Tag Archive for 'camping'

The Elusive Pot Parka

Published on April 27, 2012 in Gear Reviews. 1 Comment Tags: .

I was checking out Forrest McCarthy’s ultralight gear list from his recent sufferfest on the Alaska Mountain Wilderness Ski  Classic, and was surprised to see that a pot parka made the cut.  I’ve been using them for years and haven’t been able to find them any more, so I was especially psyched to see that he even had a link for new ones at Liberty Mountain.

The pot parkas themselves are basically just an asbestos (?) cover that you put over your pot while it is melting snow, cooking or boiling water.  It helps a little bit with fuel efficiency, but it also serves to cut down on the roar of an XGK stove, and most importantly, you can redirect the stove’s exhaust gases to dry out gloves, boot liners or help thaw frozen food. It is a lightweight, multipurpose accessory that seems well worth the additional few grams.  They are available in two sizes (the 10″  fits a 3L pot well) and as an added bonus, folding them back up correctly is an excellent little time wasting brainteaser. Continue reading ‘The Elusive Pot Parka’

Ultra Heavy Backpacking

Published on August 20, 2009 in Expeditions. 12 Comments Tags: .

Ray Jardine would be spinning in his grave if he saw this, except for the fact that he is still very much alive and hiking.  Ray is a leading proponent of Ultralight Backpacking and often covers up to forty miles a day while carrying an eight-pound pack.  At the other end of the spectrum, I recently flew with 225 pounds of food and gear, then proceeded to add another 100 or so pounds of food and gas.  It was a staggering about of junk and guaranteed that we weren’t going to be going very far.

When in doubt... bring it.

When in doubt... bring it.

Continue reading ‘Ultra Heavy Backpacking’

Sunday Photo – Baffin Island Iceberg Camp

Published on June 22, 2008 in Sunday Photo. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .
Editors Note: Sundays are meant for skiing, climbing, riding and almost anything but sitting in front of a computer.  Still, the Internet never sleeps and Sunday’s are a good time for ski mountaineering photos and the story behind them.

Baffin Island Iceberg Camp – 2002

Brad Barlage booting up the Model T couloir. Baffin Island

While watching a Mike Libecki slideshow on Big Wall climbing in Baffin Island, I kept catching glimpses of tasty looking couloirs in the background of scenic photos and wondered if they were skiable.  As it turned out, most of the descents off of the huge vertical walls were by walking/sliding down nearby couloirs.  When I asked another skier/climber who had been to Baffin how many of these couloirs there were in the area, he said “Oh God! Hundreds!”  That was all the info needed to start planning a trip to the area.

In 2002, Brad Barlage and I spent four weeks in the Sam Ford Fjord area of Baffin Island doing some of the best skiing of our lives.  In this photo, we had moved camp to an area with 3-4 chutes in it and found a melted out iceberg which had drifted over from Greenland.  It’s good to camp near icebergs as they are a source of clean water for melting, but in this case, we were worried about an avalanche coming down the couloir and nailing the berg like a perfect catcher’s mitt, burying us in the process.

In the end, it was just too cool a campsite to pass up and the snow was stable enough that we spent two nights camped there.  At one point, some of the berg itself calved off and almost hit Brad, but aside from that, it was excellent.

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