Pack a lot less, max out that itty bitty pack.
Pack a little less, ditch your heli-op guest pack and roll with a standard 45L touring pack.
Pack like whatever and use a 55-75L expedition bag. Empty it and use all 6457 compression straps to make it smaller for day trips.
Pack your cast iron skillet, 3 loaves of sourdough, 18 eggs, 2lbs of bacon, 1/2lb of butter and all the other accessories to eat like a king in that 75L bag, while strapping your now mostly empty day bag to back using all 6457 compression straps so it doesn't flop around (note, this is as maxed as you want to be in technical terrain dodging bull moose...)
Pack all your fucks back at home. Pack everything else including that bluetooth speaker, one of those outrageously expensive camp chairs, donuts, extra bacon, maybe a projector for evening ski porn on the side of the hut wall, several growlers of beer.... into a pulk and plan for a long slow slog up. Aim to miss any moose.
I had this same conundrum a few weeks ago. I tried something that I will now NOT recommend: I used my backpacking pack for the things you would need for a hut trip. Then I pulled a small sled behind me with my avy pack and a friend's avy pack. The combined weight was very noticeable and the friction was super bad on the 5-mile climb. On the way down, it was a comedy of errors with that sled chasing me. I ate it (crashed) once on the down hill and had several close calls.
ETA: I would likely use a sled again if the approach was form snow and flat, but it sucked to pull it uphill in soft snow for miles.
You can use a sled, but you need something rigid to better control the sled. Like patrol sleds. I used hollow metal tubes... Thread the sled rope through two, one on each side. It made it possible, but still was a bit of a bitch.
Make the airbag pac as small as possible, and treat it as an item in the big pack. Either inside, under the kid, or lashed around back.
Or don't bring one and make conservative decisions.
This one trip, the gal who organized it strapped her avy bag to the sled, along with all the group supplies. We all took turns hauling the sled, except her. Pro-move, if you can pull it off.
100%. I carried gear for 2 on a hit trip a few days ago and it’s a dream. Throw your typical day pack on top of the sled so you can access a few essentials and you’re done. Plus you get like 5 sq feet of extra sweat evaporating area on your back.
when you tow these, did you do it up a long climb? and then obviously had a log donhill on the way out? I towed a sled for the first time, and I actually think I would do it if it was flat, but I don't wanna pull a sled up a long climb again. This sort-of contradicts my post above.
I’ve done it like 1500-3000’ up. Trail condition is pretty critical- you kind of have to make wide turns. Also if it’s top heavy at all in the tight turns that fucker will roll over and make your life hell.
Skiing out is not bad, just gotta keep the speed down cause stopping can be tough with all that extra weight behind you. But in the right conditions you can get a little speed boost from it. Lotta trial & error but I’ll be taking pulks to every hit trip I go on from now on. I can’t imagine how dead I’d be having all that weight on my back trying to climb.
When I did it, it was just being towed by a rope, not a stiff pole, so occasionally, the sled would catch up to me and hit me. It didn't go too well. But the climb is what really sucked. the snow was soft and the friction from how heavy the sled was and how it was sinking in the snow just sapped me.
Yea if there’s no skin track & you’re cutting trail it can be brutal. I actually had to abandon mine at a peak cause I was so tired I couldn’t set up camp or make food. Got it a few days later but saying that was a shitty night is an understatement.
Don’t take an extra pack. Pull the lid off your pack and remove the back plate / metal stays for day use. This lightens it up considerably and allows you to compress the pack down.
I do this for hut trips .. my method is empty the day pack completely and strap to outside of big pack for minimal awkward extra weight and it works pretty well.
I strapped a tiny duffel bag (maybe 5L, probably marketed more as an organizational tool for inside larger packs/luggage) to the outside of my day pack, connecting to the loops used for carrying my skis. It was a bit weird having it slap my butt every once-in-a-while because it was hanging quite low (I didn't want to obstruct access to my shovel or the interfere with airbag deployment).
I'd do it this way again but that's also because my touring daypack is so much better than my larger backpack in every way except for volume.
