
Mountaineering pushes beyond the boundaries of backpacking into high alpine terrain, steep ascents, glaciated passes, and snow-covered or mixed rock routes. It’s demanding, remote, and usually involves technical gear, cold exposure, and long days with little margin for error. Whether you’re climbing a glaciated volcano or scrambling to a high alpine summit, packing the right gear is critical— not just for comfort, but for your safety.
This is the general mountaineering packing list I use as a starting point for every alpine trip, but it is NOT intended to be an exhaustive list for high-altitude expeditions or extreme winter climbs! Depending on the season, conditions, and objective, I’d recommend adding or subtracting layers, technical gear, or other camp supplies from this list at your discretion— and check out specific mountaineering packing lists for climbing Mont Blanc, Aconcagua, or Pico de Orizaba.
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What to pack for a multi-day mountaineering trip
This is a general-purpose alpine mountaineering checklist geared towards mixed snow and rock terrain in moderate conditions— think volcanoes, alpine peaks, and glaciated routes under 5,000m. Use this list as a baseline and modify it for your specific mountain, group, and weather forecast.
The stakes are higher in the alpine, so err on the side of over-prepared while balancing the need to be able to carry all of your own gear for many days over extremely challenging terrain.
⛰️ brookebeyond mountaineering checklist
BACKPACK
⭐️ backpacking pack (50-75L)
⭐️ raincover
⭐️ summit pack
BOOTS & POLES
⭐️ mountaineering boots
⭐️ expedition socks
⭐️ liner socks
⭐️ trekking poles
TECHNICAL GEAR
⭐️ helmet
⭐️ ice axe
⭐️ harness (with ATC, prussik, auto-block)
⭐️ glacier rope
⭐️ crampons
⭐️ gaiters
⭐️ summit pack
⭐️ pro, assorted technical gear (as needed)
SAFETY & NAVIGATION
⭐️ PLB/SOS
⭐️ GPS
⭐️ First Aid Kit
⭐️ headlamp
⭐️ powerbank
CAMP GEAR
⭐️ mountaineering tent
⭐️ sleeping bag
⭐️ sleeping pad
⭐️ camp pillow
⭐️ camp shoes
CAMP KITCHEN, WATER STORAGE & FOOD
⭐️ camp stove (+ fuel)
⭐️ mess kit + cutlery
⭐️ water filter
⭐️ water reservoir
⭐️ water bottle OR bladder
⭐️ electrolytes
⭐️ freeze-dried meals + snacks
EXTRA LAYERS
⭐️ long-sleeve layer
⭐️ synthetic insulation layer
⭐️ down layer
⭐️ GoreTex rain shell layer
⭐️ shell pants
⭐️ lightweight hiking gloves
⭐️ waterproof exterior mittens
⭐️ Buff
⭐️ beanie
PERSONAL ITEMS
⭐️ toiletries
⭐️ bathroom bits
⭐️ Kula Cloth (for women)
⭐️ sun safety
⭐️ camera

Backpack
We almost always carry the same pack for mountaineering as we do for long backpacking trips, but the key is packing light enough to accommodate additional technical gear in the same pack as your food, camp gear, extra layers, and safety gear.
👉🏼 Check out my complete guide for specific advice on mountaineering packs: How to choose the best hiking backpack for every outdoor adventure

Backpacking pack (50-75L)
Your mountaineering pack needs to be large enough to carry 20-25kg+ of technical gear, a full camp system, food, layers, and safety equipment— yet streamlined and supportive enough for long summit pushes and high-stakes glacier travel.
Most people like 65-75L for multi-day mountaineering trips, but I personally prefer to use my 50L backpacking pack (any larger than this and I find it’s too unwieldy for me to climb with).
Best overall: Osprey Aura AG 50 (Women’s) / Atmos AG 50 (Men’s)
Best for upgraded storage space: Osprey Aura AG 65 (Women’s) / Atmos AG 65 (Men’s)

Raincover
Protects your gear from sudden downpours— some packs come with one built-in, but if not, make sure to pack a lightweight rain cover that fits over your bag (REI’s size large is best to cover a full pack with additional climbing gear on the outside)
Best overall: REI Co-op Duck’s Back Pack Rain Cover

