WURLOS: The Gear

From WURLOS 2010

Almost as fun and almost as stressful as the skiing itself is gear selection. Equipment-wise, we were all on rando race setups. I was on Ski Trab World Cup Duo Race skis, Andy on Hagan Superlights, and Bart on Dynafit SR 11s. All of these skis are about 65 mm in the waist and around 160 cm long. They are less than 2 lbs per ski (around 800 grams) and all incorporate carbon fiber.

For bindings, we were all on Dynafit Low Tech Bindings. At 160 grams, built of titanium and aluminum, they are some of the lightest bindings available. One of the problems with the Low Tech bindings is that they do not have a high heel post. A higher heel post enables us to skin steeper lines, which is required by the WURLOS. We built our own heel lifters with some aluminum. With the yellow tab down, we had a medium heel post, and with the binding flipped around, we had a high heel post, which made steeper skinning much more comfortable and efficient.

From WURLOS 2010

For skins, I went with wall to wall mohair tail-less skins to conserve weight and to prevent glop. Bart was on some G3 nylon skins and Andy with BD nylons skins. All were wall-to-wall.

For poles, Bart and Andy went with double Whippets. I went with one Whippet and a Dynafit carbon pole, again to save weight and to be more efficient. In truth, there were a few times when I wished I had double Whippets. One of the issues I have with Whippets is that they are heavy. Bart and I are working on a lighter alternative.

For boots, we were all on Dynafit DNAs. Except for a few durability issues, we love the DNAs. They are comfortable and most importantly, they have a large range of ankle articulation, which makes for fast and efficient touring. And for the DH, they ski relatively well. Case in point: it's by go-to touring boot, no matter what ski I'm using. Dynafit is coming out the TLT 5 next year, which will change what is possible for a lot of ski tourers out there.

From WURLOS 2010

After our first attempt at the WURLOS, we had a good sense of what gear would be required and what we would not need.

From WURLOS 2010

Here is a list of what I carried:

1. CAMP Speed Helmet -- super light ski mountaineering helmet
2. OR lightweight beanie with the top cut off -- to save weight! Just kidding, for more ventilation.
3. Mont Bell Thermawrap -- super light and warm, awesome hood protects when weather turns bad
4. CREE LED light -- recommended by Kanyon Kris, puts out enough light for descents, best part: $20
5. Black Diamond Icon Headlamp
6. Smartwool lightweight top, scoopneck, women's model
7. CAMP X3 600 Pack -- super light at under 600 grams. It has a hip belt pocket and a ski carry system that allows you to put skis on your back without removing the pack.
8. carabiner -- to fasten skis to back, or to rappel off
9. Lowe Pro camera case with Canon S90
10. Closed Cell Foam Pad -- used to sit on during breaks and to wrap around ski bindings so they don't gouge my back
11. Patagonia wind shirt
12. Marmot thermal bottoms -- At about 11:00 pm at the top of the Pfeif, I stripped off my pants to get these on. It was worth it.
13. CAMP Water Bottle Holder
14. Pieps Freeride Beacon -- small and light
15. Dynafit ski pants aka tights
16. Lorpen spare socks
17. REI One spare gloves
18. Sunglasses
19. Leatherman
20. Blister care kit, containing Leuko tape, bandages, moleskin, and Dr. Scholls blister pads

Not pictured:
21. Camelback bladder
22. wool undershorts and undershirt
23. JETBOIL -- Andy brought a Jetboil to melt snow and cook ramen. It saved us big time. We ran out of water and the Jetboil brewed it quickly. 20 hrs into the tour, we stopped and had ramen noodles and it was a major luxury. On Monday, both Bart and I each ordered a Jetboil. I carried the fuel, Andy carried the stove, and Bart carried the noodles.
24. 20 meters of 5 mm cord. We didn't need it.

We didn't take shovels or probes. Nor did we take crampons, although we they would have come in handy in a few places.

That's probably more information than you wanted, but for future reference, it might come in handy for me.

For food, I took Brian Harder's advice, and took a lot of GU. Throughout the tour, I ate 15 GUs, 2 packages of Cliff Bloks, 2 Pro Bars, 2 granola bars, a bag of jerky, and 4 Snickers. For fluids, I drank Pepsi, water, Carbo Rocket, GU20 and Ultragen -- probably about 3-4 liters.