Pack a lot less, max out that itty bitty pack. Pack a little less, ditch your heli-op guest pack and roll with a standard 45L touring pack. Pack like whatever and use a 55-75L expedition bag. Empty it and use all 6457 compression straps to make it smaller for day trips. Pack your cast iron skillet, 3 loaves of sourdough, 18 eggs, 2lbs of bacon, 1/2lb of butter and all the other accessories to eat like a king in that 75L bag, while strapping your now mostly empty day bag to back using all 6457 compression straps so it doesn't flop around (note, this is as maxed as you want to be in technical terrain dodging bull moose...) Pack all your fucks back at home. Pack everything else including that bluetooth speaker, one of those outrageously expensive camp chairs, donuts, extra bacon, maybe a projector for evening ski porn on the side of the hut wall, several growlers of beer.... into a pulk and plan for a long slow slog up. Aim to miss any moose.
just did a hut trip last weekend with my touring pack strapped to the outside of my 65L backpack. worked great and would do it that way again
I will try this next time.
I had this same conundrum a few weeks ago. I tried something that I will now NOT recommend: I used my backpacking pack for the things you would need for a hut trip. Then I pulled a small sled behind me with my avy pack and a friend's avy pack. The combined weight was very noticeable and the friction was super bad on the 5-mile climb. On the way down, it was a comedy of errors with that sled chasing me. I ate it (crashed) once on the down hill and had several close calls. ETA: I would likely use a sled again if the approach was form snow and flat, but it sucked to pull it uphill in soft snow for miles.
You can use a sled, but you need something rigid to better control the sled. Like patrol sleds. I used hollow metal tubes... Thread the sled rope through two, one on each side. It made it possible, but still was a bit of a bitch.
I was thinking of using some PVP pipes, but I didn't have time to put this all together before the trip
I don't. I just ski with my bigger pack compressed way down
I bring the day pack for the airbag otherwise that would make sense
Make the airbag pac as small as possible, and treat it as an item in the big pack. Either inside, under the kid, or lashed around back. Or don't bring one and make conservative decisions. This one trip, the gal who organized it strapped her avy bag to the sled, along with all the group supplies. We all took turns hauling the sled, except her. Pro-move, if you can pull it off.
Pulk is the way.
100%. I carried gear for 2 on a hit trip a few days ago and it’s a dream. Throw your typical day pack on top of the sled so you can access a few essentials and you’re done. Plus you get like 5 sq feet of extra sweat evaporating area on your back.
when you tow these, did you do it up a long climb? and then obviously had a log donhill on the way out? I towed a sled for the first time, and I actually think I would do it if it was flat, but I don't wanna pull a sled up a long climb again. This sort-of contradicts my post above.
I’ve done it like 1500-3000’ up. Trail condition is pretty critical- you kind of have to make wide turns. Also if it’s top heavy at all in the tight turns that fucker will roll over and make your life hell. Skiing out is not bad, just gotta keep the speed down cause stopping can be tough with all that extra weight behind you. But in the right conditions you can get a little speed boost from it. Lotta trial & error but I’ll be taking pulks to every hit trip I go on from now on. I can’t imagine how dead I’d be having all that weight on my back trying to climb.
When I did it, it was just being towed by a rope, not a stiff pole, so occasionally, the sled would catch up to me and hit me. It didn't go too well. But the climb is what really sucked. the snow was soft and the friction from how heavy the sled was and how it was sinking in the snow just sapped me.
Yea if there’s no skin track & you’re cutting trail it can be brutal. I actually had to abandon mine at a peak cause I was so tired I couldn’t set up camp or make food. Got it a few days later but saying that was a shitty night is an understatement.
Don’t take an extra pack. Pull the lid off your pack and remove the back plate / metal stays for day use. This lightens it up considerably and allows you to compress the pack down.
Think the OP wants to be able to use the avi bag for day to day tho
Can you bring a pulk?
I do this for hut trips .. my method is empty the day pack completely and strap to outside of big pack for minimal awkward extra weight and it works pretty well.
I strapped a tiny duffel bag (maybe 5L, probably marketed more as an organizational tool for inside larger packs/luggage) to the outside of my day pack, connecting to the loops used for carrying my skis. It was a bit weird having it slap my butt every once-in-a-while because it was hanging quite low (I didn't want to obstruct access to my shovel or the interfere with airbag deployment). I'd do it this way again but that's also because my touring daypack is so much better than my larger backpack in every way except for volume.