What’s in these backpacks?

A snowHead

Have been skiing in the Arlberg for the last 10 days and it seems like every second person is wearing a backpack.

People don’t do ski with backpacks in Australia where I am from.

What is in these backpacks?

I don’t think it’s avalanche stuff. These aren’t big powder days or off piste skiers, just regular skiiers

A snowHead

I carry a drink, lightweight gloves (liners or outers depending on weather forecast), spare layer, emergency blanket, buff

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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I carry:

- my mid layer
- my sunglasses
- my beanie
- spare batteries for the Action 4
- pole for the Action 4

- hydration pack
- home made jerky
- first aid kit

- OH's mid layer
- OH's sunglasses
- OH's low-light lens
- OH's bobble hat
- OH's powerbank (her euro-sim phone is old and hates the cold)

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- water
- mid-layer
- whichever of goggles / sunglasses I'm not wearing
- down gilet
- survival bag
- ski lock
- snacks (usually some cashew nuts and chocolate/nut bar)
- ski lock
- hat
- balaclava/buff if not wearing
- spare gloves

Usually shovel and probe, too.

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When children were small used to carry practically an entire 2nd wardrobe! Plus chocolate, water, flask of hot choc, wipes, hankies, spare goggles/sunglasses etc etc - Do NOT miss those days. Now ski with a camel back, so water and just enough space for a small bar of chocolate and some sunblock.

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No need of you're not off piste.

Too cold = Mountain Hut
Too hot = Drink at Mountain Hut
Thirsty = As Above
Hungry = You get the picture......

If I need sun cream, I give it to someone with a backpack! Cool

After all it is free

Toilet roll! Everybody's forgotten the toilet roll!

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Kitchen sink

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A massive bluetooth speaker to play crap Euro pop Toofy Grin

But in reality - water bottle, hat (to put on at lunch stops) inner gloves, phone charger, snack

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You don't need a kitchen sink provided you have some hand wash gel and, of course, some hand cream because that stuff dries your skin out so badly.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

Always astonishes me the amount of backpacks, and the amount of stuff people take for a day of piste skiing. Never worn one on piste, even with 4 kids in tow. Never needed one. Everything needed fits in various pockets. To be honest I am a bit fascinated by the whole rigmarole so enjoying this thread!

A snowHead

@zikomo, Whether you agree with the amount / specifics of what peeps take is obvs personal; however it depends on

1 - Whether you're staying relatively local (within a few main lifts of one small resort) or a whole day out exploring different areas / multiple resorts
2 - The weather and if its consistent or not (which in most mountains its not)

I hate stuffing things into pockets as for me it just feels bulky / uncomfortable and it also hurts if you take a fall and land on something sharp (eg keys)
The only things in my pockets are my lift pass in the arm, a piste map in the napoleon and my mobile in the inner chest pocket - that's more than enough pocket clutter!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@zikomo, +1. Anything I need goes in my jacket or trouser pockets.

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I already look sufficiently lumpy in my ski gear without stuffing my pockets full of clart (only my phone, a small wallet and several thousand tissues go in my pockets) so I have a tiny, chairlift-friendly backpack containing my other essentials. Everybody has a different idea of what's essential, but FWIW, mine are: small magnifying glass (I don't take my reading specs up the mountain) whistle, survival blanket, woolly hat, extra buff, spare base layer, water, sunnies, lippy, various medicaments I need to have with me, plus some painkillers, ski wax, ski padlock, spare gloves, my Kindle, tiny plastic bottle of toffee vodka to spike my hot chocolate, a few more tissues, and hand cleanser. Numerous people have expressed surprise at how much my Tardis-like backpack holds. Toofy Grin

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Water
Snacks
Hat
Sunglasses
Potentially an extra layer
Spare gloves
Ski lock
Wallet
Lip balm

I prefer not to have things in pockets, and couldn't fit all those things in pockets anyway.

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@Hurtle, +1 plus 10/10 for accurate use of the word 'clart'

If you need to downscale on the glasses I fully recommend these - https://www.thinoptics.com/en-gb

The kids may take the p*ss but it enables accurate menu reading at lunch

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It is indeed each to their own. But we are talking about resort skiing here. Not an expedition. And I don't think how far you intend to ski is relevant. I have nothing against people wearing backpacks and taking any amount of stuff with them, expect when they either hold the lift queue up with the faff of taking them off, or don't take them off and the liftie stops the lift until they do.

I just have never seen the need. There are plenty of very pleasant places to warm up, get a drink, something to eat in most ski areas. And I have never felt the need to change clothing throughout the day, and neither have my kids. I guess if you carry extra clothing you probably will use it, but again I just don't see the need.

As I said I don't object. Just fascinated by the long list of things people take for a day on the slopes!

After all it is free

@zikomo, +2. I used to carry one when the children were young but I think it's more of a faff than using pockets. But then my jacket has 4 pockets and we'd typically go back to a ski in, ski out apartment for lunch.

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I don't have one, but the person behind me is my butler and my dinner jacket is in his pack.

