Light And Fast Alpinism

Light and fast alpinism is a growing trend and is gaining massive popularity these days. But what does it actually mean?

The now-ubiquitous phrase in the mountaineering world exactly means what it says. It is the act of navigating a pre-decided route to climb a mountain using technical skills and specialized equipment but with a “light and fast” approach. Here you pack ultra light, move quickly, reach the summit, descend fast, and reach back where you started. A different approach to traditional mountaineering, light and fast alpinists ditch their heavy packs to carry a lighter one and move swiftly. They do thorough planning, make a dash for their objective, and get back to base camp before the weather moves in.

Packing light definitely has its own advantages. A lightly-packed mountaineer conserves a lot less energy with every step as they move. In harsh weather and terrain conditions, it is more comfortable when you are constantly in motion. It’s mentally and physically more taxing when you are walking at a snail’s pace with a bulky and heavy packing that hinders and restricts your movements. A lighter pack enables you to be fast. To an extent, being expeditious equates directly to your safety when as mountaineers, you’re trying to navigate hazardous terrain with speed. You are spending less time getting exposed to the risks of being in the mountains. With all its advantages, there are also caveats to Light Alpinism. This approach suits highly experienced climbers who are well aware of all kinds of risks. The climbers should be in top physical shape too. It is not just about their pack.

It’s equally important that the climbers are fast and light themselves. They should be super fit, skilled, and agile. They should have seen enough and done enough climbing to nail this approach. Their years of experience must have improved their decision-making abilities, which is very crucial in stressful situations and extreme conditions when things don’t go as planned. A beginner must be confident in conventional mountaineering and alpine climbing before turning to this approach. One reason being they may not be able to do the correct tradeoff in choosing and packing items. The last thing you want is not packing those mission-critical items only because you wanted to reach a summit fast. Good skillful alpinists will use proper judgment on how to pack because certain weight savings may prove very costly at the end. Also, if you’re climbing in a pair or more, all members need to be in perfect coordination with similar levels of fitness and physical abilities. If a member falls far behind or if they struggle to quickly put on crampons or to rope-up for glacier travel, for example, the entire plan may fall apart, and consequences may be deadly.

For someone who is already a good mountaineer, a lighter pack will make them more agile and quick. Modern gear and technical equipment have made monumental strides and high-end technology has not only improved our performance but also enabled us to reduce our pack weight drastically. For Light and Fast alpinism, you must check the market for lighter alternatives of all kinds of gear. Choose the lightest carabiners and slings for example. One lighter carabiner may not seem a big reduction, but when you combine several of them, the difference in weight is real. Ropes, quickdraws, ice axe, helmet, harness, headlamp, crampons, bivy sack, all have lighter alternatives available now. It’s good to test them out to keep improving your packing performance. Pack Selection is super important too. It’s good to train for this approach with smaller lightweight backpacks, so when you decide to take a stripped-down kit, you are still keeping all non-essentials behind. The sleeping and meal system items such as the sleeping bag, pad, shelter, stove, and fuel are often the bulkiest items. Depending on the length of route, conditions, and weather forecast, ensure you take only what’s needed and also their lighter alternatives.

Bulky, lighter, and nonessential items should be packed at the bottom, heaviest ones in the middle attached to the back, and essential items at the top and accessible areas. Always remember to eliminate dead space and make the backpack as compact as possible. If you’re an experienced climber, versatility plays a part in the items you are packing. The gear which could be used for multiple purposes is your prized possession. Also, from your training trips and previous mountaineering expeditions, if you find items in your backpack that you never end up using, it’s good to chuck it out (obviously, this is not applicable for your first aid and safety kit). Calories are important too and your past climbing sessions will give you an idea of how much calories you need throughout the day. Accordingly, take quality food and carbs making sure they are not heavy and bulky. In the Light and Fast approach, every single item and every single gear will matter. The more you research, the more you climb and the more you apply your learning, the better you will get in packing light.

For light alpinism, a climber must be well trained in all the conventional mountaineering and ice climbing techniques. The fundamental climbing techniques and the best practices will not be drastically different.. This kind of approach is more about all the pre-climbing preparations, judgments, decisions, and how you apply your knowledge, skills, and experience to craft a wholesome plan properly. Be it techniques of roped glacier travel, or ice climbing in a way to conserve energy or navigating crevasses, for example, techniques will be more or less similar to what you have always used.

