This season, I took a few trips to the alpine to experiment with new (to me) ultralight ideas. In June, I did the 4-Pass Loop and summited Snowmass Mtn in the Maroon Bells Wilderness, where I tested my prospective PCT Sierra kit. In July, I went on a climbing trip to RMNP where I tried a somewhat unique bivy system. I thought there was enough interesting little details in these systems for a discussion.

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Part 1: Sub-10 lb snow kit on the 4PL

#####LighterPack, Photo Album, Hiking Route, Technical Route

Baseweight:

• 9.66 lbs including poles, snow/climbing gear, mandatory bear bag

• For all you liars, 9.03 lbs excluding poles, or 7.43 lbs excluding poles and snow gear

Itinerary:

• Day 1: 10.2 miles, 3.7k gain, 6.5 hours (TH to Snowmass Lake). A joyous, mellow day.
• Day 2: 23 miles, 8k gain, 19 hours (Snowmass summit, three passes to finish the 4PL). Brutal. Woke up at 2:30 am, hit the East Slopes at 4:30am, summited at 7am, and got back to my car well after sundown. I was supposed to be home that night, so I was hiking as fast as I could through exhaustion, and my knee was complaining. I did not make it home that night lol.

I chose The Four-Pass-Loop as a weekend objective for this season for several reasons:

1. Redemption for a failed attempt many years ago (before I knew fuck all about anything)

2. With it being June, it seemed like my final opportunity for the season to test out my prospective PCT Sierra snow kit for 2027

3. I had just recently taken an Intro to Mountaineering course at CMS in Estes, and thought that I ought to do something cool with my newly acquired skills rather than let them gather dust all summer.

###Snow Gear

I posted a shakedown for this trip a couple of months ago, and /u/justinsimoni left the most helpful advice of all:

> If you're going to bring an ice axe please for the love of God do a side trip up Snowmass or somethin'.

So I did that, and it was dope. My first time solo (or ever) on a steep snow route, which ended up being a mixed route on rock up a narrow chimney (oops).

Anyway, here's all the yummy details that you gram counters are looking for... my goal with this trip was to fit a full snow kit into 10 lbs kit, which I did at a net 1.6 lbs:

• 7.2 oz axe (CAMP Corso 50 cm)

• 7.9 oz spikes (BD Distance)

• 5.7 oz helmet (Petzl Sirocco)

• 1.8 oz VBL socks (Rab)

• 2.86 oz of climbing gloves (merino liner, Show 281)

• 0.25 oz snow baskets

My complete ultralight snow-worthy footware system was Lone Peak 6s, Injinji merino liners, the Rab VBL, Altra gaiters, and BD Distance spikes. This performed quite well and kept me warm for the day. I've done a decent amount of experimentation with VBLs + Lone Peaks for winter hikes in the past.

I chose slightly different pants for this trip than I would for the PCT, which were the 4.6 oz CAMP Protection Pants. These are long-discontinued deployable waterproof(ish) pants for climbers, that I expected to perform better in the snow than my typical UL wind pants. They were really great for this application. Until they shredded underneath me while glissading down the East Slopes. Not sure what that means for my Sierra pants choice on the PCT. Maybe just glissade in my shorst? Either way, if anyone knows of a modern equivalent to these pants (waterproof, big zips to fit over shoes/boots, packable, <6 oz), let me know.

I did the entire initial ascent of Snowmass (2:30am to 4:30 am on a loose, steep boulder field and a sketchy gully crossing) with a RovyVon A5, and found it to be sufficient. I gained lots of confidence in this flashlight after using it for hours on end night-hiking in Canyonlands last fall, and it has only further proven itself now. Probably the most reliable piece of kit I've ever owned.