Summit pack
If your mountaineering route includes side-trips or optional summits, a lightweight summit pack is a great addition to avoid carrying your full pack everywhere. This should roll up and stow easily inside your larger pack! Around camp, it also doubles as a super-convenient way to transport water and dinner fix-ins from the tent to wherever you’ll be eating.
Best overall: REI Co-op Flash 18

Best boots for mountaineering
Footwear becomes wildly more important when we’re talking about challenging, backcountry terrain, so choosing a boot and sock combo that will carry you through rugged conditions requires a lot of personal attention! In almost all instances, anything less than a true mountaineering boot is not appropriate and you’ll suffer decreased stability and performance on challenging terrain.
👉🏼 For a deep dive into boots, check out my full guide: How to choose the best trail shoes, hiking boots & mountaineering boots for every outdoor adventure

Mountaineering boots
For nearly all general mountaineering trips, I recommend lightweight mountaineering boots that offer an ideal balance between comfort on a long approach and support/structure on challenging terrain— snow, glacier travel, mixed rock, crampon-compatible.
If you’re climbing above 4,000m, you’ll need to start considering more heavyweight alternatives (I wore plastic boots on Mt Rainier) and once you start approaching 6,000m, you’ll be looking at alpine double boots (I wore La Sportiva G-Summit Mountaineering Boots on Aconcagua), but for mid-range trips, these are both excellent options:
Best lightweight mountaineering boots: La Sportiva Trango Tech Leather GTX Boots (women’s) / (men’s)
Best heavy mountaineering boots: Scarpa Charmoz HD (women’s) / (men’s)

Expedition socks
Thicker wool socks are essential for multi-day warmth and protection in the alpine, so we upgrade our hiking socks to expedition socks for most mountaineering trips. I like to pack a new pair for every ~3 days, plus a clean pair for sleep (for 2-4 day trips, I bring 2 pairs of hiking socks; for 5-11 day trips, I bring 3 pairs).
Best overall: REI Co-op Merino Wool Expedition Hiking Crew Socks

Liner socks
Thin liner socks help prevent hot-spots and blisters resulting from friction, and this can be especially crucial on alpine terrain where your feet are wet/hot for hours at a time. I discovered these toe-sock liners about 8 years ago and I’ve been evangelising ever since— if you struggle with blisters, this should be your first line of defence!
Best overall: Injinji Liner Crew

Trekking poles
Poles are essential for glacier crossings, steep approaches, and recovery on long descents— we bring them on every alpine trip.
Best overall: Black Diamond Trail Trekking Poles

Technical gear
Technical gear choices depend on your route, group, and experience level, but this list includes the core equipment we bring on most alpine objectives. For complex climbs or crevassed glaciers, we add more rope systems, anchors, or pro as needed.
PLEASE REMEMBER this is not designed to be an exhaustive list and the exact technical gear required for your objectives may be more or less than what is listed here— this is just a general starting point!

Helmet
A climbing helmet is non-negotiable in the alpine— it protects you from rockfall, falling ice, or an unexpected knock on mixed terrain (I fell while crossing a boulder field in crampons last year and my helmet literally saved me from being air-lifted out of the Wind Rivers). Look for a climbing-specific helmet that’s light enough to wear all day, extra points for bright colours that are easy to spot from a distance.
Best overall: Black Diamond Half Dome Helmet (women’s) / (men’s)

Ice axe
We carry a classic straight-shaft ice axe on snow or glaciated routes— it’s essential for balance on icy traverses, security on steep slopes, and self-arrest if you slip.
When choosing your axe, height matters: too long and it gets in the way, too short and it’s awkward to use on mellow terrain. A good rule of thumb is to pick a length where the spike just grazes your ankle bone when you’re holding it relaxed at your side (for most climbers, 65cm is pretty standard).
Best overall: Black Diamond Raven Ice Axe

Harness
Save weight and space in your pack with a dedicated, ultra-lightweight alpine harness— these strip away most crag harness comforts (it’s not pleasant to hang in these for more than a few minutes), but retain essential safety features for roped glacier travel, belaying, and rappelling.
For most mountaineering trips, we bring a climbing harness + basic glacier kit: ATC, a few locking carabiners, prusik cords, and an auto-block.
Best overall: Black Diamond Couloir Harness

