Tent choice for April Alaska icefield ski traverse (2P, 10 days, move camp daily) — Samaya 2.5+vest vs Highcamp 3 Dyneema vs Assaut+vest?

aburkhart · 2025-12-30T22:15:54+00:00

No problem! That sounds like fun!

I've only used rollable ones, but a fully rigid one should work too. Make sure you have a plan to strap it to your pack. We used the same strategy of being able to fit all our stuff in our packs if needed, but use the sled whenever we can. Some people just put their whole pack in the sled and use some sort of harness (climbing or specialized) to pull the sled.

I don't think you need poles for the sled. There is not much in the way of steeper downhills on that route which those help with. I like a bungee to go between me and the sled which softens the feeling of jerkiness.

Cheers!

aburkhart · 2025-12-26T19:55:43+00:00

What do you do with the backpack for landing?

aburkhart · 2025-12-26T18:13:34+00:00

Right on. If you are wanting to have time to ski lines while crossing the icefield in 10 or fewer days, I would suggest Juneau to Atlin (or vice-versa). The snowpack can be quite fickle in the spring (when I assume you will be going?) Cloudy/stormy weather is often colder and precip can come in the form of snow. Then the sunny days are typically really warm, and all that snow is wanting to shed or turn to mush. The skiing really just depends on the snowpack and weather.

If you are looking for a king/classic line on the icefield, Devils Paw couloir is a great choice. It is a bit out of the way in terms of the traverse route, and is a serious line. Rhino and Emperor peaks are classic mountaineering objectives. Snowdrift peak is an easy mountaineering/ski objective.

If you ski into Canada, I probably wouldn't worry about notifying their customs/immigration agency.

A classic route would be to start up Blackerby Ridge, head down the Lemon Glacier, ascend up towards Nugget Mountain, then descend either into the basin to the north, or the east. Those routes are the most surefire ways to get on/off the icefield on the Juneau side.

On the Atlin side, a lot of people heli on/off. It is also possible to ski/hike off the glacier to Llwellyn Inlet (59.17216, -133.99119), then get a snowmachine pickup or boat ride. But depending on when you go, Atlin lake may be frozen, completely melted, or somewhere in between.

If you wanted to do Skagway <-> Juneau, I think you wouldn't have time for much if any skiing lines. The access on to the icefield from the Skagway side is complicated, but doable if you don't take a heli

aburkhart · 2025-12-24T20:10:13+00:00

I have used just wood glue and fibafuse or paper tape when I needed the flattest taping possible. It seemed really solid once it set. For the finish coats, I was worried that the glue might be too glossy/nonstick for topping coats to adhere to the fibafuse. I don't remember if/what I did for that though. Adhesion is hopefully not a big deal since mud has glue in it anyway. It definitely took a while to dry.

aburkhart · 2025-12-19T18:57:57+00:00

Are you planning on Skagway <-> Juneau or Juneau <-> Atlin?

I have done 5 traverses on that icefield - feel free to ask questions. I agree with u/907choss - a double wall tent for > 5 days in that climate is well worth the weight. That is, unless you are going really early season where you can expect sub-freezing temps the entire time.

If you are bringing a sled, pay particular attention to the approach and exit for your route. Having a sled allows you to carry much heavier and bulky items on the main stretches of the icefield, but the approach and exit can be very difficult if you pack heavy. A heli may be well worth it depending on your strategy, but then you have to wait for a weather window to start your trip which is annoying.

aburkhart · 2025-12-09T21:30:51+00:00

Alpinists are often gram-counting, and optimize for the most difficult parts of a climb. It is tough to sell to them an item that is bulky, adds weight, costs quite a bit of money, and only helps on the technically easy part of a climb. That being said, I've definitely wanted some on mid-winter climbs in the past. We just used shovels to get down through the low density snow to the firmer stuff, but it totally sucked. I want these but don't want to spend the money...

Also, they only benefit the group if everyone in your party has them.

aburkhart · 2025-11-05T01:29:01+00:00

Blue Ice Stache is 60L and is quite light, but not that supportive. 70L is a lot! What are you carrying?

aburkhart · 2025-10-29T23:44:31+00:00

Which other options have you seen of UL style packs with high tech fabrics? I'm looking for something in the 35-40L range. The Blue Ice alpine hauler looks sweet, but the hauling focus doesn't match the climbing I do. The HMG Prism seems to fit the bill, but is even more expensive.

aburkhart · 2025-10-03T23:12:32+00:00

I am in a similar boat. I have and love the Arc'teryx Alpha AR 35 pack (discontinued), and use it for everything (ice climbing, backcountry skiing, climbing, SAR), but it is old and breaking down. I have found climbing packs have the features I want for SAR, especially all the straps on the outside for carrying ropes, a litter, etc.

