The Gear That Makes Me Actually Enjoy Alpine Climbing

Many years ago, in the dead of winter, I shouldered a pack stuffed with ice-climbing gear and skied deep into the Canadian Rockies. I was broke, sporadically employed, and had terrible climbing tactics.

My partner Karl and I worked up quite the sweat breaking trail for six undulating miles that afternoon and stopped for the night below our intended route, a sweeping ridge of fractured limestone and aerated snow. We hadn’t brought a tent so I dug a cave in the shallow, faceted snowpack while Karl melted snow to cook dinner.