Skiing with a pack....

Water bottle, a gel or two, and if I'm skiing classic, a couple of kick waxes and a cork.  If I'm at Trapp Family lodge a might bring $5 to get a hot drink at the Cabin. Phone goes in my vest pocket.

no beer or whiskey = youre doing it wrong

Marcski wrote

I just don't understand why you'd tote beer with you. It will just get warm and shaken up.  You find a nice secluded spot near the top of one of your favorite lifts, bury lightly in snow and mark the spot with a branch or something.  And, voila, you have fresh, cold beers when you need them all day (or all weekend, depending on how many you bury).

Drink a few before you bury them and then marking them becomes easier and it is almost guaranteed no one will dig them up.

I generally dislike skiing with a pack. It throws off my balance and add as whole new element of adapting to skiing. With that said, I have lots of pockets. They generally include: 8 oz water, dugout + hitter, watch, ski strap, knife, Chapstick, ID, season's pass, Smith sponge/chamoix, and a  few bucks cash. This stuff is on me every day in the resort. If I'm skiing alone or it's a storm skiing day, I'll have the beacon on as well.

What's in your pack?

On a BC day, My pack will usually include:
1L Nalgene (in addition to 8 oz water in pocket)
skins
med kid (with as much gear as I know how to use)
2-3 clif bars
SOG Powerlock multi tool
head lamp
spare batteries (for beacon and headlamp, ideally. I need to work on this one)
lighter
TP
Matches
glop stopper
extra puffy jacket
sunglasses
baseball cap (maybe)
fleece glove liners
hat
snow safety stuff (shovel, probe, snow saw, clinomoter/compass [crystal card, loupe,] )
map
ski straps
duct tape.

AFAIK, that's it. What else should I add? More ski straps, p-cord (I used mine for something and never replaced it), waterproof matches / fire starter, ski crampons & waterproof rope (depending on objective), and hand warmers. Maybe some two-way radios.


When I was in 7th grade, I spent a day skibladeing around Gore with my brother and his friend. We were all wearing backpacks. I'm pretty sure it contained nothing other than Hawaiian punch. I kept noticing a cobalt blue trail around the mountain and wondering where it came from. Turns out that blue trail was seeping out of a busted can in my pack. Good times

I don't mind skiing with a pack but I hate riding the lifts with one.  The only time I use mine is when I bring my DSLR and some extra lenses (usually no more than a few times a season, sadly none this year).  Other than that, I too have many pockets and I just load them up if needed.  I really do need to put the Camelback back into action though.  As to adult beverages, skiing loaded is a thing of the past for me (I'm thankful for surviving those days) and now I just treat myself to a midday beer or boubon a couple of times a season.

I ski with a pack-all in black

Most of the younger crowd carrying a pack----that I notice---is carrying a large blue tooth speaker so I (and everyone else) can hear their music.      

My ski area is 700 feet, front and back side bases with decks etc. One could easily lock up the pack against a deck railing.  Beside, there is effectively no theft either.    No reason to every carry a pack, but carry them, they do.  

As for burying drinks...I don't drink on the hill (a shot on the last run does not count).  But I routinely bury water or Gatorade in key spots.      My daughter loves when it gets slushy.   My son knows all the spots and just like the fridge, drinks everything but two drops and leaves the empty containers for me to throw away.  Grocery Gatorade $0.40cents.     Resort $4.50, suckers, keep buying it so we can blow more snow down south, it will be in the 70s all week.            

skimore wrote

Marcski wrote

I just don't understand why you'd tote beer with you. It will just get warm and shaken up.  You find a nice secluded spot near the top of one of your favorite lifts, bury lightly in snow and mark the spot with a branch or something.  And, voila, you have fresh, cold beers when you need them all day (or all weekend, depending on how many you bury).

How does it get there?

I stuff my pockets full of canned beer. :).

 

Ahem...
https://www.outsideonline.com/2245181/ode-mountainsmith-tour