back country skiing - Ryan Harris

this is my general kit for backcountry skiing, i’ve included all items I use from touring to ski mountaineering

Products in this list

Speed Lock 320 Probe by Mammut — I use this probe becuase of the durability, in some probes I find that the inserts of each section get chipped on the edges, and slowly becomes a liability when deploying the probe. the measurement marks slowly fade away after use
Freeraider 15 EVO Binding by ATK Bindings — ATK, is my go to binding for any touring, this specific one is one I use for harder charging and more aggressive lines. a little heavy for when I need to clear more vertical gain (5000ft+ in a day)
Zero G 96 Ski - 2026 by Blizzard — this my ski when i’m sking volcanos or doing longer traverse. it’s incredibly light weight and skis suprisingly well with that in mind. stiffer in nature, but love this ski for bigger spring missions
Tour Explore R2C CF Climbing Skins by Pomoca — this is my daily driver for skins, I find that the glue is a lot less likely to have pine needles, dirt, etc get stuck on the skin. glides really well in clumpier snow, and has plenty of friction in colder snow
TRAVERSE SKI POLES by Black Diamond — this poles are great for ski touring. I have broken only one of these in my 10 year riding. the carbon fiber poles are great until the break which happen quite frequently with my aggressive style of riding
Barryvox S2 Beacon by Mammut — <br>
Dozer 1T Shovel by Backcountry Access — this shovel was an upgrade for me after using a very old voile shovel. what I like about this shovel is the flat shovel blade for when I dig snow profile pits in the country
Choucas Pro Harness by Blue Ice — my favorite alpine harness, for ski mountaineering, glacier travel, and ice climbing. pack down well, light weight and very comfortable when bearing weight. I find that more true ski mountaineering harnesses hurt when bearing a rappelers weight
Cirque 35 Backpack by Black Diamond — I use this backpack as my daily driver for backcountry skiing, great for ski mountaineering, packs everything well. the one downside is sometimes the strapping system gets frayed at tension points, but you are easily able to fix them
layering method-Men's Coefficient Hoody by Black Diamond — the coefficient is what I put over my sun hoody, and pretty much stays on all day (barring warm spring days)
Aerotherm Jacket - Men's by Mountain Equipment — this is my normal synthetic warming layer, when I work in the cascades, I frequently use synthetic layer over down jackets.
Men's Deploy Down 0.5 Pullover Hoody by Black Diamond — super light down jacket, it's really warm and insanely packable.
Stormstride Jacket - Men's by Patagonia — my go too hardshell for ski descents and wet skin tracks
Deathwish Tour 112 by Moment Skis — this are my all time favorite skis, insanely playful and fairly lightweight. its a wider under foot ski, and that's what I normally ski, so keep that in mind
Gully Ice Axe by Petzl
Rad Line 6mm Rope by Petzl — I use the rad line for most ski mountaineering, this not something id ever belay with, but great for crevasse rescue, glacier travel and ski rappels
Alpine ATC-Guide Belay Device by Black Diamond — this is what I use for ski mountaineering either as a ski belay device or rappel device since Im generally using skinner ropes in the ski world
BLUE ICE Alpine Runner by Blue Ice — frequently use this as an alpine draw to extend my placements and even to extend my rappel device
Missions Light Sling by Blue Ice — great lightweight dyneema sling, its a little slick to to grab, but its my favorite sling due to its versatility and suppleness
Petzl Micro Traxion Pulley Orange by Petzl — used mostly for glacier skiing, so I can haul myself out and someone else out of a crevasse. sooooo many other uses too
Tibloc Ultralight Emergency Ascender by Petzl — another great tool, specifically for glacier skiing
Laser Speed Light Ice Screw by Petzl — I bring one ice screw while skiing on a glacier to clip myself in if i've taken a fall into a crevasse.
Harfang Tour Crampon by Blue Ice — I use this as my go to crampon while skiing/bootpacking I use the steel and the aluminum depending ine waht terrain im going into