Ultrahiker Andrew Skurka's Nine Skills to Help You Pack Lighter

Photograph by Murfy Kristiadi, My Shot

When it comes to hiking lighter, we get our advice from the guy so serious about going fast and light that he uses a catfood can for a cooking stove—the master himself, Andrew Skurka. Skurka, our 2008 Adventurer of the Year, has covered more than 30,000 miles of long-distance trails, including the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide. Here Skurka shares nine skills you can learn right now to safely carry less and lighter gear on your next trip. These kinds of tips, plus much more, are covered in his comprehensive new book The Ultimate Hiker's Gear Guide (National Geographic Books), which comes out later this month. You can pre-order a signed copy from Andrew here.

Ultrahiker Andrew Skurka's Nine Skills to Help You Pack Lighter

1. Assess your true needs.
Where, when, and for how long you are going are the primary determinants of the conditions you will encounter. Research the temperatures, precipitation, sun exposure, water availability, snow coverage, hours of daylight, bugs, wildlife, and remoteness you will encounter. If you know the conditions you can realistically expect, you can pack accordingly. Uninformed backpackers justify poor gear choices on the grounds of unfounded “What if...” and “Just in case...” scenarios.

Outdoor Advice + Tips: Fast, Light, Delicious Backcountry Grits

By Contributing Writer Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, faculty member and Diversity + Inclusion Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)

Whenever you travel into the backcountry, do you ask yourself: “Eat like a king but break my back with the weight; or eat like a squirrel and travel light and fast?” Well, you can stop asking yourself that question. Backcountry travel doesn’t involve a Hobson’s choice. Time and time again, our field instructors prove that you can have your cake and eat it, too.

This time, it’s breakfast. In the video below Casey Pikla and Amy Rathke show us that backcountry breakfast doesn’t mean choking down lukewarm flavored oatmeal—you can warm yourself with a savory cheesy spicy breakfast of grits and save some weight while you’re at it.

Outdoor Skills and Advice: What’s in Your Winter Day Pack?

By Contributing Writer Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, Faculty member and Diversity & Inclusion Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), with help from Lindsay Yost, NOLS winter instructor. Photo courtesy of Brad Christensen/NOLS

Oh adventurer, be not tempted this winter by the thought of lounging languidly on your La-Z -Boy in front of the hearth with a warm mug of liquid in your paws! Instead, strap on your skis and skins the head outside to shred the nar nar. Besides what we’ve already told you to stash in your summer and fall daypack, senior NOLS field instructor Lindsay Yost urges you to take these few extra items to beat the winter chill.

1. Chocolate
Sugar and calories are essential when you’re burning those extra calories to stay warm. So besides that hot cocoa you’re carrying in your thermos, take some extra chocolate. Lindsay prefers Chocolove Dark Chocolate with Peppermint. I’m a huge fan of the Lindt Touch of Sea Salt Bar. And then there is always the good ol’ Snickers Bar.

2. A multi-tool
Whether you’re on skis and skins or on snow shoes, a multi-tool (like the Black Diamond Binding Buddy) is always great to have on hand to fix any gear problems.

3. Avalanche essentials
If you’re getting vertical, you must take an avalanche shovel, probe, and saw, and keep an avalanche beacon on your body. Read here for more tips on how to be more avy savvy.

4. A puffy jacket
Light but toasty warm, a down or synthetic puffy jacket is a must pack for the winter.

5. Sunscreen, visor, and sunglasses with UV protection
What’s more dangerous for your skin than a sunny day? A sunny day on snow! (And don’t pack those sunglasses—wear them!)

6. A balaclava
“Just ‘cuz it’s fun to say,” says Lindsay. I suggest fleece.

7. A straw
To suck it up when things get cold and miserable!

Packing for more than a day trip in the snow? Check out what NOLS students take on a two-week backcountry ski expedition.