What is different in the light way is how mountaineers judge their abilities before heading out. And how they are ruthlessly efficient right from packing to planning to ultimately climbing. What’s different here is how you move and perform these actions with speed without any room for error. It’s all about speed and finesse while following a proper plan. Weather forecast, physical ability, route conditions, awareness of the consequences, and tradeoffs will matter a lot in this approach. Of course, your plan must include all emergency and evacuation plans in case things go south. Even in that case, the idea is to quickly make a decision, pivot to Plan B as fast as possible, and act rapidly, ensuring everyone is safe. In our quest to climb fast, it’s important to remember safety is always the cardinal objective! That’s the challenge of this kind of climbing: how can we pack light and act super fast in an extreme high-altitude environment without compromising safety. Mountaineering experience and wisdom matters here the most. Mountain lovers who love using this kind of alpinism, do not view it as a new fad of mountaineering. They treat it as a lifestyle.

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Additional Insights

What I learned during my all day CAMP USA presented Light and Fast Alpinism clinic at the 2018 Michigan Ice Festival.  The course was taught by seasoned athletes Nate Smith and Ben Erdmann. Normally CAMP USA presents this technical field clinic as a two day course but for the Michigan Ice Festival it was a one day compressed class.  Besides watching ice climbers the day before this class was truly my introduction into ice climbing. And thankfully it was described as a course for everyone from beginner mountaineers to experienced alpinists. As a backpacker that has drank more than his fair share of lightweight backpacking koolaid I was all for starting off my ice climbing career from the point of view of being as light and fast as possible. I liked how they equatited being fast to safety and being light to having more energy.

After everyone had all our gear we went around the room and got to know one another a bit. Then we jumped right into dissecting the contents of Nate's backpack to better understand what you should and shouldn't be carrying in your pack to the summit. I was totally aligned with Nate and Ben as they then went on to explain how everything should fit inside your pack. To have a helmets and crampons or what have you hanging out of your pack is more than messy they can swing around and hit people or trees and cause hang ups as you are trying to move quickly.

““On Belay!”, “Belay On!”

After the bag review we loaded into a transport van and headed out to Pictured Rocks National Park. The roads are seasonal up there so we then had to transfer to a six person Kawasaki Mule with snow tracks that also pulled a six person sled behind it. After a breezy forty five minute ride we made it to the trailhead for the Potato Patch. A cliff face that featured both a frozen waterfall fall column with a flowing waterfall at its core and a ice cliff face. This allowed us to experience a couple different types of ice and allowed for a protected ice cave to teach in. Ben tossed down two ropes and we got to work. "On Belay!", "Belay On!" rang out as our class of nine made quick work of the ice. Nate and Ben were there giving encouragement and lessons along the way as teachable moments presented themselves.

After a few climbs we got together and discussed different types of gear that can help you move quickly and safely up and down the mountain. Everything from the different types of carabiners and quickdraws to use and when to the merits of hydrophobic rope and different rope types and thicknesses depending on the climb you are doing. It was some eye opening stuff for an inexperienced climber, for sure. But, it seemed equally helpful for the more experienced ice climbers in the group including one gentlemen that has summited Everest. Just like with lightweight backpacking your entire kit has to work together. Carry complimentary gear and gear that is specific for the job at hand but also make sure you have gear that can serve multiple functions and then look for places to make substantial cuts in what you have.

“Light is Right

Next we were on to learning about ice screws and the proper anchoring techniques using the ice screws. We also learned V thread anchors which just goes to show how strong ice is. If you want to see what I am talking about check out this video that demonstrates V thread anchors. After practicing placing ice screws while hanging off an ice axe I really had a new respect for ice climbers.  Later, Nate really hit home why the Light and Fast method makes such as difference. Imagine you are doing a a nine pitch climb and after you climb each pitch you fumble around for ten minutes with anchoring and ropes and who is climbing next and what have you. That's an hour and a half of standing on ledges being unproductive. Now, imagine that you also waste ten minutes after each rapple as you move back down the mountain. That's another ninety minutes. In total you spent three hours of your climb/repel standing around. Okay, now imagine if you can cut that ledge time as you move up and down to just five minutes. You just saved an hour and a half. This can be the difference between success and failure or at least the difference between repelling down in the dark if nothing else.  Then we packed it all up and headed back out to the four track and headed back to basecamp. The advantage I am sure with the two day course is way more hands on time putting into practice the things you have learn and also we didn't so much get to the Fitness aspects of the normal two day CAMP USA Light and Fast Alpinism course. And I would be interested in learning more about preparation and planning so that I could better understand route logistics and wayfinding. I think I see another Light and Fast Alpinism class in my future. I got so much out of it I dont know why I wouldnt.

loading the Kawasaki four track and heading home