Question: Which harness for denali?

i'm climbing denali soon. i have a super old climbing harness from the 70s that might work. tried and true. but something that i dont have to step through with crampons and that for sure would fit over all my winter stuff is probably better... i'm six foot two and weigh 150 just for proportions if anyone knows a good harness for me, let me know. or if you have one i will buy it.

BD Couloir

The Camp Blitz is awesome. 7.2 oz and very comfortable under a pack.
camp-usa.com/products/harne…

I have used the BD Alpine Bod and BD Couloir. They are both great harnesses for Mountaineering but I like the Camp Blitz better for myself.
Dallen

The BD Couloir harness would be a BAD choice. Get a harness with a good waist belt and padding. The padding helps minimize hip bruising from pig/sled hauling, crevasse falls & arrests, and rope drag from glacier travel. Hauling pig/sled loads under the midnight sun is brutally hot, so you won't have alot of layers on for padding. Get a harness with a rated posterior haul loop, belay loop, and adequate hip belt with padding.
Happy Pig Fest!

The Alpine Bod and BD couloir harnesses mentioned above are popular glacier choices. I've used the Couloir for a couple years and love it. Both are thin, light, step-through capable, and versatile. Some don't need the padding when wearing layers.

I've adopted a method suggested by my CMC HAMS instructors using two HMS biners in place of the belay loop on the Couloir. The rope biner stays locked and the other one handles the prussics, etc. Also, doesn't require one to unclip from the rope in order to drop trou and utilize the wag bags. Simply undo the biners (keeping the rope in) and unclip the leg loops.

My only gripe with the Couloir is the paltry, forward gear loops. The Bod has heftier gear loops and is more durable all around, though a bit bulkier.

Edit - the post above has some valid points. Depends on the person's tolerance level I guess.

Go take a whipper into a crevasse With a BD Couloir harness, or haul a pig/sled and tell me what you think of those skimpy harnesses. Denali is a sauna at lower elevation in May/June, and you will probably be hiking in a t-shirt. Just remember your in the wilderness for a long period of time and even blisters, minor cuts, aches and pains can hamper you and your teams trip and fun level.

whenever I climb denali I fall into as many crevasses as I can, I do more falling than climbing.

get an alpine bod, they're actually pretty comfortable and super convenient if you're wearing lots of layers. If you fall into more than a few crevasses you are doing something wrong. Only time I've fallen in is when I got lowered in and then prussiked my way out, but then again, I've only climbed been on glaciers in washington and BC, never alaska, so it's probably radically different there and people are just falling in non stop, a yates big wall harness is probably your best option with that in mind.

I used a BD alpine bod harness in AK. I even managed to take a pretty decent digger into a crevasse. The alpine bod worked well for me and it's the only harness that I use. There may be something better out there, but the bod is a good choice.

Another vote for the alpine bod or couloir. Have used the bod a lot, no issues. My partners and I use it on rock a lot too, if one of us forget our harnesses. I keep the bod in my car. But it works well as a glacier harness under a pack. Never had any issues. Never fell in a crevasse with it on (yet), but have taken plenty of rock falls with it.

Hey Keenan, you like falling in crevasses too. We should totally hook up for an AK trip. I've been eyeing this one icefall to climb. It's huge!! biger than the Khumbu Icefall and has never seen an ascent. I figure it goes at about 5.14dRX glacier travel. Bring your yates big wall harness.

stefan.s wrote:...i have a super old climbing harness from the 70s that might work...