Here are my comments after having climbed Mont Blanc this summer: - Layers still looks over kill to me. I went to the summit in 2 layers only (inner layer Merino and Hardshell for the wind). Make sure to have a good hardshel that also protects your neck entirely and your mouth. The wind is from experience most of the time really strong on those high ridges. I would of course recommend having 2 other insulation layers (fleece and down) in case the weather goes bad. Hardshell pants are good to have, but not necessary in my opnion. Gaiters are a must for me. Warm and thinner gloves as well - For mont blanc, I think there is no need to have some really fancy mountaineering boots. I had cat B/C boots with no insulation, works fine. If you have cold feets, you might just bring bigger socks. - Helmet: of course, and not only for the grand couloir. Take a light one, since you will be carrying it a lot. - Don't take a screw locking carabiner as shown. Take a tri-lock carabiner. Screw have a tendency to open themselves when subject to vibrations/movement. (if you do it without guide, take the crevasse rescue equipment as well and the rope) - I didn't need extra batteries. But this depends on when you're planning to wake up and the time of the year. - You won't have much time for reading at the hut. So imo no need to carry this extra stuff (kindle, airpods) - There is always phone signal to reach someone via SMS. You even have 3G at the outside the huts (tete rousse and gouter). So no need of the expensive inReach. You can also take a charger cable. (For Tete rousse, you don't even need the charger, they have USB sockets). - Bring some cash indeed, but you should be able to pay by card. - You don't need the expensive Cliff bars. Some regular one will also work fine. You indeed need to pay for water at the hut. 1,5L is 9Euro. - If you have a correct acclimatization trip, you won't have big headaches. So do some tours around Aiguille du midi or Heilbronner point before. - Backpack should be normally minimum 35L to fit everything. (if you want to be able to do the lower climbs without carrying your harness and extra layers on you) Thanks :)
@@ChrisBabez Good choice for a first 4000m. I did it also 2 weeks ago now. Conditions were perfect, and I guess it is still good now (but you will know for sure at the hut ;)) There was a LOT of wind on the ridge, maybe take an extra layer just before. Enjoy :)
Thank you for your comment. I strongly disagree on a few of your points. But a lot of these things are subjective. For clothing and footwear, yes you can get away with less if the weather is nice and you are climbing in summer. But for spring and autumn climbs, you would definitely need to bring hardshell pants for stormy cold weather. Same for boots, that would need to be warmer. I have tried to make a comprehensive list of gear, that can be adapted to most weather situations on the mountain. We climbed in September, and my climbing partner had really cold feet in his Trango Tower boots. But sure, people have done it in trainers. Doesn't mean it is always going to work, is safe or should be recommended for majority of climbers. It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. We also watched some people wander off in a whiteout and get lost. They came back really cold because they had bad gear. So I am all for recommending safe choices. I agree a triple action carabiner is the better choice. But imho using a screw lock biner is not a big deal. My guide was IFMGA qualified and I trust his judgment. But if someone is buying a biner for this specific purpose, I agree they should go with a triple action. Extra batteries is for backup. It is a personal preference. Phone won't always work. It didn't when we climbed the mountain. Which also made using payment cards impossible, hence the recommendation to bring cash. IMHO the amount of time you spend at the huts depends on how fast you are moving. We were fast and had a lot of downtime. I was happy I brought the kindle and the earbuds for entertainment. Especially when a storm rolled in and we had to postpone the push from the Gouter Hut to the summit. Just leave it a the hut once you push on, it's really not a big deal. The inreach device is again a personal preference as said in the video and underlined in the blog post. Saved me once in Sarek in Sweden where I was helicoptered out due to an injury. We were 3 days away from anything, so it really came in handy. So I ALWAYS bring it now. It is insurance against unforeseen challenges and accidents. But it is surely a nice to have not a need to have. Mountain rescue is really good in the alps, just don't count on always having cell coverage. Especially if weather moves in. For snacks I recommend finding out what works for you. I talk about how altitude and high intensity physical work can change your taste and texture preferences. Don't know what your critique was here besides Clif Bars being expensive? And if you are carrying more than 35L I think you are doing something wrong. I had no trouble fitting my stuff in that size pack. Bigger pack means more space for unnecessary stuff.
Thank you so much for watching! I tried to make it different from the usual chaotic gear videos on RU-vid. There is a blog post linked in the description where I go into more detail with everything :) That might be relevant to you. Thanks again!
@@jetsame1241 yeah, summited but not ideal conditions with lots of new snow and wind. I thought it was surprisingly tough and we had to push against a weather window.
