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.

Gear Crush: First Ascent's BC MicroTherm Jacket Goes Everywhere

It seems like down jackets have been around about as long as geese. But in fact, the first commerical down jackets were made by Eddie Bauer back in 1936. By 1963, the company was keeping mountaineers such as Jim Whittaker and his expedition team warm as they made the first American ascent on Everest.

Roll 50 years a head and down jackets are better than ever. Case in point, the First Ascent BC MicroTherm sold out in three weeks this year. The jacket takes the joy of an 800-fill, cozy-but-not-hot down shirt and adds a waterproof breathable two-layer softshell. It's super light (just one pound), but very warm, even in Himalaya and Antarctic conditions. “A lightweight, high-performance piece that keeps me warm and dry on cold, windy and wet days. You don’t generally want to be out in those conditions, but sometimes the mountains have other ideas. This jacket was made for those days,” says mountain guide Melissa Arnot. For those of us who conquer our own mountains a little closer to home, it's one jacket that goes everywhere. And its slim fit is figure flattering without limiting mobility. —Mary Anne Potts

First Ascent BC MicroTherm; $299

Gear Crush: Ice-Gripping Adidas Outdoor Libria Boot

I'm from Minnesota and grew up crossing slick oceans of ice in parking lots, on sidewalks, encompassing sledding hills, everywhere. Slipping on the ice was a mortifying prospect of growing up. It was just a matter of when. And it always bruised more than just the ego.

The Adidas Outdoor Libria is a lifestyle boot and light hiker with an antidote to ice slipping. Not only are they a flattering, water-resistant knee-high boot, but they're filled with cozy, water-resistant PrimaLoft. The outside is breathable softshell with a reinforced toe and knee cuff for extra warmth. But it's the outsole that really got us. It's made of gripping TRAXION and has strategically placed blue lugs (made of a material called Temperature Sensitive Compound) that actually harden when temps drop to freezing. So they really grip the ice. It's like having your light hiker sole transform into ice cleats just when you need them. We haven't tried them out yet (no snow here in New York City (boo)). But we're optimistic. Available in August for around $130. —Mary Anne Potts

Gear Crush: Ladies, Here's Your Splitboard - Solution, Jones Snowboards

"From day one, the women have been screaming and yelling, 'Where’s our stuff?' And we’ve taken notice," said Jeremy Jones, who we recently interviewed about his snowsports alliance Protect Our Winters (POW) (follow POW on Facebook for informing and entertaining posts). "It’s really common to see a lot of women in the backcountry freeriding," he noted. "Women don’t have the as much as of a need to be in the park learning a new trick like a lot of men do. Women are much more comfortable with cruising the whole mountain and enjoying that aspect of snowboarding."

Thanks for noticing, Jeremy.

In fall 2012, Jones Snowboards will release three women's boards, including one splitboard, the Solution. It probably goes without saying that the construction and materials are identical to their men's boards, but the sidecut, flex, length, and waist width have been tuned to benefit a lighter, smaller rider. 

We admit, the Solution's Arctic Ocean map design drew us in like a magnet at Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City last week. Made for the complete big-mountain, trail-breaking backcountry experience, the early rise tip and tail will float on top even on the deepest powder days. Meanwhile the Mallow Magna traction on the inner and outer edges will keep you in control even on ice. It's identical to the Mothership, just split. Retailing for about $800, the Solution quickly pays for itself since you won't be buying a lift ticket. 

Jones Snowboards will have three women's boards are the Mothership, Solution, and Twin Sister this fall. Roxy and Gnu will also have new ladies splitboards.

So, ladies, see you in the backcountry. —Mary Anne Potts

Skiing Video: Trust in the Guardian - Salomon Freeski TV - “Selkirks Touring”

By Kim Havell

When you are skiing powder in Canada’s Selkirk mountain range, Research and Development is a very good job. Companies often want to see how their prototype product works in the field, so somebody’s got to do it.

In the sports realm, team athletes are often called upon to use and critique their gear for feedback, improvement, and development. This was the case for skiers Chris Rubens, Elyse Saugstad and I in the Selkirks this past March 2011. Our mission was to put Salomon Freeski’s new ski binding with touring capability to the test. After two weeks of hammering it in the big mountains, we were thrilled with the performance of “the Guardian."