Glacier rope
For glacier travel with 2–3 people, we typically use a 40m dry-treated rope. It gives you enough spacing between climbers (especially in a 3-person team) and extra length for building a rescue system. Generally, a lightweight, dry-coated rope in the 8.5–9mm range offers a good balance between weight and strength.
Best overall: Black Diamond 8.9mm Dry Rope (40m)

Crampons
Crampons are essential for any mountaineering route involving snow, ice, or steep frozen slopes, and thankfully choosing just one pair for your gear closet suddenly got a lot easier.
Steel crampons used to be considerably heavier than their (less rugged) aluminium counterparts and it was a constant dance between weight, cost, and terrain demands… but we now use lightweight 10-point steel crampons for durability and grip on every single trip. Our top pick also has the advantage of strap-on bindings, which maximise compatibility with just about every single boot (including lightweight mountaineering boots).
Critically, make sure your crampons include anti-balling plates (ABS) to prevent snow from clumping underneath— this can cause MAJOR traction issues on descent!
Best overall: Black Diamond Contact Strap Crampons with ABS Plates

Gaiters
Gaiters help keep snow, slush, and scree out of your boots— especially during approach and descent. This means warmer, drier feet on the climb!
Best overall: Outdoor Research Expedition Crocodile Gaiters

Pro, assorted technical gear (as needed)
This is so highly specific to the trip you’re doing that I wouldn’t dream of writing a standard packing list for mountaineering pro, just keep this as a reminder to consider what protective gear is required for your adventure!

Safety & navigation
When it comes to backcountry alpine objectives and high-altitude mountaineering, the margin for error is razor-thin. You’re often hours (or days) from help, navigating on glaciated terrain or in whiteout conditions, so carrying reliable navigation tools, a fully charged PLB, and a customised first aid kit isn’t just smart— it’s essential. Add in a headlamp for early alpine starts and a powerbank (or solar panel) to keep everything running in harsh conditions.
👉🏼 I build custom GPS tracks for challenging, convoluted, backcountry routes (everything from an Aconcagua expedition to my custom 10-day Huayhuash Circuit route), check them out on my new shopfront: brookebeyond Custom GPS Maps

PLB/SOS
A Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) is your lifeline in the outdoors and we NEVER go climbing without our Garmin InReach Mini 2, which allows us to send messages, get weather updates, track location, and place an SOS call in an emergency, even without phone service. It does require a subscription (starting at $12/month), but it’s worth every cent and has literally saved both of my parents’ lives in the backcountry!
Best overall: Garmin InReach Mini 2

GPS
Gone are the days where you have to purchase an expensive, clunky GPS device to access maps in the backcountry— the absolute best GPS resource is the smartphone you already own, paired with a reliable, a low-cast GPS mapping app that allows you to access detailed offline Topo maps and navigate via GPS satellites, even without mobile service
Our go-to is CalTopo, which costs just $20/year and is by far the most feature-rich, affordable, and accurate mapping tool out there.
As a supplement, we also use James’ Garmin Fenix 7X Pro, which is great for on-trail wrist navigation and turn-by-turn cues. But I still wouldn’t rely on it as our only GPS source.
Best GPS app: CalTopo (mobile app)
Best GPS watch: Garmin Fenix 7X Pro

First Aid Kit
Pre-assembled kits from Adventure Medical are a great place to start building your mountaineering med kit, but as you get more alpine time under your belt, you’ll want to customise it based on your needs and preferences.
We always include:
• a mix of NSAIDs (ibuprofen, naproxen)
• antihistamines (Claritin for allergies, Benadryl for bites/stings)
• a small selection of stomach meds (like Imodium or Pepto tabs)
• a roll of KT tape (insanely versatile for everything from blisters to rolled ankles)
• alcohol wipes, antiseptic, a few large gauze pads, and blister plasters like Compeed
Best pre-packaged First Aid Kit: Adventure Medical Kits Backpacker

Headlamp
Essential for alpine starts, late arrivals to camp, or wandering around the tent at night. Choose a rechargeable headlamp that’s bright enough for route-finding and compact enough to live in your top pocket.
Best overall: Black Diamond Spot 400-R

Powerbank
For recharging our phones, GPS, camera, and headlamp over the course of the trip, we carry a 10,000mAh charger with built-in cables; if the trip is longer than 4 days, we’ll carry 2 of these (20,000Ah) EACH or bring a solar charger (below).
Best overall: VRURC Portable Charger with Built-in Cables, 10000mAh

