Handy scale in Alesjaure

At nearly max weight for the trip with 11 days worth of food

One of the issues with ultralight or lightweight hiking is overcoming the fear of being unprepared for the conditions. It’s something you learn with practice but that fear comes back when you face a new set of conditions. This is particularly true when you’re about to travel to an isolated place with potentially severe weather.

Ultralight in the arctic: does it work?

You can check the expected conditions: weather patterns, terrain, exposure, etc. and you’ll probably see that in theory UL as you know it should work well but then nobody seems to be doing it up there. Reason being…?

When you don’t know something, you can ask the ones who do know but… what if there’s no one? That seems to be the case with lightweight hiking in Lapland. Pioneering wasn’t really my thing but somehow and as far as I’m concerned, I had to.

Well, not really. I don’t think somebody like me can find something to do that’s not been done before. Even lightweight hiking in the arctic. I recalled the Dial, Geck & Jordan expedition in Alaska and avidly re-read all about their journey. If they could go UL, then it’s doable. If it was doable, maybe I could do it too. My tiny little trip was nothing compared to what they did and Lapland is nothing like the Alaska wilderness but hey they’re the masters. I’m still starting to learn. It’s so great having experiences like this to get info from. On the other hand, they didn’t have to give any explanations… at least, during the trip…

Ultralight in the land of the Ultraheavy

Scandinavian backpackers are world famous for their huge packs. They say they have to face tough conditions and that’s what it takes to be prepared. They’re probably right about the tough conditions part but that’s probably what prevented them from trying something different in the first place. Habits die hard and I understand the fear of being out there unprepared may be a powerful one, particularly with all those trolls, gnomes and whatnot.

note: all these myths are usually nothing but the projection of our fears as much as ways to explain what whe cannot explain. And a nice albeit not too accurate way to understand the world.

I had the pleasure to talk to some northeners during my planning (internet is still such a great tool sometimes) from whom I gathered useful info but I didn’t even dare to ask about UL backpacking. I could imagine the answers. Tarps, running shoes or frameless packs were out of the question. So I had to dig in the facts, say again my prayers in the UL faith and convince myself it would work. It should work.

Actually what’s in question here is not the UL phylosophy itself but the actual 3 season gear I’ve been using in my long (and not so long) trips for the last few years. The phylosophy stays the same no matter season or locale but the gear may change. One has to adapt to the conditions and based on this I decided to make some concessions: I’d bring a real tent and a bit more clothing. The frameless pack would stay and the running shoes would stay. The feather weight sleeping bag too. I mean, stay in the list, not at home.

As evidenced by my writing this, I survived. And I learned a few things on the way, which is the really interesting part about trying things. But UL is not only about surviving; for me, it’s important to be in comfort. One or two uncomfortable days or nights here and there are acceptable but long distance hiking cannot be a survival experience. For me, at least. It’s not like a quick summit attempt where you go to your limit and beyond and then send yourself to rest and recover, job well done. Long distance hiking requires you to do it all over again. And again. You need to be within your limits and you need to let your body recover on the go. Ultralight should not turn into ultra-precarious.

It was nice to see how just a few adjustments to my regular, 3-season, temperate climatic zone kit were enough to extend my comfort level beyond the arctic circle. And it’s interesting to see how my comfort level was similar or sometimes even higher than that of the ultraheavy packers I met on the way. UL works. Sometimes it’s hard to convince oneself but it damn works.

At this point, I must say my Nordkalottleden kit was actually far from the UL (ultralight) standard. I was more at the (just) lightweight level; but I like the UL acronym.

It was so funny to show up in Lapland with a lightweight load. It was interesting to challenge the ultraheavy paradigm by just being there. No proselytism, people would just ask if those were my only shoes or how come my pack looked so small.

– because it is small 🙂

The running shoes were probably the number one attraction. Most people were wearing huge boots and it was like heavy boots were like religion… and running shoes felt like sacrilege.

So the scandinavian standards as I saw them were something like this:

  • Huge pack. External frames were ususal.
  • Tunnel tent. I’d expect Hilleberg was standard but it seems Helsport tents are the most common. They looked bombproof
  • Heavy boots. Thick leather, high ankle protection. It seems stiff boots are common.
  • Thick, full featured waterproof jackets. I have one of these, it weights more than one kilo, I haven’t taken it to the backcountry for years.
  • Waterproof rainpants. They look more like alpine skiing pants.

I never shared camp so didn’t have the chance to go into more detail.