Gear Review: Anon M1 Snow Goggles's Magnetic Changeable Lens

By Contributing Editor Steve Casimiro, editor of Adventure Journal

This goggle doesn’t exist yet. It’s new for the 2012-13 season, but Red/Anon (a Burton brand) released the above YouTube vid to give the world an idea of what’s to come, and we have to admit it looks intriguing. Smith already has their Outrigger I/O-I/OS lock/unlock system that allows lens changes much more quickly, but Anon is promising something mas rapido, with magnets holding the lenses in place and small levers at the bottom of the lens and goggle frame junction facilitating a quick swap even while you’re still wearing the goggles.

Pitfalls? Well the lack of a mechanical latch to hold the lens in place might mean that it could detach inadvertently — say, during a face plant in a few feet of powder. And what we’d really love is for someone to invent a light adaptive and tint-adaptive lens to make swapping a thing of the past.

$199 – $220, depending on the style. LINK

 

Outdoor Skills and Advice: The Ultralight, Eco-Friendly Backcountry Boiler

Text and photo by Ryan Hutchins-Cabibi, Senior Field Instructor and Lightweight Backpacking Pro at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)

As a tinkerer of gear, I get really excited when someone decides to build something they want that doesn’t exist. In the case of engineer Devin Montgomery, that something was a wood-fired boiler small and light enough to take backpacking in an ultralight style. For people cooking one-pot meals, “just add water” meals, or “boil in a bag” food, the ability to travel without fuel is an unquestionable advantage in the field. The Backcountry Boiler is an efficient, eco-friendly (it burns renewable fuels!) stove system that evolves the lightweight kit to the next level.

The Backcountry Boiler is elegant in design and function. It allows a backpacker to travel without lugging petrochemical-based fuels by burning natural renewable fuels they find along the way. Weighing in at 8.8 ounces, the boiler is heavier than some alcohol stoves but is comparable to many other wood burners. But unlike other wood burners, the boiler can also be used as a water bottle with the included stopper! 

The boiler functions on the simple chimney effect. A small fire is built in the burner base using tinder. It’s easier to light the fire and then place the boiler on the base. Be sure that the stopper is not plugging the water fill hole, or the vessel could explode.

The Backcountry Boiler proves to be surprisingly fast. Boiling two cups (16oz./500ml) of water multiple times per day over six days on a NOLS Lightweight Backpacking Course, I consistently had boil times of five minutes or less at altitudes between 8,000-10,000 feet, often using frigid water. This volume of water is ideal for “boil in a bag” type meals.

It’s important to note that the boiler doesn’t actually boil your food in the boiler its self, but boils the water to be added to your dehydrated meal in either a bag designed for this, or another container, perhaps your titanium mug.

Outdoor Skill + Advice: Winter Layering System Basics

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

As fall starts to give way to winter, the season’s dropping temperatures slowly add layers to the list of items I take on my adventures, be it climbing, camping, or backcountry skiing. Extra midlayers, such as fleece hoodies, have entered the scene, as have warm hats and down jackets.

My neighbor and fellow NOLS employee Casey Dean came across a layering lesson recently on an outing to Wild Iris, a popular local climbing destination. “I ended up donning more clothes to belay and shedding them before taking to the wall on sunny climbing routes,” said Dean.

Some tips to layering:

(1) A layering system should be a comprehensive unit; unless you’re trying to “go light,” no one article of clothing should be expected to serve multiple purposes.

(2) Proper layering should allow you to be comfortable through fluctuating temperatures and precipitation, as well as whatever activity you choose to enjoy.

(3) Plan for the worst. “You don’t want to put on all the clothes you’ve packed into the backcountry and still feel like something’s missing,” says Casey.

Excellent layer-by-layer recommendations and tips on the best materials can be found in this video by our experts in the NOLS Teton Valley issue room.

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Gear Reviews: The Best New Cameras

By Contributing Editor Steve Casimiro, editor of Adventure Journal. See more of Casimiro's gear recommendations in our Gear of the Year 2011 - Fall/Winter.