I'm sorry I never got around to answering! Congratulations on the summit despite the difficult conditions. I hope it was a good experience nonetheless. Any advice to other people here in the comments that you could share?
Very nice video, very helpful and well done. I wouldn't recommand to wear all black though for safety reasons. In the mountains you need to be able to be seen at a long distance in case of a rescue, and wearing all black you can be confused with rocks. Normal route on Mont Blanc is quite crowded so it's ok, but it's important for any other summit
Thank you for watching and leaving a comment. I agree that black is not a great color for rescue, hence the orange helmet. It is definitely something I am considering changing. But thanks for pointing it out for anyone else watching this video.
very nice! i find your videos very simple, clear and so easy to follow! and very well executed! thanks! i feel more confident now on prepping my Mont Blanc Climb in end July :)
Hey Rasmus! We met at Pico de Orizaba this weekend. Seen your videos and loved the content! Keep up the good work my friend. I hope your time in Mexico was great!
Hey Alejandro! It was nice meeting you :) Thank you so much for watching my content and contacting me again. I finally returned home from my travels (just spend some weeks in Thailand) and will edit my content during April. So stay tuned for more. Mexico was absolutely great! Hope to see you again one day friend. Take care and climb on!
Hi Rasmus. Really nice video! It helped me a lot getting my gear setup right. I ended up with an almost identical list, as I'm a big Arc'teryx fan too. I'm heading out to Mont Blanc this June and I want to capture our trip using a GoPro. I was wondering which mount you where using and if you have any tips for me. Thanks! Best regards, Philippe
Thanks for watching! I used a 35 L pack. All the gear is described in detail in my blog post here rasmuspreston.com/index.php/2022/01/31/mont-blanc-gear-guide/ Hope you find it useful too ✌️
@@rasmuspreston Indeed! They sure do! I work for them so I should know ;). What model are you wearing if I may ask? At first I thought they were the Grit pants but not so sure after a second look.
That is awesome! I really enjoy your products. It's the Morän pants! They are holding up so well and were perfect for the conditions on Mont Blanc. I like the zippered pockets and their placement. The drawcords at the ankles are also very sweet. But the best part is the fit! Squatting has left me with a larger ass and legs which won't fit in most pants, but that is not a problem in Haglöfs pants. One of my friends wear them for that exact reason as well.
@@rasmuspreston I'm glad to hear that! Thanks for the feedback! And boy oh boy do I relate! I know exactly what you mean, I also have the same issue. If you want to call being double cheeked up with hella ass gains an issue! Seriously though, very funny to hear that I'm not alone! You should check out the Grit pants aswell then, a good straight leg pant for us with squatters ass!
Great Rasmus. When you were wearing your trainers for the early part of your ascents did you have enough storage space for your B2 or B3 crampon boots in your russack? Mont Blanc Guides, who are guiding my ascent, strongly recommend B3 boots which of course are pretty heavy and stiff and take up a lot of space!
Hi Frank. Glad you also enjoyed this video. It's a great question that I should have put in the video. I didn't carry the boots inside my backpack as you are right it would take up too much space. My solution was simple. I tied the laces of the boots together at the right length and then put the lace across the top of the pack towards the shoulder harness. Then I closed the top lid and used the straps on the side of the pack to cinch down the boots. Does that make sense? If not please tell me and I will try to send you a photo.
First of all, congrats to the ascent. I just wanted to ask that last push to the top when you started early in the morning, what jacket did you have all the way to the top? Is it Gamma LT? If yes, Is it enough for such a climb if it doesn't rain heavily?
Thank you Andrej! You can see all the equipment I used in the blog post here rasmuspreston.com/index.php/2022/01/31/mont-blanc-gear-guide/ And yes, it was the Arc’teryx Mens Gamma LT Hoody for the last part of the climb. I started out with more clothes on. But on the final push it was really warm and I was just wearing a long sleeved merino wool shirt and the Gamma jacket on my upper body. But we had almost no wind. I wouldn't recommend going up there without a hardshell jacket in your pack.
Thanks for watching Rob! I didn't use the goggles, but they are a must have item if you get caught in a snowstorm. And yes, we had a lot of snow. Fortunately we could wait for the bad weather to pass in the Gouter Hut :)
Thanks Daryl! And yes, that is what we did. I left my trail runners at Tete Rousse and some more stuff at Gouter (toiletries, sleeping bag liner, ear buds etc.). Then I picked it all up on the way down, no problem :)
@@rasmuspreston awesome , I’m just waiting for my confirmation to finalise my stay at the Tête Rousse hut , sorry just one final question , I promise 😂 …. I can’t find any answers to this , I’ll be booked into the Tete hut but while passing the Gouter would I still be able to come in by there for a coffee or drink etc , unsure how it works if not official booked in
@@darylmacvicar6313 Don't be sorry, ask as many questions as you want to :) I am more than happy to help if I can. But I don't know the answer to that question. The hut gets pretty crowded when everybody is there, so that could be an issue. Best to reach out to the hut and ask directly!
