Lay it all out on the floor first — the SnowWind backcountry gear list

This is what our floor looks like the night before every departure.

Not for the photo. Taking every item out of the pack, laying it out and going through it piece by piece is the cheapest insurance in backcountry travel — whether the batteries are charged, whether the probe deploys cleanly, whether the shovel shaft still locks. Finding that out on a heated floor and finding it out on a slope at −15 °C are two completely different stories.

This post goes through every item in that photo: what it is, why it comes along, and when it gets used. At the end there is a pre-departure table you can tick off directly.

The avalanche trio: beacon, probe, shovel

These three are a chain. Break any link and the whole thing is gone.

• Avalanche transceiver (beacon) — worn against the body in a chest harness, switched on at the trailhead and transmitting the whole day. When a partner is buried you switch to search mode, and a few hundred metres of slope becomes a few metres of ground. It is the one piece in the trio you never feel on a normal day and that decides everything on a bad one.
• Avalanche probe — a sectioned pole that snaps into shape in one throw, with depth markings along the shaft. Once the transceiver has you down to a few metres, you probe into the snow in a spiral pattern; the moment you touch a person feels nothing like snow or rock. The markings tell you how deep they are — which directly decides how you dig.
• Avalanche shovel — aluminium blade with a detachable shaft. Avalanche debris sets close to concrete; digging with your hands or the tail of a board is a movie scene. In a real rescue, digging takes far longer than searching, and a metal shovel that assembles fast is the floor under that time.

Remember: the trio does not save you, it saves your partner. How well you have practised is your teammate’s survival odds. How well they have practised is yours.

Reading the snowpack: snow saw and pit tools

• Snow saw — a long aluminium blade. Used to cut clean columns for stability tests, and to cut the vertical face of a snow pit. Whether today’s snowpack is hiding a weak layer is not something you feel — you cut it open and look.
• Long-handled pit tool — a hoe-headed digging tool for opening pits and shaving the profile flat. It divides labour with the avalanche shovel: the shovel is reserved for rescue, this one does the day-to-day snowpack work.

This section is the line between guiding and going out to play. A light day trip can skip the pit, but making a call on a line or a slope starts with pit work.

Travel gear: snowshoes, poles, crampons

• MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes × several pairs — at least three in the photo (blue, green-grey, grey-red). The 360° frame teeth are the point: deep Hokkaido powder comes with occasional hard surfaces and traversing slopes, so you need more than float — you need an edge that bites.
• Folding poles × several pairs — all fitted with powder baskets. A pole without one sinks to the grip in deep snow, which is the same as not carrying it.
• Crampons / micro-spikes × 1 set — kept in a strap bag as backup. Frozen spring mornings, wind-scoured crust on a ridge — snowshoe teeth are not always enough. This is the “just in case” item.

Rope and anchors

• A coil of accessory cord plus slings — not luggage straps. Simple belays across exposed terrain, anchoring during pit work, building a hauling system in a rescue — all of it runs through this.
• Locking carabiners × 3 — stored with the cord, making up the simplest possible anchor and rescue set.

Most days none of this gets touched, but it defines what kind of setup this is: not “enough to enjoy yourself” but “able to handle it when something goes wrong”.

First aid and communication

• First aid kit — the white square case with the red cross, stocked mainly for trauma care and keeping people warm. The most common injury on snow is not dramatic; it is hypothermia and sprains, and both stay small if you treat them early.
• Radio — handheld units with antennas. Phone signal in the mountains disappears without warning, and once a party spreads out, contact between the front and the back cannot be a bet on your carrier.
• Glacier sunglasses — wrap-around. On a clear day the snow surface doubles your UV exposure; snow blindness is not an urban legend.

Food: one set per person

Each stack on the right of the photo is one person’s share:

• Water — one bottle each, minimum.
• Staples — soft rolls and onigiri. High carbohydrate, freeze-tolerant, and edible one-handed with gloves on.
• Fast energy — energy gels (the squeeze-pouch kind) and bars. Saved for climbing sections and for the moment something feels slightly off — when blood sugar drops, judgement drops with it.
• Snacks — cashews and chocolate. High calorie density, and morale equipment.
• A canned drink — a small ritual at the rest stop.

There is only one rule for food: you should not have to stop, and you should not have to take a glove off. Making the whole party stand in the cold for twenty minutes to eat a proper meal costs more than skipping the meal.

Pre-departure checklist

Section	Item	What to check
Avalanche rescue	Transceiver	Battery, transmit/search toggle, group check at the trailhead
Avalanche rescue	Probe	Deploys cleanly, locks positively
Avalanche rescue	Shovel	Shaft assembles, no cracks
Snowpack	Snow saw	Secured inside the pack
Snowpack	Pit tool	Head tightened
Travel	Snowshoes	Straps intact, no broken teeth
Travel	Poles	Powder baskets fitted, folding locks positive
Travel	Crampons	Sized to the boots you are wearing today
Rope	Accessory cord + slings	No abrasion or cuts
Rope	Locking carabiners ×3	Sleeves turn freely
First aid / comms	First aid kit	Restocked, in an outer pocket you can reach fast
First aid / comms	Radio	Battery, channel agreed across the party
First aid / comms	Sunglasses	One pair per person
Food	Water + staples + fast energy	One set each, reachable one-handed
Pack	Avalanche airbag pack	Cartridge / battery state, trigger handle position confirmed

Save this table. Lay everything out on the floor the night before and tick down the list — fifteen minutes, for a whole day of confidence.

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One last thing, stated plainly: gear gives you the ability to handle a situation. It does not give you permission to enter any terrain. This list is our real setup for guiding and snowpack-observation days, but the core of avalanche safety has never been equipment — it is route choice, snowpack judgement, and the discipline to turn around. A complete kit only gets you to the start line.