Top Ten Tips for Summer Alpine Climbing
As many people begin planning their summer trips, it’s important to remember all those skills you use for camping, hiking, and climbing in a summer alpine environment.
Backpacking and climbing through The North Cascades and Rocky Mountain National Park in the summertime gives you access to pristine alpine lakes, beautiful mountain views, and classic alpine climbing!
1. Bring a Medical Kit and Take a First Aid, CPR, and Wilderness Medicine Course
We like to bring the Adventure Medical Kit UL.7 with us in the mountains. This kit provides all the essentials for wound care, leaves room to personalize additional items in your kit, and comes in a light and waterproof package. Here’s a list of the medical items we carry with us in the field.
It’s hard to use your medical items without some training. During a First Aid and CPR training course, you will learn the basics of wound care, trauma, and basic wilderness medicine. Desert Mountain Medicine provides a great class location in Leadville, Colorado.
In addition to taking a class, there are several apps available, like the Wilderness Medicine Reference App. Developed by former Breckenridge ski patroller and paramedic Karen Lapides. This app provides guidance for first aid and trauma that can occur in a backcountry setting.
2. Get The Right Backcountry Gear
This is a whole topic, so we’ve created an Alpine Climbing Gear Guide which provides an extensive list of the gear our team uses in the mountains and the reasons behind those choices.
When in doubt a local gear shop is the best place to try out gear– in Colorado, that might be Neptune Mountaineering, or The Black Diamond Store in Boulder – with knowledgeable staff who can make suggestions, it’s a no-brainer!
3. Practice Packing Your Backpack
The backpack is a make-or-break item for alpine climbing. A properly fitted bag will keep your shoulders and hips fresh, whereas a poorly fitting bag will stop you in your tracks. Following the ABCD principle for packing will really help as a starting point for packing for comfort and efficiency.
A- Accessible. Think about your day and the items you will need throughout. Items that are most needed, should be toward the top.
B- Balanced. The heaviest items should be closest to your back and lower or center in your pack. This will help with how the mass of the bag affects your movement and balance while hiking or climbing.
C- Compression. Important for inside and outside compression. Work hard to stuff your bag so that it feels hard, with no empty spaces. Use the outside compression straps to lower the pack profile.
D- Danglies. We don’t want anything swaying on the outside of our packs.
The Hyperlite Ice 40 and Arcteryx Alpha FL 40 are great alpine packs that comfortably carry all your gear into the climb, then compress and climb very well in technical terrain.
4. Backcountry Food Storage
Practice tying up your food or using a bear canister or sack when camping and climbing in the mountains. The North Cascades commonly has black bear sightings in the Boston Basin Zone. We prefer using an UrSack which is a packable sack and a nice backpacking option that can be stuffed down, unlike a canister. The Ursack also works well for critters, common in Rocky Mountain National Park. The Marmots are larger than your pets!
Here’s a great video that demonstrates the PCT bear bagging method.
5. Going Light- Backcountry Water Filtration
Carrying all the water you might need for the approach and then the climb is possible where most of the weight of your pack comes from. It can be exhausting! Usually, in Rocky and The North Cascades, there is easy access to water from lakes, streams, and glaciers. These water sources are places where you can easily refill a bottle and not have to take as much water from the trailhead.
However, you will need to purify the water by boiling, filtering, or using chemical tablets. Lifestraw makes several types of personal water filtration systems and these are what we prefer to take with us. The systems are fast to use, packable, and light.
Furthermore, you can read Outdoor Gear Lab’s reviews of the best water filters on the market.
6. Get Familiar with the Weather Conditions in your area
The best time for a summer backcountry trip in Rocky Mountain National Park and The North Cascades is mid-June through mid-September. Most trails should be clear of snow, however in The North Cascades, the season could be up tp a month behind, in terms of snow, relative to Colorado.
Chilly nights and thunderstorms are common above 10,000 feet in the summertime and snowfall can also occur year-round. Therefore, pack waterproof rain gear that you can hike in. Check the latest conditions at Rocky, and North Cascades National Park before your departure.
7. Learn How to Navigate in the Backcountry
Not sure where to start with navigation, Hire a Guide. We specialize in more than technical systems. Smile Mountain Guides can help you refine your navigational skills while sharing an amazing adventure in the field.
Using apps like CalTopo or Gaia GPS can be very helpful. Gais GPS, in particular, is user-friendly, it can be oriented, aspects are viewable, and you can follow your hike in real-time. CalTopo has a much more powerful operating system and is useful for creating a mapping tour plan before you head out to climb. With both of the apps, make sure to download your information before you lose service!
9. Nutrition
Meal planning for the alpine can be hard, so we’ve created a sample three-day food checklist to help! We prefer whole foods whenever possible. Hard cheeses, cured meats, nuts, and fresh veggie items go a long way! Sometimes supplementing a small amount of a fresh item makes a plain meal like oatmeal go from bland to amazing with some dried nuts, fruit, and peanut butter!
10. Acclimate to the Altitude
The elevation in Rocky Mountain National Park and its surrounding areas ranges from 7,860 feet to 14,259 feet! It’s one of the nation’s highest national parks, so if you do not live in the area and are flying in, make sure to acclimate.
This means spending some time at lower elevations between 6,000-8,000 before beginning your summer backpacking trip.
Next Steps for Your Summer Backcountry Trip
There’s a lot to think about when planning a summer backcountry trip! Remember that we’re here if you have questions, or want to do a trip with us to test out your gear.