Solar charger
On backcountry trips longer than 4 days (where battery loss of your GPS, phone, In-Reach, or headlamp could pose a serious safety risk), we also bring a compact solar charger to top off our powerbanks. This is lighter than bringing an entire stack of powerbanks and gives us excellent peace of mind in the alpine!
Best overall: BigBlue 28W Solar Charger

Camp gear
Alpine camping is all about surviving the cold, staying dry, and recovering for the next push. You need a bombproof tent, a sleep system rated colder than you think, and a few comfort items that help you stay warm and comfortable without adding much weight. The goal here isn’t luxury— but without a good sleep, you simply won’t make it out of camp!
I wrote two super detailed guides to help you choose the best backcountry camping setup based on years of international, multi-day mountaineering experience everywhere from the North Cascades to high-elevation Mexican volcanoes to the summit of Aconcagua!
👉🏼 How to choose the best backpacking or alpine tent for your next adventure
👉🏼 How to choose the best outdoor sleep system: sleeping bags, sleeping pads & camp pillows

Mountaineering tent
For most alpine routes, we use a robust 3-season tent (if the weather is expected to be decent) or light single-wall, 4-season tent with a small footprint and solid vestibule space. Storm resistance is of vital importance when you’re above treeline, so don’t expect to get away with an ultralight tent in any but the most ideal of summer conditions (1-2kg per person is reasonable).
Best for moderate conditions: Nemo Dragonfly OSMO 3P
Best all-rounder mountaineering tent: Black Diamond Eldorado (4-season)

Sleeping bag
For mountaineering, we absolutely recommend a down-fill bag— it’s significantly warmer for the weight and compresses much smaller in your pack. When comparing bags, make sure you’re looking at the comfort rating (not the limit), and choose something rated just below the coldest temps you expect on your trip.
If you sleep cold, it is absolutely worth carrying an extra few hundred grams to sleep soundly every night instead of shivering and getting poor rest!
Best for cold-sleepers: Feathered Friends Murre ES 0 (women’s) / Snowbunting EX 0 (men’s)
Best lighter/cheaper alternative: Sea to Summit Spark 0

Sleeping pad
This is the other half of your warmth and comfort equation. For general mountaineering, we use the same inflatable insulated pads that we use for backpacking (R-value above 4); for snow camps or extreme cold, we’ll add a closed-cell foam pad underneath to block ground chill.
Best ultralight pad: Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite NXT Sleeping Pad
Best upgraded pad for poor sleepers: Big Agnes Rapide SL Insulated Sleeping Pad

Camp pillow
A camp pillow is a small, lightweight addition to your sleep system that is guaranteed to improve your sleep compared to stuffing clothes in a pillow. Even though we talk about mountaineering being “no frills”, this is 75g you’ll be happy to have!
Best overall: Sea to Summit Aeros Premium

Camp shoes
After wearing stiff boots all day, you’ll want something comfortable to change into at camp. In summer, we use lightweight sandals; in cold weather or snow, down booties are an awesome way to keep your feet extra warm.
Best for moderate weather: Teva Original
Best for extreme cold: Mountain Hardwear Down Bootie

Camp kitchen, water storage & food
Mountaineering trips usually mean limited water access, cold temps, and minimal downtime (or the most downtime, if you’re basecamping below a summit)— either way, your kitchen needs to be simple, efficient, and self-contained. We focus on boil-only meals to keep things light, bring just enough fuel for melting snow or heating water, and always carry electrolytes to help balance dehydration at altitude. Smart food choices = less weight, more fuel, better sleep, and faster recovery.
👉🏼 Confused about what food to pack?! How to pack food for multi-day backcountry adventures: our tips for maximising calories & minimising weight

Camp stove (+ fuel)
We use a compact integrated canister stove system for nearly every mountaineering trip— it’s ultralight, fuel-efficient, and boils water crazy fast. This setup only works with boil-in-bag meals or hot drinks (i.e., you can’t cook pasta inside the pot), but that’s perfect for mountaineering: it’s lighter, cleaner, and easier than cooking heavy supermarket food in the alpine. I’ve used this even at 6,000m on Aconcagua and always had brilliant results!
Best overall: Jetboil Zip

