BIC lighters and distribute them amongst the team.  They tend to work better if they aren't frigid, so just keep it in your jacket pocket, or throw it in for a minute before you use it.

Kyle Tarry wrote:

Just buy a 5 or 10 pack of BIC lighters and distribute them amongst the team.  They tend to work better if they aren't frigid, so just keep it in your jacket pocket, or throw it in for a minute before you use it.

bic in your undies works best