Clothing and Gear for Denali | Uphill Athlete

Veteran Denali guide and Uphill Athlete coach Mark P. walks you through the clothing and personal gear he uses on Denali. Filled with details and tips, this video is a must-watch for anyone considering gearing up for North America’s highest mountain.

Uphill Athlete’s Recommended Denali Clothing and Gear List

  • Boots: La Sportiva Olympus Mons Boots
  • Camp Booties: Western Mountaineering Standard Down Booties
  • 3-4 Pairs socks (over the calf ski length)
  • Lenz heated socks for summit day (if your feet run cold)
  • 3-4 pairs underwear
  • Patagonia Capilene mid weight Long Johns
  • Patagonia Capilene Thermal Weight Long Johns
  • Patagonia Simul Alpine Pants (rig tie downs on cuff?)
  • Marmot Precip Eco Full Zip Rain shell pants (full side zip!)
  • Mountain Hardware Compressor Pants (full side zip!)
  • Sports Bra (1-2) Comfy and work well under heavy pack
  • T shirt Voormi Merino Wool Tech T
  • Sun Hoody Voormi River Run hoody
  • Patagonia R1 Hoody
  • Patagonia Houdini or Houdini Air
  • Patagonia Micro Puff or DAS light
  • Patagonia Nano-Air Hoody Full Zip
  • Patagonia Storm 10 Rainshell
  • Patagonia Grade VII Down Parka (Parka sized to fit over other layers)
  • Light weight liner glove: BD Light Weight Soft-shell Gloves
  • Insulated leather work glove: BD work glove, Kinko 1927, REI Co-op Guide Insulated Gloves
  • Warm Glove: Black Diamond Guide Gloves or Guide Finger (removable liner for drying)
  • Mittens: Black Diamond Super Light Mitts
  • Buff X 2 (cut small hole to breathe)
  • Ball cap
  • Neoprene half face mask (Velcros in back, cut small hole to breathe)
  • Glacier Glasses
  • Beko Nose guard
  • High contrast Goggles (Julbo Aerospace Reactiv 1-3 Super Flow?)
  • Thin skull cap to fit under helmet
  • Helmet: Petzl Sirocco
  • closed cell foam pad: Thermarest Z-Rest
  • Inflatable pad: Thermarest Neo-air Xtherm
  • -20 deg F down sleeping bag (-10 if you sleep warm or late season trip)
  • Feathered Friends and Western Mountaineering make great -10deg bags.
  • BIG Backpack!
  • Mountain Hardware AMG 105
  • Gregory Denali 100
  • Hyperlite 5400 Porter
  • 140-150 Liter Sled Duffle (long and skinny is best to fit in sled)
  • Budget: Outdoor Products Deluxe Duffle
  • Non Budget: Hyperlite Duffel
  • Note: Alaska Mountaineering School clients will be provided a custom duffle.
  • Harness: Petzl Altitude or Mammut Zephir Altitude (I love the plastic coated toggle buckle on the Mammut when its super cold in the morning)
  • 12 point Crampons, Steel only no aluminum.
  • Ice axe: (Light!) BD Raven, CAMP Corsa Nanotech
  • Trekking poles (w snow baskets)
  • Snowshoes
  • Locking and non locking carabiners
  • Cordage/slings for glacier rig
  • Ascender: Petzl Ascension (right or left handed for your dominant hand)
  • Stuff sacks: Sea to Summit Ultra Sil Dry Sack or Hyperlite Pods/Stuff sacks
  • 1 large for sleeping bag
  • 1 large for misc clothes
  • 1 small/medium for all small things (Hyperlite Pod)
  • 1 small for cup/bowl/spoon/hot drinks
  • 3 for lunch food (5# lunch food per bag)
  • 1 XL for cache bag (20-35 liter)
  • Misc:
  • Ear Plugs
  • Watch w alarm
  • Small solar Panel and battery (consider sharing panel)
  • Paperback or Kindle
  • Individual baby wipes
  • Toilet paper (2 rolls)
  • Small hand sanitizer
  • Foot and/or body powder
  • Hand warmers 3 pairs
  • Blister repair kit
  • Advil and Advil PM
  • Toothbrush and paste
  • Diamox
  • Lip Balm
  • Sunscreen
  • Pee Bottle: Nalgene 48 oz Flexible Canteen
  • Pee funnel (for Women, Practice!)
  • Mug (or just use 1/2 liter Nalgene w Bottle Boot), bowl, spoon (no metal)
  • 1.5 Liter water bottle and .5 liter water bottle. 40-below for both w 40-below boots
  • Alpine Start Instant coffee, Starbucks Vias or Trader Joes Instant coffee packets w cream and sugar. The TJs ones are way simpler if you’re a cream and sugar person. You’ll probably need the calories anyway!
  • Favorite snack food. Bring a variety of snacks.  Altitude messes with your appetite and its nice to have a few different things to choose from. Sweet and savory. Welchs single serving fruit snacks and peanut butter filled pretzel nuggets are 2 of my favorites.

Things we don’t bring

  • Redundant base/midlayer/softshells. Easy for these to creep in.  If you can’t wear all your layers at once then consider which ones might be unneeded.
  • Multiple weights of long underwear bottoms.  With ski socks and triple boots most of your lower leg is already covered. I found a single pair of mid weight LJ to do just fine. If its really cold enough for a true fleecy LJ I just put on my puffy pants.  As it warms you can always strip off you full side zip pants where as you’re trapped in heavy LJs.
  • Thermos. I like a 1/2 liter Nalgene in Boot Bottle as my mug/thermos/extra water bottle.
  • More than 15 pounds of lunch food. 5 pounds per week.
  • Heavy shell/rain gear.  Light hardshells are fine, especially once you get higher Denali is a fairly cold environment. It can occasionally rain at lower elevations.
  • Excess toiletries/handwarmers/electronics/camera gear.
  • Fleece Balaclavas. With 3-4 hoods, 2 buffs, thin hat and neoprene facemask I never ended up wearing my Bala so I stopped bringing it.
  • Gaiters. Triple boots make them redundant but even with normal double boots I always found tie downs on my soft-shell pant cuffs adequate.
  • Headlamp.  Anytime after early May its plenty light out even for reading at night.
  • Giant bottle of sunscreen. Small 2 oz bottle is fine, mostly just for face. I try and cover up with Buff/hat/sun hoody instead.
  • Big container of baby wipes.  Freezes solid anyway. I prefer a handful of individual packaged wipes. Easy to thaw/warm in pocket.
  • Negative 40 F sleeping bag.   -20 F is great unless you sleep incredibly cold.  You also have a lot of puffy clothing you can press into service if needed.
  • Big camp booties. I like the lighter/smaller 40Below booties and mine fit inside my boot shells to wear around camp if I need the traction or warmth
  • Big knife.  If you want to bring a knife bring the Swiss Army Classic.  Scissors and tweezers are often more useful than a blade anyway.  Don’t bring any lunch food (meats/cheeses) that need slicing in the field. Pre slice everything in town.

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