###Everything else

My pack was the Palante V2, and my sleep system (photographed at my dope bivy site) was:

• Zpacks 7x9 DCF tarp (never pitched it)

• 3.8 oz MYOG bivy

• 1.7 oz MYOG pillow

• 16 oz 30F quilt

• layered GG 3/8" torso pad and GG thinlight for a net 6 oz

This was my first time trying out the GG torso pad, and I loved it. I layered the 1/8" GG Thinlight (cut to 6 panels) on top of that for comfort and warmth. My bed is:

• GG torso under my upper body
• My pack under my legs
• the nearly-full-length GG Thinlight on top of all that

This seems contrived, but I wanted to experiment with it since the combined weight of the two GG pads (6.01 oz) is almost exactly that of my torso-length Nemo Switchback alone (5.93 oz). I figured that if I can get a similar comfort and R value at similar weight, with full coverage from my shoulders to feet, then that would be good to know.

I can report that it was great. I slept like a freaking baby. It was also my first night trying out a GVP divot, which I'm hooked on now. I will be testing the torso pad on it's own, without the Thinlight, on the TCT this summer.

For food, I cold soaked in a PB jar, and for water, I filtered with a QuickDraw. Food storage was a 9L Adotec Grizzly bag.

###Takeaways

1. My PCT Snow kit honestly seems almost perfect. If it can get me comfortably up and down Snowmass, it can do Forester or whatever.

2. I like the BD Distance spikes, but they could be lighter. I have a pair of Vargo pocket cleats that I still need to properly test, but they're not very confidence-inspiring. More likely I will grab a pair of Kahtoola Ghosts, which would save like an ounce. I do like that the Distance model was a waterproof cover for the toe box, but I doubt that it makes a difference once you're in the snow for hours on end.

3. I should find a lighter alternative to the Rab VBL socks for the Sierra. I will likely make a prototype pair from DCF. Bread bags don't last long enough.

4. Injinjis are dead to me. I love them, but the durability is so, so bad. This pair was brand new, and are already blown out after two days.

5. Only a fool wouldn't carry a sun umbrella, and only a fool would leave their watch charger at home to save 2 grams.

6. Never needed my puffy. Never needed it on the JMT, didn't need it now.

7. Feeling torn about polycro. I must admit that foregoing it on this trip was totally fine. But I also missed it.

8. It was super satisfying that, because my kit was so light, I could just take the entire thing with me for the summit push, while everyone else had to go down and retrieve their camp after finishing. Most of the day packs I saw up there were probably similar in weight to my swollen V2.

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Part 2: 8 oz shelter for RMNP technical bivy sites

#####Photo Album

This part will be shorter than the first, since this was not an ultralight trip by any means. My climbing partner and I took a week off to squat at a luxury basecamp in RMNP (Moraine Park), and watch for weather windows, intent to pounce on any of the mega-classics in the Park that we could.

We expected maybe getting in one night of bivying, and maybe two classic climbs. However, we ended up getting an incredible forecast by RMNP standards, and ticked three dreamy routes with clean climbing and successful summits, bivvied in two incredible locations, and spent four memorable days in the backcountry. In order, we climbed Red Face Magic on Zowie Tower, bivvied in The Gash, climbed the NE Ridge of Sharkstooth, bivvied in Upper Glacier Gorge, and climbed the N Ridge of Spearhead.

Anyway, like I said, not UL. Pack was heavy as hell. But, I did want to report to /r/ultralight about one thing: The Montbell Breeze Dry-Tec Sleeping Bag Cover, which comes in at ~8 oz, half the weight of any other WPB bivy typical of climbing contexts. It is about the same weight as a MLD Soul Provent UL, while being much cheaper.

Here are photos of it set up at our bivy sites beneath Spearhead, and in The Gash beneath the Sharkstooth. I tried it with both my torso-legnth Switchback, and an Xlite. Both fit inside with plenty of room.

In the RMNP technical bivy zones, there is an interesting set of restrictions which makes for a fun problem-solving exercise for the climber and/or ultralighter. They specify that a bivy must be established:

1. within the designated Zone, or at the base or on the face of the climb.

2. at least 70 adult steps (200 feet/60 meters) from water.

3. with camp set up at dusk and taken down before dawn.

4. without the use of erected type shelters, tents or supported tarps.

5. on rock or snow only, not on vegetation and out of meadows.