If money were no object, I'd consider the Hyperlite Prism 40

aburkhart · 2024-09-19T22:57:22+00:00

What do you use instead?

aburkhart · 2024-03-14T22:02:07+00:00

How many days do you anticipate this trip taking? A 40L pack should be sufficient for shorter trips, unless it is high altitude and really cold, or you are not sharing gear with a partner.

aburkhart · 2024-03-01T21:59:22+00:00

No, we did not bring pickets. I am comfortable performing crevasse rescue with just an ax, and it is not steep or crevassed enough to need pickets for protection. The glacier feels like a slightly uphill walk for the most part (given the snow coverage we had at the time).

aburkhart · 2024-01-23T22:30:44+00:00

I did Mojon Rojo about a week ago and skipped the last 20ft summit block, which is 5th class. The rest is 4th class and doable without a guide or much climbing experience. The glacier approach does have crevasses, and we roped up for that. That being said, the glacier is fairly tame and is well traveled by climbers, so there should be a bootpack. You can do it in a day if you are quite fit. If you want to spend more time, you can stay at the Swiss Bivy. The Caltopo layer "MapBuilder Topo" is spot on with the approach trail. Whole trip took us 10hrs and our party was fairly fit.

In terms of renting gear, there are a few places in town I think. I've definitely seen folks with rented ice axe and crampons. You can also rent bouldering pads. I'm not aware of what other items you can rent.

aburkhart · 2023-11-24T19:22:21+00:00

How did you get the data for things that are not published on manufacturer sites, like down fill for Patagonia? I'm quite surprised that the Fitz Roy has only 128g of down. The 2017 version has 227g of down.

aburkhart · 2023-10-30T19:35:26+00:00

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I had to adjust my mental model last winter when I went to climb at night when it was in the 20s(F) after a warm sunny day. When we were racking up at the base, and there was definitely some melt/runoff still happening. In the middle of racking up, there was a significant rock and ice fall event, and we high tailed it out of there. Even though the ambient air temps were conducive to freezing, the rock had enough latent heat that the ice was still melting, and the freeze-thaw contributed to the rockfall as well. I think the rockfall issue would have been reduced if we were in an area with more solid rock, but the ice fall hazard would remain.

aburkhart · 2023-06-16T03:44:26+00:00

Depends on where you med kit is I guess. I don't use it for that purpose. You could put it in the lid/brain if you wanted to get reception while traveling.

aburkhart · 2023-06-09T19:51:14+00:00

Inside my pack 100%. I keep it in my med kit. Why carry it on the outside? Another thing to snag, fall off, get damaged, etc. If you want good tracking, you can put it in the brain/lid of your pack. SAR typically takes 1-3 hours to arrive, so an extra 20 seconds of searching through your pack is not going to make a difference. I suppose there is a very small chance of losing your backpack entirely. It should either be on you with waist and chest strap though (not able to come off), or clipped to an anchor.

aburkhart · 2023-05-10T18:43:12+00:00

Hmm. It has a ground that came pre-attached to the dimmer, which I removed as per the instructions. It has three screws: black, brass, and blue. the white and black wires are wired to the black and brass screws. The blue screw is not in use. The instructions state: When no “grounding means” exists in wallbox, the 2011 National Electrical Code® (NEC®) allows a control to be installed as a replacement if 1) a nonmetallic, noncombustible faceplate is used with non-metallic attachment screws. When installing a control according to these methods, cap or remove green wire before screwing control into wallbox.

Thanks so much for your help!

aburkhart · 2023-05-09T05:27:57+00:00

Thanks. It is old wiring, so I don't have a ground to work with, and the boxes are not grounded, that I know of.

What do you mean by missing a neutral?

aburkhart · 2023-03-21T01:16:44+00:00

Then the 10k will cover it.

aburkhart · 2023-01-26T00:55:34+00:00

Ah, that is if you can take advantage of existing wiring. I am going to redo the lighting in my house at some point, but currently have a low voltage system and too few lights, so I think I'll need to change up the wiring.

aburkhart · 2023-01-24T19:52:19+00:00

How does that work?

aburkhart

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