Alpine Climbing

From there, the “don’t mess about” safety pieces are simple: a dry-treated rope, a harness that still feels good after hours on, and a helmet you’ll wear from the bottom when the route runs under loose blocks or frozen choss. When the terrain turns firm, add crampons and an ice axe, and keep ropework straightforward with a belay device you can handle with cold hands.

Protection depends on the line you’ve picked, but most racks boil down to the same families of kit: cams and nuts for rock, ice screws for placing gear in frozen water ice, plus slings and carabiners to build solid belays quickly. For multi-day pushes, a 35–45L pack is a common sweet spot: big enough for spare layers, food and the bits that stop a long day from becoming an epic, still compact enough to climb in once you’re on the face.

Browse the full alpine climbing range now and build a kit list that matches your next route.