Retro Camera

Photograph courtesy Fujifilm

Fujifilm’s X100 

At last, a great-looking retro camera that shoots as good as it looks. Fujifilm’s X100 is the runaway camera of the year, thanks to its 1950s rangefinder styling. But this is one digital model that backs up its pretty facade with dynamite performance. Photos produced by the 12.2-megapixel CMOS sensor are stunningly true to life, with the strong color accuracy, great skin tones, and a minimum of noise even in low-light situations. The metal body feels rugged but not heavy, the flash results look natural and blend nicely with ambient light, and the viewfinder displays all the settings you need. Oh, and the operation is nearly silent. Its best application might be for travel shooting, where being unobtrusive counts. Keep in mind its fixed focal length lens (f/2, 35mm equivalent) can’t be swapped for a telephoto ($1,200; www.finepix-x100.com).

Rugged Camera

Photograph courtesy Nikon

Coolpix AW100 

It has to be said: What took you guys so long? Nikon was the second-to-last major camera manufacturer to make a rugged point and shoot, but the very tough Coolpix AW100 was it worth the wait. The Nikon is packed with high-quality specs, including full HD video at 1080p, and it cranks out top-shelf images in challenging conditions. It’s drop-proof from five feet, waterproof to 33 feet, and freeze-proof to 14ºF. ($380; www.nikonusa.com)


Compact Camera

Photograph courtesy Olympus Imaging America Inc.

Olympus E-P3 

The first versions of the compact Olympus E-P series performed as if they had a Celica engine in a Corvette body, but no more. The E-P3 is a hot rod under the hood. Critically, its autofocus is blazingly fast—it evaluates focus 120 times a second—and combined with 3.0 frames per second shooting rate you get a compact camera that’ll grab action like a much bigger DSLR. There’s a new built-in flash, too. And with the Micro Four-Thirds format, you can swap lenses for a bigger zoom or better light gathering, depending on whether you want to pull in the big game or shoot after sunset—the versatility is incredible ($900;www.olympus.com).

 

Climbers Anker, Chin, Ozturk Claim Meru's Shark's Fin Summit, One of World's Most Challenging

Tents at Tapocan base camp glow in the Himalaya night.

By Samantha Cook; Photographs courtesy The North Face

For more than 40 years the Shark’s Fin, a route on the northwest face of the 20,700-foot Meru in the Garhwal Himalaya, eluded the attempts of some of the world's top alpinists and remained one of the last unclimbed features of the region. Not anymore.

The North Face athletes Conrad Anker (right), Jimmy Chin (center), and Renan Ozturk (left) reached the summit today, nearly week ahead of schedule. Their feat is notable. Shark’s Fin is considered on the world's most challenging climbs, as its terrain is diverse. The lower third is a classic alpine snow-and-ice route, the middle a mix of ice and rock, and the final section is an extremely difficult, overhanging headwall.

The trio was well aware of the difficulties they would face. They had attempted the route in 2008, but were forced to turn around when they were just 100 meters from the summit.

“It’s some of the most technical, high-altitude climbing on Earth in unimaginably punishing conditions,” said Anker. “This time we came back to settle some unfinished business. We all had something that kept us motivated.”
The team was determined to not repeat their previous experience. They spent three weeks at the base camp of Tapocan acclimating, sorting gear, and studying the precarious climb that lay ahead of them. Their fortitude paid off, and the Shark’s Fin was completed in just six days, unhindered by any sort of setback. Besides their familiarity with the route, the climbers credited favorable weather conditions and the strength of each individual team member to their success.

“We all complement each other well,” said Ozturk, who participated in the expedition just five months after fracturing his vertebrae and skull in a ski-mountaineering accident in Jackson, Wyoming. “Conrad is the ice- and aid-climbing master, Jimmy is strong on aid-climbing and steep, snow trenching, and I’m more tuned for the free climbing required on the climb’s middle section.”

For Ozturk, the reward of the climb was less about being the first alpinists to complete it, and more about the cultural experiences and stunning landscapes him and his teammates were able to experience together. “Climbing with such close friends in one of the most visually stunning parts of the Himalaya is the kind of adventure that fuels my soul,” he said.