Skimo aka ski mountaineering kit

Everyone likes dorking out with technical kit and we’re no exception. The reality is though, we want to ski as much good snow as we can. If we carry less or lighter kit, that might mean we can ski more! We’ve narrowed down what we carry to a pretty minimal amount that’s still capable of dealing with almost every situation we might encounter!

Basic Rope Kit

• Petzl Fly Harness - simple and light!

• Petzl 30m Rad Line - we prefer to have at least two shorter ropes spread throughout the group. Multiple RADs are safer than one long rope! Hyperstatic ropes are light and small - the best rope is the one you actually bring with you!

• Petzl Gully or Ride Ice Axe - choose the pick and hammer vs. adze based on your objective!

• Petzl Irvis Hybrid or Leopard Crampons - all aluminum for pure winter snow walking but go for the hybrid steel/alu for any real climbing or when you might touch some rocks!

• 1x Petzl Sm’D triple action locking carabiner - Super handy as a quick clip-in to the rope or for use as a tether. One of our favorites.

• 1x double sling (120cm) and 1x triple sling (180cm) - Petzl Pur’Anneau - Dyneema is low stretch and hydrophobic

Basic Crevasse Kit

• Petzl Nano Traxion (progress capture pulley)

• Petzl Tibloc Rope Grab

• Beal Jammy Prussic - these grip best on skinny ropes in our experience!

• 2-3x Petzl Ange S carabiners

• 2x Petzl Attaché screw locking carabiner

• 5m length of 6mm diameter cordolette (5.5mm tech cord is also great, but expensive)

• Petzl Laser Speed Light Ice Screw (17cm or 21cm) kept on an Edelrid Pure Slide Lock carabiner to avoid having it bounce off your harness on the ski-out!

The minimum basics to get out and travel on the glaciers varies regionally and on comfort level, but if you are in a two person self supported team, you will each need almost everything listed above. If you are in a group of 3-4, you can start to spread the gear out amongst the team, but remember, if the person carrying the most stuff falls in the hole…so does your rescue gear! Redundancy is key.

Expecting significant rappelling? If it’s short/low angle, we might just use a Munter Hitch. If it’s longer, we might add the following:

• A rappel device that works with skinny ropes (Petzl Reverso or Mammut Nordwand Alpine)

• Blue Ice 110cm Alpine Runner to use as a rappel extension

Getting deep into the gnar and need an Anchor Kit? Look no further:

• 2x Knifeblade Pitons (make sure you’re carrying a Gully too with a hammer!)

• 1x Baby Angle Piton

• 4-5 small nuts (like DMM Alloy Offsets)

• Extra 6mm cordolette

• Beal Escaper

Want to dive in deeper on choosing a rope for ski mountaineering? Check out this video

I’m coming on a guided trip with you to glaciated terrain, what do I need? If its midwinter, then a harness and single locking biner is all you need. Certain trips I will add in crampons and ice axe if we have some technical trip options.