Some people I met would comment on the size of my pack, some would even ask how that was possible, where was the trick. And there’s no trick, just the well known process of careful analysis where weight is part of the equation.

UL facts for Nordkalottleden: betraying the paradigm

In 2007, I’d face a different set of conditions in a potentially severe environment somewhat unknown to me. A new shift was in order. I tried to keep to the UL principles but I made a few key changes to my kit. I comment the most relevant:

Tent vs. Tarp

So many time and effort trying to explain why a tarp or a frameless tent may work just as well as a traditional tent and now I have to face the fact that I took a real tent with me in Lapland and I have to face the fact that I was happy I did.

Some criteria for shelter selection I was considering before the trip and turned out correct:

  • It should be bug proof

Bug prevalence later on the season is quite random but I wouldn’t travel to a potentially bug heavy place like Lapland without a bug proof shelter. A bivy or bag cover would technically do but it’s not nice for the long run.

  • It should stand heavy winds

The arctic barrens make for scenic but exposed campsites. Vegetation is ground level and doesn’t offer any protection and the smooth reliefs don’t help either. The shelter of choice must be wind worthy.

Some other criteria I know now:

  • Despite the general dampness, it wasn’t difficult to find reasonably dry land to camp
  • In higher areas, the terrain was rocky and it could be tricky to find a camp spot

Would a tarp or tarptent work in Nordkalottleden? That’s the question I was asking myself before the trip. Now I’ve been there I’d say technically it should work. I didn’t find anything in the arctic summer conditions that would make a tarp useless, probably not even completely inadequate but it’s key to remember the success or failure of the frameless shelter strategy lies heavily on the user. You need to be very confident in your skills to make it work. After quite a few years and so many nights, I should have been… but I wasn’t sure. And there were already too many uncertainties on this trip to make me feel uneasy that I decided to play it safe with something as sensible as my shelter.

I wouldn’t recommend a tarp but I won’t say it’s not doable. Whatever, it should be able to stand the wind and I’d take it big enough to make it livable in case of condensation.

So I was very happy with my tent choice. As I outlined above, it was as much a psychological thing as it was physical: it’s so important to trust your instruments. But also I wanted to make camping out a key part of the experience and I wanted a shelter system that wouldn’t be a limiting factor and would send me to the huts as soon as the weather turned south. I wanted to be able to camp anywhere. Site selection wouldn’t be that much of a help anyway. In the arctic mountains, there’s really no valley to go down to when the weather gods get angry.

Insulating pants, redundant element?

I decided to take with me the synthetic insulation pants at the last moment. They were meant basically for sleeping and maybe camp use. It wasn’t usually as cold in camp to need to wear these but I used them several nights for sleeping.

There were two basic reasons to take them: I wasn’t as confident as in the past with the loft of my bag whose baffles seem to be a tad short on down; and the expected, continuous high humidity could make things worse. So the Polarguard pants were additional insulation but they were also backup insulation in case the loft of the down was compromised. This never happened.

The issue here is once I decided to bring this pants, could I have left something behind? Namely the tights which were basically meant for sleeping as additional insulation and clean layer to keep the bag clean. It’s this last criteria that made them useful so I think they were still needed.

Hiking poles lose multifunction

Hiking poles are a non-essential item for me so I need to evaluate before a trip if they’re worth it or not. They mean some added complexity between me and the environment but carrying them doesn’t bother me much, if at all and I like having them. They’ve got so many uses but (and this is the focus of this comment) I lost one of them in Nordkalottleden: since my shelter had its own frame, I wouldn’t use the poles to support it. That was a nice multi-function.

I decided to carry them anyway. I like how they help my pace and they were very important in some of the river crossings. There were usually no natural sticks to pick up.

So what’s left of UL?

As far as the long distance trips go, my base weight has done nothing but increase since it bottomed in the HRP in 2005. In 2006, being out for as long as 5 months in a row on the PCT made me carry a few more things, a few different things off the UL standard. I think it was more a psychological than physical issue. I wanted to prove myself the UL paradigm would work over extended distances and a wide array of conditions and I think I needed some security buffer to go that way. Being so far away from home probably helped this need. Anyway, the weight increase wasn’t dramatical and most gear items and techniques were the same.

Nordkalottleden meant another twist, both physical and psychological. The latter came first and made me take some precautions that turned spot on for the harder than expected conditions. My base weight figures suffered and I wouldn’t win any UL gear list contest but I have the feeling this was probably my most remarkably lightweight trip so far, given the conditions. The lightweight framework was still there and it was great to see it working well again.