Mess kit
For most mountaineering trips (where weight is at an absolute premium), I’d recommend carrying only a cup and spoon— it’s easy enough to eat directly out of the pouch at dinner.
Best cup: Frontier Ultralight Collapsible Cup
Best long-handled spoon: Toaks Titanium Long Handle Spoon

Water filter
Even in snowfields or glacier basins, we carry a compact water filter for refills at streams or meltwater. If there’s a chance of freezing temps overnight, make sure to keep the filter core in your sleeping bag to prevent damage.
Best overall: Katadyn BeFree 1.oL Water Filter

Water reservoir
On top of your filter and your water bottle or bladder, backcountry trips call for a water reservoir— a lightweight, collapsible container used to haul dirty water from a stream or lake back to camp. Use it to fill pots for dinner or filter into bottles without crouching over a creek for 10 minutes!
Best overall: HydraPak Seeker 2L

Water bottle or bladder
I don’t use bladders on overnight trips since they can be especially challenging to fill when you’re filtering water (and the consequences of leakage can be catastrophic if it soaks your sleeping bag), so instead I personally prefer 1-2 Nalgene bottles. As you like it!
Best water bottle: Nalgene Wide Mouth
Best water bladder: Osprey Hydraulics Reservoir 2L

Freeze-dried meals + snacks
Boil-only meals are the name of the game in the alpine! We typically try to share a two-serving pouch and add a “starter” like ramen, cheese dip, or soup to add calories.
Favourite brands: Peak Refuel; Packit Gourmet; Backpacker’s Pantry; Real Turmat (European brand)
As soon as we’re talking about a multi-day alpine trip, snack packing becomes infinitely more challenging— with weight and space at a premium, you can’t just overpack food with reckless abandon like I’d recommend for a dayhike, but you also can’t risk under-packing and not having enough fuel for a challenging climb.
👉🏼 Check out this post for a breakdown on how we pack backcountry food for multi-day mountaineering trips

Electrolytes
Altitude, sun exposure, and sweat can lead to dehydration fast. We add electrolytes to EVERY bottle of water that we’re drinking in the alpine, especially on summit day or in hot conditions. It’s an easy way to avoid cramps and bonks!
Best overall: Liquid IV

Extra layers
Mountaineering is a constant battle with the elements— wind, snow, freezing mornings, sun exposure, summit storms— so your layering system needs to be strategic, lightweight, and capable of serious protection. These are not intended to represent all the layers you might need for a given trip, but they are the minimum layers we pack on every alpine climb, from glacier approaches to summit pushes.
Always adjust for your mountain, season, and personal cold tolerance, but don’t skimp— getting caught out in the alpine with inappropriate layers can be trip-ending (at best).
👉🏼 For more guidance on what to wear, check out my outdoor layering guide: How to build an outdoor layering system for backcountry hiking & extreme alpine conditions

Long-sleeve layer
This is your first layer of real warmth and protection if conditions start to shift— in the alpine, I’d definitely recommend a baselayer AND a heavy fleece to layer.
Best base layer: Smartwool Classic Thermal Merino Crew Base Layer Top (women’s) / (men’s)
Best for fleece layer: Arc’teryx Kyanite Zip Neck Base Layer Top (women’s) / Rho Heavyweight Zip Neck (men’s)

Synthetic insulation layer
This is our go-to climbing layer: warm even when wet, breathable enough to move in, and perfect under a shell. At camp, this also forms part of my cozy nighttime layering system under my down jacket.
Best overall: Arc’teryx Atom Insulated Hoody (women’s) / (men’s)

Down layer
While I almost never hike in my down jacket, alpine conditions sometimes call for climbing in one (but only when dry!) or pulling it out on the windy summit block.
Down jackets are also essential for warmth at camp— once the sun sets, temps drop fast, and having a warm puffy to throw on while you eat dinner, filter water, or crawl into your sleeping bag makes all the difference. Down is lighter and warmer than synthetic for this use, so it’s well worth the space in your pack.
Best overall: Arc’teryx Cerium Hoody (women’s) / (men’s)
Best for extreme cold: Arc’teryx Thorium Hoody (women’s) / (men’s)