Most climbers will opt for a proper "WPB bivy" to satisfy especially requirement #4. Those bivys often have a hooped hood (small pole), zipper, and bug net. However, they're heavy. Even one of the lightest leading options available as of this writing, the OR Helium, is a whopping 16 oz (heavier than some modern UL tents). Not to mention it absolutely sucks (breathability and condensation are garbage).

I first heard of the Breeze via a review on SectionHiker. While it is marketed as a "sleeping bag cover", it's a cool solution for a bivy. It's waterproof and packable. The tradeoff is that it has no zipper, no bug net, and can't fully close. All of those things are fine to me, though, since a bug head net can be used to supplement it, it's not hard to get in without the zipper, and no bivy should ever be closed in any case anyway. Much better to find a big boulder as a roof!

I ordered the long-wide version so that I can treat it more as a "bivy" than a "bag cover". I can fit my pad inside, my pillow, any gear that I want to protect, and it's not constricting. I was very happy with it and would recommend it when faced with these unique camping restrictions. The only obvious upgrade from the Breeze that I know of is the MLD FKT at 5.6 oz, but it comes with a huge price jump. The Breeze is (as of this writing) only $67, versus ~$400 for the FKT.

Anyway, that's all. Peace.

I'm starting to experiment with a sun umbrella. During some tests in Maine recently, I was super pleased with how much of a difference it makes in direct sunlight, and especially how much better it is than the hood of a sun hoody. It's also a game-changer for afternoon siestas.

For those tests I was using a Montbell 2-way 50. I liked it, but it's telescoping shaft and folding ribs are not very appealing to me from a perspective of minimalism and simplicity. I'd rather have something more "static". So I ordered a GG LightTrek instead, as it is the lightest non-telescoping and non-folding umbrella that I could find with a meaningful UPF rating (I wish montbell sold their Carbon OD 60 model with a UPF fabric).

The LightTrek came in just yesterday. I must say, some pieces of UL gear spark joy. I hold them in my hands and think, "Ah yes... perfection". But this umbrella does not make me feel that way. It feels grotesquely large and excessive. I can feel it violating every UL principle that I hold dear just by touching the thing. Not only because of the weight and the bulk, but also the departure from simplicity to complexity that an umbrella represents.

So I guess I just need to decide if the benefits of carrying one are worth it to me. I figure that to offset some of this excess, I would forego my bivy in favor of Lint's infamous bug condom. I may also even chop the shaft off of the umbrella, and find a way to attach my trekking pole in it's place.

I'll be doing some tests to that end this summer, so that I can decide whether or not I will bring it on the PCT next year.

What do others think? Can an umbrella actually ever be considered ultralight, or is this a textbook luxury item? By incorporating it into my sleep system and bug protection, am I actually doing some clever optimization, or am I just putting lipstick on a pig? I'm not asking about whether it can fit into a 10 lb kit; obviously it can. I'm more interesting in hearing how an umbrella does or doesn't jive with your personal UL philosophy.

For context, my current PCT rough draft has a baseweight near 7 lbs, and I'd like it to be as close to 6 lbs as possible. Going with the bug condom would save ~1.5 oz over my bivy, and another ~0.5 oz by not having to carry a bug head net. But that total 2 oz saving won't offset the addition of a 5.8 oz umbrella. I'm still at nearly a 4 oz excess (or hopefully closer to a 2 oz excess once I chop the shaft).

Is the sun protection of an umbrella worth 2-4 oz, plus one more thing to have to deploy, stow, and keep track of? On the one hand, the experience of using one on a sunny day is so great. On the other, I did the JMT last August without one, and while the sun was certainly oppressive at times, I was fine. However, I was hiking with a more casual group and wasn't really pushing mileage. A few weeks ago on the Four Pass Loop, where I was solo and absolutely was pushing mileage, I was really kicking myself for not having an umbrella. It seems that maybe there's a certain threshold of exertion where it really can make the difference.

Montmolar uses stretch mesh for his external pockets that is as low as 80 gsm (2.36 osy). I'd like to try this. And I suspect that a lot of other cottage pack brands are using similar stuff, since I see these thin-looking transparent front pockets pretty often. This is specifically what Montmolar uses, but it's out of stock and also not located in the US.