As it's every other skier with one, there could be others in the same boat

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@zikomo,

It's a bit of a slippery slope (as well as the one you are standing on). Once you have a rucsac on the "may as well throw this in" factor comes into play.
Personally, it's rare that I know I won't be skiing off piste so I have a rucsac with safety kit anyway and then I carry similar stuff to other people plus I normally have a tool for adjusting bindings, some duct tape and cable ties for repairing stuff that breaks in awkward locations, some blister plasters, some handwarmers (two of my family have Raynaud's).
When I do know I'll be on piste I'll normally not bother with the rucsac but that is probably 1 in 10 ski days.

In my pockets I usually have a cap (it is designed to fold up very small), because I am bald so need something other than helmet to protect from sun when sitting outside. Sunglasses for similar reasons. Reading glasses. A gopro occassionaly. And spare goggle lenses. Phone and wallet. Small combined lip salve and suncream. Sometimes also a bottle of water. It all fits perfectly well into my jacket and trouser pockets. I never feel uncomfortable or "bulky" as some have suggested. I don't see the need for anything else on a piste day, and many days I will forget some of the above anyway (especially reading glasses!).

You know it makes sense.

Phone (with thinoptics case/glasses attached), wallet, car keys, ski pass.

A rucksack is just an invitation to carry someone else’s gear…. Laughing

The only time I regretted not having a rucksack was when a local Hutte owner asked me, towards the end of a season, if I’d like to take half a bottle of schnapps and a large bag of frozen kaisekrainer home with me. It was an interesting 3km red run back to the car Laughing

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I always take a backpack, have done for years, I hardly notice I’m carrying it. Bottle of water, sunglasses, sun cream, woolly hat, normal gloves, keys wallet and phone. Plus room for putting in my fleece if it gets too hot.

A snowHead

Think some of you inbounds pack doubters are assuming we are carrying SAS yomping packs - my Dakine Poacher is like a handbag with straps that wraps around my back (Ortovox do a similar one) and never has to be removed for lifts as its basically a 'back bump'.

Pre-pack wearing I've carried crushed up water bottles / rapidly melting chocolate / mouldy squished sarnies / damp and unsmokable Marlboro lights all in my jacket and trouser pockets - none of which is ideal. A pack negates this drama
I've also broken goggle lenses and sunglasses / had skis nicked / cut myself on keys / got either majorly sweaty and hot or majorly sweaty and then freezing cold by wearing too many / too few layers. A pack negates this drama

Its either that or you were never in the boy/girl scouts . . . . . .'be prepared!'

@zikomo, I'm with you on annoying the kids - fair point

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Belch, If your backpack is as small as you suggest, then everything you currently carry could be conveniently stored in your pockets.

In decades if skiing, and teaching, I have never had any of the issues you mention.
My chocolate has not melted, because I don't feel the need to carry any.
My sarnies are not crushed. Because there are very agreeable mountain restaurants where I ski, where fresh food is available. I do wonder why your sarnies would get mouldy from an hour or two in your pockets though!
Never broken any glasses or goggle lenses.
Managed to never cut myself on my keys.
Have not had skis nicked either.

There is no drama to resort piste skiing, except the drama we create in our own minds!

Oh and yes I was a boy scout. Then an outdoor leader. Qualified ski instructor. I am always prepared. But appropriately. If I am touring/going off piste/on an expedition to the north pole I will take quite a lot of gear. Not so much when enjoying a few pistes with the family.

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@mountainaddict, 3 x 22kg bags for the 6 of us has always been adequate. Including off-piste gear for one or more of the kids. We all have own boots and skis, and yes we choose to take them with us. Not sure of your point tbh.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Women’s ski wear (like women’s clothes) rarely has pockets that could hold much more than a tampon and a tenner. If i’m out all day I take a backpack but if half day i’ll take phone, bank card in case apple pay/TWINT isnt working, lip balm.

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@Belch,

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@zikomo,

After all it is free

@zikomo, Although my nano-air midlayer will stuff into itself, the resulting pouch and jacket combo would mean I'm either skiing about looking like I'm wearing a large codpiece or alternatively some kind of breast implant disaster. But its not just about botched operations - its comfort that's the driving factor for me - comfort that I can drink easily and anywhere without stopping, comfort that I can layer up and down easily (I run hot so do this frequently) and comfort that my sh*t is all in one place and accessible when I need it; not clarting up my pockets!

Dakine Poacher 14 - recommended!

For a day's skiing I carry in my pockets the following: wallet, apartment keys, mobile phone, hanky and my glasses. If I'm hot I take my hat off and stuff it in my pocket and open my jacket and trouser vents. If cold I do everthing up. I cannot think what else that I may need.

But this thread does answer one important question for me - what do people put in their backpacks? I've often wondered. Thanks for sharing.

Was it that famous mountaineer and advocate of light weight expeditions Yvon Chouinard who said "if you take bivouac equipment you will bivouac"

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Also my sunglasses, phone and suncream are expensive. If i take a bag I can fit their cases in and their life expectancy goes up immeasurably

Help!!

What’s in these backpacks?

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