Outdoor Skills + Advice: A Challenge to Parents: Go Outside With Your Kids Every Day

By Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, Field Instructor and Diversity and Inclusion Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School; Photograph by Julie Hwang

I had the trip planned for months. Reserved two llamas from Lander Llama Company. Made and remade my packing list ten times. Took my Deuter Kid Comfort II pack on some test runs. Mapped out the route and got permits. We would spend a night in a spot I call “Beaver Meadow,” where the Popo Agie River oxbows and creeps through beaver lodges and willow stands, the perfect evening snack spot for moose. Then a few nights in Stough Creek Basin, a high alpine basin on Roaring Fork Mountain. Then we would wander over to Deep Creek Lakes for a few days, leaving the llamas down at camp for the day, to summit Wind River Peak.

All in all, it would be eight days in the mountains with my husband, our four-year-old, and two llamas packing our gear. Not a hard-core adventure ... by any stretch of the imagination. Without the kiddo, Jamie and I could probably hike the whole route in a couple of days. But we knew better than to be ambitious. We would go at Kieran’s pace. If that meant stopping for an hour to admire a bug, or throwing rocks in the river for another two hours, that would be ok.

Kieran was beyond psyched.

“Amma [mom in Tamil]? Are we going into the Wind River Mountains with the llamas tomorrow?”

“No, not tomorrow. Four weeks from now.”

Same question the next day. Similar answer. The clock was ticking down to go time.

But that is when life got in the way, as it often does.

Outdoor Skills + Advice: Zingy Cowboy Pickles and Jerky

By Contributing Writer Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, faculty member and Diversity & Inclusion Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)

Just as our short growing season ends in Wyoming, game season has arrived. This means more meat (yay!), but fewer vegetables (boo!). While cleaning out my freezer of last year’s game and picking the last few cucumbers from the community garden before the first frost hits, I’ve been trying to invoke the Martha Stewart in me to do something creative with this food, something to make it last just a little bit longer so I’m not stuck eating store-bought meat and potatoes all winter. Alas, I was unable to channel Martha. But I did get some ideas from Kary Sommers, a NOLS Field Instructor who has been hunting since she was 12. These zingy cowboy pickles and jerky are great snacks for your next adventure.

Outdoor Skills and Advice: Ten Tips to Decoding Backcountry Weather Patterns

By Contributing Writer Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, faculty member and Diversity + Inclusion Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS); Photograph by Ashley Wise

A lightning storm had just struck, with bolts hitting the peaks less than a quarter mile away. After waiting it out in lightning position, my NOLS coursemates and I thought the worst of it was over, and headed to our tents, which were perched on a buttress below Mount Victor. As we started a class on leadership styles, we observed a dark cloud build-up over the peak. Halfway through class, the mass started to swirl ... fast. (Remember the sky in Ghostbusters, right before Gozer is summoned?) Minutes later, as we hunkered down in our tents gripping the walls as they flapped fiercely in 100-mile-per-hour winds, the funnel cloud touched down. A tornado? At 11,000 feet?

On a monthlong expedition in the backcountry, you are at the whims of the weather gods. Out there, the weather report isn’t a mouse-click away. And while adequate layering and gear can prepare you for the worst, there are also some ways you can predict what the weather gods might have in store for you today.

Outdoor Tips + Advice: How to Cook the Most Delicious, Cheesy Campsite Trout of Your Life

By Contributing Writer Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, Faculty member and Diversity + Inclusion Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS); photographs, from top, by Andy Clifford, Rich Brame (3)

Oh, the things you learn about yourself when you spend 35 days on a NOLS course in the wilderness with a backpack and a fly rod—and without your family.

Such as, for example, how you were so looking forward to 35 nights of uninterrupted sleep and lazy mornings, only to realize that having a kid has made you a light sleeper and a morning person. 

Or, for example, how excited you are to be “living off the land,” catching and eating 14-inch golden trout every day, only to realize that you’re about as good with a fly rod as you are with knitting needles, or any other activity requiring dexterity and patience. That is, you suck at fishing.

And by “you,” I’m not talking about you, dear reader. I’m most definitely talking about me.

So let’s talk about that trout. Although I couldn’t catch one for the life of me, I’d like to think I could cook one up to delectable perfection with this easy backcountry recipe for Fresh Trout WIZNUT, courtesy of NOLS Instructor John Whisnant). “The WIZNUT appeared in 1966 as a miracle response to our desperate pleas for cheesy crunch,” reflects John. Over the years, the WIZNUT has taken many forms, but the common denominator in any recipe is a layer of fried cheese at the bottom of the pan.

