Denali Gear Questions

[Flatlander1]

I'm thinking of joining a group doing Denali (West Buttress) in May 2005 and have a few questions regarding gear. I spent three days on Mount Washington NH in -25F weather but, of course, Denali is a whole different animal. My bag is a Marmot Maverick -20F/-29C synthetic, a Marmot Parbat (650 fill) down jacket and Koflach Vertecals for which I was thinking of replacing the arctic with Intuition liners (heard they were warmer and lighter). Any thoughts as to the appropriateness of the gear and any suggestions from more experienced climbers would be appreciated.

[Mark_Husbands]

My opinion:

Intuition liners + Vertical Shells + overboots = just fine

Down bag would be better.

Parbat is the minimum. Bigger coat better. The coldest I got (on Foraker and Logan) was standing around cooking as much as climbing on summit day. If you are going heavy expedition style (as I did) you'll probably end up hanging around snow forts running XGKs for what seems like hours. Hard to stay warm. Jacket and Pants combo or suit needed. If you climb alpine style and cook in your tent you could probably scale the down down so to speak. I have only been on 2 expeditions so there may be other more experienced persons with different advice.

Mark

I have a couple items I may need to sell. PM if interested.

[griz]

When in MAy, end or begining? big difference!

Edited November 23, 2004 by griz

[Alpinfox]

 

A -20deg synthetic bag must be ENORMOUS!

 

Try doing a search for "Denali Gear" on this website and you'll find several threads.

 

Griz is correct that there is a large temp and storm difference between early May and late May. For late May/early June, when most people do the W. Butt, A Parbat parka should be fine, but I'd definitely take a couple of layers to go underneath it. Any plastic boots with intuition liners would be fine and overboots would make them even more fine.

[Duchess]

I brought a -40 degree down bag to Denali. Granted, it was April into early May, but there were a couple of nights where I was still sleeping in my down pants and several layers.

[pete_a]

how old is your synthetic bag? synth fill bags don't retain their loft as well as down bags do over time...so if your bag is more than a couple seasons old, its probably not a true -20 bag anymore. Might want to compare the inches of loft your bag has to what a new bag has. Denali is cold and dry enough that a down bag works great...and would probably save you a couple pounds and some backpack space.

 

FYI- I had a -30 down bag and still needed to sleep in my synth fill pants and feathered friends frontpoint jacket at 17k to be comfortably warm. I was there mid-late May.

 

If you use your parbat jacket, picking up an inexpensive synthetic fill jacket from MEC would be a good layer to use underneath it.

 

Bring along some good booties for camp time when you're not in your plastic boots...you'll spend a lot of time just sitting around camp making water.

 

I used intuition liners in my boots, they worked great...still needed overboots though on summit day.

[Mark_Husbands]

yes, overboots take on a new life in your snow castle. put your down booties inside them, and get busy stirring snow.

[ryland_moore]

I used the Frontpoint jacket from Mid-to late May on Denali in '03 and was happy. I had a -40 NF Inferno sleeping bag and was glad I did. You can rent a -40 Feathered Friends sleeping bag, and a jacket for that point if you don't want to shell out $800-$900 on new gear. Intuition liners would be good for your plastics. The Artic Expes come with them, so I didn't need to get a new set of liners, although severl of my climbing partners did for their AT boots as we brought skis too.

[Figger_Eight]

I'd go with a down bag as well. The Parbat isn't going to be enough - you're pretty much going to be living in your parka while you're kicking around basecamp so I'd make sure to bring the right one.

[Flatlander1]

Thanks for the great info so far guys.

Mark, I sent you a PM on the gear and hope to hear from you soon.

Griz, the trip is scheduled for May 9th.

Alpinfox, the synthetic is only about 6 oz heavier than a NF Solar Flare but, obviously, not as compressable (fits nicely in the bottom of my Badlands 75 using the ass-compression method).

Duchess, Pete, Rylan and Figger, I think you all agree on a warmer bag and jacket.

I'll get working on it right away and keep the great info coming.

Thanks, guys (girls included in that "guys" thing).

[griz]

Yeah, if it's a all may trip then go w/ a -40 bag, for sure and plan on sleeping in your fleece, ect too. All i gotta say is brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr dude!

 

you won't regret bringing koflach arctis expes. a fine choice.

 

great luck on your climb!

Edited November 24, 2004 by griz