GoreTex rain shell layer
An alpine essential, non-negotiable on any mountaineering trip— even if there’s no rain in the forecast, this can be a life-saving layer against intense wind on the summit. Your shell needs to be waterproof, windproof, and cut to layer over both your fleece and puffy (size up!). Pit zips, an adjustable hood, and a longer cut for harness compatibility are all bonuses.
Best overall: Arc’teryx Beta SL (women’s) / (men’s)

Shell pants
Soft shell pants protect from snow, wind, and icy rock— not as well as hard shell pants, sure, but I find these much more versatile for daily use in moderate conditions and I’ll only add hard shell pants on specific, high-elevation trips.
Best overall: Arc’teryx Gamma Pants (women’s) / (men’s)

Sun gloves
These super-lightweight gloves are a total game-changer for snowfields, glacier travel, and high UV days— they protect your hands from rough snow and ice without adding warmth AND make it easier to hold an ice axe while you’re sweating.
Best overall: Outdoor Research ActiveIce Chroma Full Sun Gloves

Lightweight hiking gloves
I still recommend lightweight hiking gloves on an alpine trip, either for cool climbing conditions that demand more than a sun glove (above) but don’t quite warrant your full mountaineering glove (below) or for staying warm at camp in the evenings.
Best overall: Outdoor Research Trail Mix Gloves (women’s) / (men’s)

Leather mountaineering gloves
Alpine gloves should be warm enough for summit pushes, but still dexterous enough for rope handling, belaying, or ice axe work. These aren’t designed for extreme elevation or full-on winter expeditions, but they’re perfect for the majority of 3-season alpine routes. Layer over lighter gloves for a little extra warmth with only a minor loss of dexterity.
Best for milder conditions: Outdoor Research Stormtracker Gloves (women’s) / (men’s)
Best for snowy conditions: Outdoor Research Extravert Gloves (women’s) / (men’s)

Buff
This super compact, multi-functional neck tube is an outdoor staple on every trip— use it as a scarf, headband, balaclava, to block sun and wind, to wipe sweat off your face… the list is endless and we never go mountaineering without at least one! In extremely cold conditions, swap or add the polar version with brushed fleece.
Best overall: Buff Original
Best for extreme cold: Buff Polar

Beanie
You’ll wear this at camp, on pre-dawn starts, and under your helmet on windy summits. Choose something thin enough to layer but warm enough to count.
Best overall: Arc’teryx Mallow Toque

Personal items
Mountaineering isn’t glamorous, but that doesn’t mean you want to skip personal hygiene altogether—especially on back-to-back summit days where you’re sweating an ungodly amount. These are the simple bits that help us stay clean, comfortable, and protected from brutal alpine sun. We keep this kit minimal but effective, and it always lives in an ultralight pouch near the top of the pack.

Toiletries
Toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, deodorant, medications, contact solution, wilderness wipes… whatever you need to stay clean and comfortable for multiple days in the backcountry! But, crucially, think LIGHT!!

Bathroom bits
Grab a small pouch or ZipLock and pack toilet paper, hand sanitiser, and a spare bag to pack out used items if needed. Don’t underestimate how much TP you’ll need, this is one of the most painful backcountry mistakes you can make!

Kula Cloth (for women)
This reusable antimicrobial pee cloth is designed specifically for backcountry female hygiene— it’s absorbent on one side, waterproof on the other, and treated with silver ions to resist bacteria growth and odour.
It’s easy to wash, dries fast, snaps shut for discretion, and clips onto the outside of your pack so it’s always accessible. Not only is it way more hygienic than carrying used toilet paper in a ziplock, but it also seriously reduces your trail waste, making it a no-brainer for sustainable climbing and women’s health on the go.
Best overall: Kula Cloth

Sun safety
Sun safety becomes even more vital in the alpine, especially when you’re spending hours traversing across a glacier at elevation— that sun reflection will fry your neck, ears, and the bottom of your nose like you wouldn’t believe.
Lather up in SPF 50+ sunscreen (or wear a sun shirt all day) and opt for SPF lip balm with zinc. Look for “lifeguard” or “surfer” formulas, they’re way more durable in wind and snow.
Glacier glasses are also a must. Regular sunnies don’t cut it in high-alpine terrain—snow blindness is real, and it can develop in under an hour on bright glacier days. Glacier glasses have dark lenses, full UV protection, and side shields to block peripheral glare.
Best glacier glasses: Julbo Vermont
Best sun hat: Arc’teryx Gamma 5-Panel Cap