Outdoor Skills + Advice: Leave No Trace Meets the Outdoor Outhouse

By Contributing Writer Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, faculty member and Diversity + Inclusion Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS); photograph by Kevin Bergstrom/NOLS

There's nothing like enjoying the breathtaking beauty of a scenic landscape only to be interrupted by a pile of poo and crumpled up toilet paper at your feet.

How many times have you thought about not following the rules? How many times has the little devil on your shoulder said, "go ahead, once won't hurt." Well, imagine everyone doing it just once, and you'll quickly realize that's a lot of little devils. It's not a pretty subject, but it's one to get right: Here’s our little primer on how to poop in the woods for those of you who are a little hesitant (or absolutely petrified) about the prospect.

Outdoor Skills + Advice: Backcountry Baking - Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

By Contributing Writer Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, faculty member and Diversity & Inclusion Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)

I can make a mean tikka masala in my own kitchen, but I’m a hack at backcountry cooking. Thankfully, I have my colleague, backcountry baking genius Kelly Sherwin to turn to for some tips. But despite differences in baking prowess, Kelly and I do have something in common. “Picture this scene,” Kelly says. “You emerge from your sleeping bag on a chilly morning and can think of no better breakfast than a concoction of butter, flour, and sugar—something piping hot and capable of fueling me for a long day.” There’s just one problem: We don’t like gluten and it doesn’t like us back.

Gluten intolerance can be tricky in the backcountry, where your expedition mates might cringe at the very mention of garbanzo bean flour or xanthan gum. The solution? “A delicious decoy for your run-of-the mill cinnamon roll,” says Kelly, “in which I avoid the gluten gauntlet yet treat my backcountry buddies to a meal that’s genuinely delicious.”

Gear Review: Summer's Coolest Tech? The Sand-Free Ground Cloth

By Contributing Editor Steve Casimiro, editor of Adventure Journal. See more of Casimiro's gear recommendations in our Ultimate Hiking and Camping Gear Guide >>

The coolest technology I’ve tested this summer isn’t an electronic device, a bike, or something built of carbon fiber—it’s a ground cloth that works better than anything I’ve ever used.

Ground cloth? Yeah, I know, not the kind of product that sets the heart aflutter. But CGear’s Sand Free MultiRug ($44-$74) is amazing. It uses a two-layer sandwich of fabric to create a one-way channel for dirt. Sand, dirt, dust, and grit can slip through the top layer and past the bottom, but they can’t come through the bottom to the top. Much as waterproof-breathable fabrics allow water vapor to escape, but block liquid water from entering, the CGear mat funnels the bad stuff away and won’t let it back in. One trip to the beach will tell you why that’s a big deal. (Note: Rug is a slight misnomer. It’s softer than CGear’s Mat and is thus designated, but really is mat.)

The system was developed to reduce dust clouds during military helicopter landings and takeoffs. Rotor wash creates “brownouts” that are especially troublesome in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, where roughly 75 percent of chopper crashes are due to the severely impaired visibility of brownouts. CGear’s Tactical Helimats come in huge sheets and are remarkably effective—assuming crews can lay them down without getting shot, of course.

They’re built with a simple concept: The top layer has a slightly looser weave than the bottom, allowing particles to pass in one direction. Surprisingly, they never get lodged in the space between, but simply move through like hurried commuters in Grand Central, disappearing out the exit.

Dirt, of course, is a part of the outdoor experience, and none of us would be out there if we were all that finicky. But keeping a little cleaner goes a long way. So far, I’ve used the CGear as a ground cloth for my tent and sleeping bag, as a changing mat for the wet and sandy post-surf wetsuit exit, as the support under a towel for chilling at the beach, and as a welcome mat outside my camper van. After months of use, it still looks new and there’s no dirt clinging to it. You simply shake it out or, worst case, hose it down. And in each case, the mat kept feet, body, and van far cleaner than using a tarp, towel, or nothing.

I don’t even have a major complaint about the CGear, which is unusual. Well, it’s 50 percent PVC and that’s a bit of a problem on the sustainability scorecard. Otherwise, it’s pretty darn flawless: a product that’s unique, works as advertised, and makes a difference in your outdoor life.