PACKS AGAIN!!

[climberwannabe]

Hi, does anyone have a Arc'Teryx Bora 65? I think this what I have chosen to buy, just looking for any beta.

Steve

[PaulB]

Arc'Teryx makes great packs, assuming that they fit you comfortably, and you don't mind paying the $$$.

What do you plan to use this pack for? Will you just be carrying camping gear & food, or will you be hauling climbing gear as well?

A 65L pack would be perfect for two or three day trips in the summer, but you'd probably find it too small in the winter when you're carrying a bigger sleeping bag and extra clothes. It would be a bit too big for an overnight trip, or to wear while climbing anything technical.

My quiver of packs breaks down like this in terms of size:

38L: Rock, ice & alpine climbing day trips
50L: Overnight (or 2-3 nights if going super light) alpine trips
80L: Multi-day ski tours or hauling loads to a base camp

65L is a bit of an odd size, but would probably be a good all around choice.

[climberwannabe]

Yeah I thought it may be a bit small too... but I just dont want to overpack. I'll be going to Yamnuska for a 5 day (into to mountaineering) and then taking a 4 day intro to alpine ice... I thinka 65 should do. Well Ihope it will!!!

[Fred]

as Mat B always said. You will always fill your pack no matter the size so pick a pack that is small enough to fit all your gear or else you'll end up dragging stuff with you that you don't need. I'd say you can pull it off with a 65L

[martha]

Do you see that Mat? He DOES listen sometimes!

either that or he is really good at searching old threads...

[PaulB]

I'll be going to Yamnuska for a 5 day (into to mountaineering) and then taking a 4 day intro to alpine ice... I thinka 65 should do.

65L will be perfect for hauling all your gear up to the Bow Hut, but you should consider also taking a smaller pack (30-40L) for your day trips. Just strap the empty small pack onto the outside of the big pack for the hike in. You'll really appreciate not having to wear the big one while climbing, and you'll definitely want a smaller pack during the alpine ice course.

I'll post some pics later of the area around Bow hut to get you psyched up.

[PaulB]

The first pic was taken in November, the rest are from March. There'll be much less snow when you're there.

View of Bow Lake & Bow Falls on the approach. You'll hike around the right shore of the lake, and then take a sharp left before you get to the falls.


View from the hut balcony back down to the highway. The trail pretty much follows the valley.


Kitchen & eating area in the hut.


Looking down on the hut. You'll probably be hiking up this slope every day! It's a sweet ski run in the winter.


North face of St. Nicholas, taken from the almost same spot as the previous picture.


South side of Nicholas, from the Nicholas-Olive col. The peak on the right is the summit. You'll be climbing this for sure, pretty much following the skyline.


You're gonna have a good time!

[mathieu]

What the hell, that picture of Mt Nicholas, where did all these people come from? Is this a group outing? Another reason why I like having week days off in the rockies. Went to back of the Lake to climb yesterday and it was a ghost town, I'm sure the snow squalls didn't help to bring out the crowds but the sun did shine for a few hours.

[PaulB]

... where did all these people come from? Is this a group outing?

That's what my friends and I took to calling the "French Connection". They were a fully guided group from France doing the Wapta Traverse. One of the guides was an instructor at the Ecole Nationale de Ski et d'Alpinisme (i.e. a serious hard man) in Chamonix, and fully sponsored by Millet. We ended up sharing the Scott Duncan hut with them for one night, which was a bit crowded since there were 17 of us in a hut only meant to hold 12!

Compared to what they were used to in Europe, only seeing 10 or 20 people a day on the icefields was a full on wilderness experience for them. The hard part for us was watching them ski around with tiny little day packs because their food (including bottles of wine) was being portered into the huts for them. We, on the other hand, were skiing with 50-60 lb packs and eating dehydrated meals.

[mike]

Paul:
Hey- it's a proud Canadian moment when you've got freeze dried and the Euro's have portered wine. I mean really- this ain't the 50's.

Mattieu:
Nice Pics.

Gonnabe:
As for the 30L pack- I'd go even smaller if possible- see if you can find a Serratus Genie- or something like that. And most importantly- have fun!

Mike

[climberwannabe]

Too late Mike, already got an arcteryx Bora 65. I'll probably bring my 35L pack I was using for ice/rock climbing days with me too. Hey does anyone know if Yamnuska has a place to leave extra stuff while you are on excursion?? I'll be continuing on to BC for a week after my course and I'll have some extra normal clothes/shoes etc to bring.

[PaulB]

Hey does anyone know if Yamnuska has a place to leave extra stuff while you are on excursion??

If you stay at the ACC Clubhouse in Canmore, there are storage lockers there that you might be able to use. You gotta supply your own lock though.