Camera (optional!)
Not technically essential, but always worth it for the summit shots, sunrise tent views, and those wild ridge scrambles. We prefer to bring our compact camera rather than our big setup when weight is at a premium!
Best compact: Fujifilm x100vi
*Overview of our favourite mountaineering gear
BACKPACK
⭐️ backpacking pack (50-75L): Osprey Aura AG 65 (Women’s) / Atmos AG 65 (Men’s)
⭐️ raincover: REI Co-op Duck’s Back Pack Rain Cover
⭐️ summit pack: REI Co-op Flash 18
BOOTS & POLES
⭐️ mountaineering boots: La Sportiva Trango Tech Leather GTX Boots (women’s) / (men’s)
⭐️ expedition socks: REI Co-op Merino Wool Expedition Hiking Crew Socks
⭐️ liner socks: Injinji Liner Crew
⭐️ trekking poles: Black Diamond Trail Trekking Poles
TECHNICAL GEAR
⭐️ helmet: Black Diamond Half Dome Helmet (women’s) / (men’s)
⭐️ ice axe: Black Diamond Raven Ice Axe
⭐️ harness: Black Diamond Couloir Harness
⭐️ glacier rope: Black Diamond 8.9mm Dry Rope (40m)
⭐️ crampons: Black Diamond Contact Strap Crampons with ABS Plates
⭐️ gaiters: Outdoor Research Expedition Crocodile Gaiters
⭐️ pro, assorted technical gear (as needed)
SAFETY & NAVIGATION
⭐️ PLB/SOS: Garmin InReach Mini 2
⭐️ GPS: CalTopo app on mobile & Garmin fenix 7X Pro Watch
⭐️ First Aid Kit: Adventure Medical Kits Backpacker
⭐️ headlamp: Black Diamond Spot 400-R
⭐️ powerbank: VRURC Portable Charger with Built-in Cables, 10000mAh
⭐️ solar charger: BigBlue 28W Solar Charger
CAMP GEAR
⭐️ mountaineering tent: Black Diamond Eldorado (4-season)
⭐️ sleeping bag: Sea to Summit Spark 0
⭐️ sleeping pad: Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite NXT Sleeping Pad
⭐️ camp pillow: Sea to Summit Aeros Premium
⭐️ camp shoes: Mountain Hardwear Down Bootie
CAMP KITCHEN, WATER STORAGE & FOOD
⭐️ camp stove (+ fuel): Jetboil Zip
⭐️ mess kit + cutlery: Frontier Ultralight Collapsible Cup
⭐️ water filter: Katadyn BeFree 1.0L Water Filter
⭐️ water reservoir: HydraPak Seeker 2L
⭐️ water bottle: Nalgene Wide Mouth
⭐️ electrolytes: Liquid IV
⭐️ freeze-dried meals + snacks: see my complete guide to backcountry food
EXTRA LAYERS
⭐️ long-sleeve layer: Arc’teryx Kyanite Zip Neck Base Layer Top (women’s) / Rho Heavyweight Zip Neck (men’s)
⭐️ synthetic insulation layer: Arc’teryx Atom Insulated Hoody (women’s) / (men’s)
⭐️ down layer: Arc’teryx Cerium Hoody (women’s) / (men’s)
⭐️ GoreTex rain shell layer: Arc’teryx Beta SL (women’s) / (men’s)
⭐️ shell pants: Arc’teryx Gamma Pants (women’s) / (men’s)
⭐️ sun gloves: Outdoor Research ActiveIce Chroma Full Sun Gloves
⭐️ lightweight hiking gloves: Outdoor Research Trail Mix Gloves (women’s) / (men’s)
⭐️ leather mountaineering gloves: Outdoor Research Stormtracker Gloves (women’s) / (men’s)
⭐️ Buff: Buff Original
⭐️ beanie: Arc’teryx Mallow Toque
PERSONAL ITEMS
⭐️ toiletries
⭐️ bathroom bits
⭐️ Kula Cloth (for women)
⭐️ sun safety: sunscreen, sunnies, sun hat, sun shirt
⭐️ camera: Fujifilm x100vi
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