They came in very handy for staking tents in deep snow) (Recommended to have at least 2, but in a rope team of 4 and all knowledgeable in crevasse rescue, we decided 1x team member was enough. Gerber multi-tool with knife (Never left my bibs pocket).2 Black Diamond Express ice screws, 22mm and 16mm.Black Diamond Sabretooth crampons (Ronzio used Petzl Lynx Leverlocks).1 Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork pole (I dig these, Ronzio swears by the tri-fold Carbon Z poles).But the Carbon Whippet is much more collapsible.) The regular aluminum poles do not get small! At all. 1 Black Diamond Whippet pole (Amazing piece of gear, but I would opt to get the Carbon Whippet if you’re looking to buy one.Opted to stick with the Raven, but honestly used the Whippet more than anything.) Black Diamond Raven Ice Axe (Contemplated bringing my Petzl Summit Evo axe, which would have been nice on steeper ascents for snowboard missions above 14k.I may swap for the Singing Rock Flake Harness next time) Black Diamond Couloir Harness (Pretty good, lightweight harness, but it pulls in some annoying places when traveling on a rope team.Plastic expedition sled provided by Talkeetna Air Taxi.Be sure to do your research if using.)Ī post shared by Jonathan Ronzio on at 1:26pm PDT I should have been a 295, but needed to size up. Fitwell Backcountry snowboard mountaineering boot, size 300 mondo (Excellent boot, but sizing is strange.Would not bring again, and would just plan to crampon during steep sections such as Motorcycle Hill, Squirrel Hill, and Windy Corner) We transitioned to crampons all the way up to 14k camp after that. Splitboard Crampons (Good to have, but we only attempted to use once up Motorcycle Hill.Some swear by these, but I could go without) Karakoram Flex-Lock (For touring mode.The toe strap on the SL’s used to be a rubber loop, but a full and secure buckle strap is necessary, in my opinion) Karakoram Prime SL binding (I bought a toe piece separately.A few of the items on the list were split between team members to distribute weight. We were a team of 4 planning on being on the mountain for 24 days. In this list I wanted to add brief descriptions as to why items were brought, whether or not the items were efficient, and how much each item was actually used.įor those about to set out to Denali, please read, ponder my thought process, and then make your own educated decision as to what to bring yourself. While prepping for the climb, I read countless gear lists and trusted some of them blindly. The main purpose of this list is to provide a reference for those thinking of climbing and/or splitboarding Denali. So, without further ado, here is a very thorough, comprehensive (and long) list of every single Item making up the 134 pounds that I lugged up this beautiful beast! After our experience on the Great/High/Big One, and after seeing and speaking with a few skiers on the mountain, I’d safely say that ski touring is the most effective and efficient way to go on Denali.īut, with all that being said, there are those that are complete bad asses and have summited (I did not) Denali on splitboards. Not only is it quicker and way more efficient to skin on the lower glacier, but it’s 100 times more safe while traveling. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the strategy for this expedition as we were climbing at guide book pace and practicing a single and double carry ascent.Įven though descending was a complete pain in the rear, I’d choose taking the splitboards up again over snow shoeing. If we took over a month to climb and made numerous double/triple carries in between camps that would enable us to snowboard down from caches with no sleds, then splitboarding may have been more feasible. We simply could not find an efficient way to descend while roped up with heavy sleds in tow…or in front, depending how you rig it based on the degree and direction of slope. In short, splitboarding Denali was a grueling undertaking and in the end we did not find it to be super practical for much of the time on the mountain. If you have ever thought to yourself, “Hmmm…you know, I REALLY want to spend a month climbing North America’s largest mountain and then I want to snowboard down it” (as most of us have certainly thought multiple times), then you’ve come to the right place.įirst, a note about our experience splitboarding Denali. Greetings, ya scallywags! It’s your Captain, Captain Red Beard here, and I’ve got quite the list for ya.
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