I can't find anything near this weight available from the usual suspects in the US (RSBTR, Seattle Fabrics, RockyWoods, Dutchware, etc). The lightest available from RSBTR is the newer Venom ECO MAX, which is twice the weight at 161 gsm.

Where can I find lighter lycra?

Anyone have any update on whether UltraTenX is becoming available by the yard from anyone? /u/Imhereforthesewing posted a little teaser of the fabric a couple of months ago, but said at the time that no retailer had picked it up yet. /u/ooshkava noted in the comments there that Zpacks was now using it, and indeed it is an option now on the Nero Pro.

However, Zpacks is noting the density as 2.9 osy, while this older post claimed that Ultra 80X was 2.49 osy, and /u/dandurston mentioned that TenX is just a rebrand of 80x. So I'm wondering to make of that density discrepancy. 80x itself is available by the meter from extremtextil, and it claims 84 gsm (2.48 osy). Maybe TenX and 80x aren't actually identical?

If TenX really is 2.9 osy, then I'd probably just take 2.9 DCF Hybrid instead, unless the TenX somehow turns out to be cheaper than $32.75/half yd, which I doubt. Or I'd just use the 80x from extremtextil, but they don't ship to the US :(

Edit: My bad, I can't read. In the linked thread, Dan said

> The previous name 80X came from the weigh (80 gsm) but it is a bit heavier now

And Joe from Zpacks said

> Ultra 80X is a prototype material with a .5 mil laminate- the same thickness laminate that failed badly on the first generation Ultra backpacks. I'm not sure if they are going to produce any more of it beyond the original batch, which must be what Extremtextil has. I hiked a couple weeks with it and it was fine for that short duration. It should be fine for DIY items or a light duty backpack, but maybe not a thru-hiking backpack. Ultra TenX is an updated version of it with a .75 mil laminate, the same as current Ultra 100X, 200X etc. The main difference is the face fabric has a looser weave for lower weight, and some new colors, coming soon.

Two questions...

What are the lightest merino liner socks out there? I only wear zero-cushion liners, for the weight, packability, and for the very quick drying times. I've always loved my Injinji liners, but their durability has just let me down one to many times to keep pouring money into them :( Looks like the most obvious options are Smartwool liners, Darn Tough running socks, or Skurka's Wooleators:

https://www.smartwool.com/en-us/products/hike-classic-edition-liner-crew-socks-sw001650

https://darntough.com/collections/mens-running-socks/products/mens-merino-wool-run-micro-crew-no-cushion-ultra-lightweight-running-socks

https://defeet.com/products/wooleator-pro-3-d-logo

I would like to beat my current Injinji's at ~1.5 oz per pair. If you do have weights for these other socks, please include the sizes. I'm a ~9.

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Does anyone know what the deal is with Snowline "Trail Light" spikes?

Both Litesmith's comparison table and Snowline's own website mention only "Trail" or "Light" spikes

https://www.litesmith.com/snowline-chainsen-light-spikes/

https://snowlinespikes.com/en/collections/alle-produkte

And yet I found boxes of Snowline "Trail Light" spikes at a local resale shop. Maybe a discontinued item?

If anyone knows if the "Trail" spikes actually say "Trail Light" on the box that they come in, that would be helpful. I also emailed Snowline.

I'm trying to find out if the pricey Kahtoola Ghosts are really the lightest option out there or not. I'm currently using BD Distance spikes at 7.9 oz. Snowline "Trail" claims to be 7 oz in my size, and 6.8 oz for the Ghosts.

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I did try googling for both of these questions with site:lighterpack.com. But essentially nobody enters size info in their LP lists, it seems, which is insane to me!

I always thought that bear cans were required in the GTNP backcountry. But I'm noticing now that the [official park regulations](https://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/on-the-trail.htm) states that

&gt; Backpackers are welcome to bring their own bear-resistant food container. For a list of all approved portable bear-resistant food containers please visit the  IGBC website.

which presumably includes Ursacks and Adotec bags. Is this true?