Mountaineering tour

A mountaineering tour is a different animal from a hike. The moment you rope up and step onto a glacier, the kit stops being about comfort and starts being about not disappearing into a crevasse. The list above is my summer glacier-and-ridge setup — adjust it for the route, and never carry technical gear you don’t know how to use.

A few principles:

• The rope is only as good as your prusiks. A prusik loop is what turns a rope into a self-rescue system. Carry two, know how to ascend on them, and practice the crevasse-rescue setup before you need it — not while hanging in the slot.
• HMS carabiners earn their keep. The pear shape takes a Munter hitch when you’ve dropped or jammed your tuber, and it’s the right carabiner for the belay device too. Two or three locking HMS carabiners cover most of what a glacier day throws at you.
• Slings are the duct tape of the mountains. Bandschlingen build anchors, extend placements, sling a horn, or rig a quick prusik backup. They weigh almost nothing — bring a couple more than you think you need.
• Express and ice screws are route-dependent. On a straightforward glacier plod you won’t touch them. The moment there’s a pitch of rock or a steep ice step, you’ll want quickdraws and a screw or two. Decide by the topo, not by habit.
• Match crampons to boots, every time. Soft boots and rigid crampons don’t get along. Check the fit at home, in the light, not at 4 a.m. on the moraine.