Thank you Scott! I wanted it to be a quick overview. The pack is an Arc’teryx Alpha AR 35 Backpack. You can read all the details on my gear in my blog post right here bit.ly/3ogCa51 It has all the brands and models for everything in the video.
Thank you so much for watching! :) I didn't weigh my pack. Without camera gear I guess it was 8-10 kg at the heaviest. But that depended on how much gear I was wearing on my body and how much water I carried.
Thanks! The main camera was a Sony A7sIII with the 17-28 mm f/2.8 Tamron lens, a variable ND filter and a Rode VideoMicro for sound. When it was too difficult pulling that out of the bag or I was too tired I used a GoPro 9 (surprisingly good sound on that one). I also had 28-70 mm 2.8 and 70-200 mm 2.8 lenses but those stayed in Chamonix as they were too heavy for the climb. I didn't weigh my pack. Without camera gear I guess it was 8-10 kg at the heaviest, but it really depended on whether I was wearing a lot of the gear or not and how much water I carried.
Thanks great video! I would watch out with emodium it can cause headache. Question what is your fitness level? And how many times a week do you do cardiovascular workouts? Im going for it in june, and train 3 times a week (3 years already) and once a week cardio been added recently.
Thanks Distrax, appreciate your comment. I will copy/paste and answer I give on the other video. I am by no means an expert on training, but I will describe briefly what I did. I have been lifting weights for some years and continued doing that prior to this trip 4 training sets per week. I focus on compound exercises, which works for me. Additionally I trained a lot on a hill in Copenhagen, which is 85 meters high. I would do one day with 6 laps (510 meters up and 510 meters down) and one day with 12 laps (1020 m up and down) every week. I did that for 10 weeks, and I increased the intensity each time by going faster and adding more weight to my backpack. Just before the trip I could do 12 laps in 2 hours with 12 kg in my pack. Besides that I try to bike as much as possible for my daily commute and climb at the bouldering gym. For proper advice on training I would refer to this book www.patagonia.com/product/training-for-the-new-alpinism/BK695.html which is the bible for many mountaineers afaik :) Feel free to ask any additional questions!
@@rasmuspreston Thanks allot Rasmus! Really helpfully I appreciate it, my compound is strong but im adding those weights to my backpack great tip, take care man.
Hej :) Tak for at se med! Ja, han var tilfreds med bukserne. Husk at vi havde helt fantastisk gode vejrforhold. Selv ville jeg aldrig bruge den model til bjergbestigning pga vægt og materialet. Jeg er glad for at bruge mine lette softshell bukser, da de også i mine øjne er bedre til omskifteligt vejr. Men prøv dig frem. Før i tiden brugte bjergbestigere jo ikke de moderne tekniske materialer, og de klarede sig fint.
Just saw your videos R.,nice achievement for you,myself also got emotional on some summits,keep good work and stay safe.Can you spare with us total costs of your trip,including guide,etc....thank you...
Thank you so much for watching! I am sorry to get back so late. And thanks for sharing about your own summit feelings as well. I think climbing and big outdoor adventures in general just connects us to something fundamentally human. And that makes us feel very big feelings in those situations. It is something I value incredibly high. I paid 2300 euros to Chamex for guiding, huts, lifts etc. I paid 800 euros for 9 nights in Chamonix in a little apartment with two beds. I shared this with my climbing partner. We booked it pretty late, so better rates can probably be found with an earlier booking. Flights from Copenhagen to Geneva was 275 euros Transfer from Geneva to Chamonix and return was 70 euros through Chamex partner discount Then extra food, snacks and water at the 3 different huts was around 60-70 euro Add to this energy bars, food in town etc. And any missing gear purchase or rental. Hope that helps! Climb on and stay safe :)
Watching stuff like this makes you second guess your decisions. So my plan is not to bother with a hardshell. My soft shell whilst breathable is wind proof and pretty decently waterproof so I can't see a situation where I'll need a hardshell. I've also gone overboard with a down box parka. The idea is not to need it, but if something goes horribly wrong and I end up weathering out a storm up there moving I'll be greatfull I lugged it up there.
Hi Richard! I agree that it is better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it. I would never go on a climb without a hardshell top and bottom. It's an insurance against really bad weather. But I am sure opinions on that differs a lot. I hope you found the video useful for your own preparations :) Good luck!
