Sleds are great for flat/mostly flat or rolling terrain.
that is all I needed to hear from somebody who has used them. I can barely find any info on these things beyond the ice fishing and flat-country winter camping users. It makes sense, and to be honest, I feel much more comfortable with all my gear on my back, especially with the prospect of wet crossings. I can't imagine dragging a sled up Forester's south side, so it would really just add weight and hassle.
Snowshoes - MSR Ascents are good, as are other brands like Tubbs and Atlas (now owned by the same company) - look for models rated as Backcountry or Expedition. I have a couple of pairs of Tubbs and a pair of Sherpas (no longer made), and recommend them highly. Buy snowshoes approx. 30" long - don't get 36" unless you're at least 6'8". Always carry a McGyver kit for repairing 'shoes - including tools.
I'm able to rent some of these at the local REI, and hit the steepest hills in the area. Snow is coming in starting tonight
Poles - Extremely useful if you're snowshoeing, even more so if you're dragging a sled. Get good ones, made
by either Black Diamond or Leki. Most of the house brands of REI/EMS are made by Komperdell, which is a good pole for dayhikes, but not as durable as the other brands. Use the larger baskets - in New England I used the larger basket year-round, as in milder weather it helped flotation in mucky/muddy conditions.
I have used REI/Komperdell for the last 4 muir trail - in fact we used three pairs of these and none ever failed. Other than sometimes being annyingly difficult to adjust and lock again, they were fantastic poles. All of them needed new tips after about 1000 miles or granite pounding use and now are good to go for more miles. However, the "large baskets" they make for them are anything but large enough for soft snow. Last June they didn't provide the support on late season snow that I would have expected. I'll have to do some research to see what they other makes offer for real winter use.
Crampons - buy steel crampons, like a Grivel G10 or Black Diamond Contact Strap. Aluminum may save an ounce or two, but they don't hold up, nor grip, nearly as well as steel. If you get into a dicey situation, the last thing on your mind will be "Thank God I saved a couple of ounces on gear that may keep me alive".
I have some Chouinard steel crampons from the 80s, but I will probably get some step-in style crampons like the
Petzl Sarken Crampons, rather than mess with the straps the old pair relies on to hang on to your boots. I have seen some aluminum stuff, but the weight difference is nothing I am concerned about. I believe in bomb proof gear, and for a trip in winter conditions, even more so than in summer.
Footwear - on a long trip like this, a double plastic boot may make sense, not so much for the cold as the ability to bring the inner boot into your tent/bag at night and help dry it out. They don't have to cost $600, either. My Scarpa Inverno's still run around $325, and they're often discounted. Am not sure if Koflach is still making boots, but their Degre and warmer Artis are also excellent boots.
Koflach is currently coming back - have a web site, but no product as far as I can tell. Used maybe - but shoes and buying used is rarely a good idea. A long shot to get the right size and in good shape.
To get the inner boot with plastic shell type mountaineering boot, you're looking at a pretty large range of models from $949 down to under $300. The removable booties sound like what I would want on such a long trip in the cold - you can keep them in the sleeping bag and have warm feet in the morning. On the other hand - the other boots are lighter and you could pre-heat them with some hand warmer packs
Everest-style or just deal with the cold. To be honest - this trip is also an excuse to finally buy that high altitude gear get me up to Rainier, Hood, Shasta, so I have to keep that use in mind, too.
Here's what is out there in that double boot class, sorted from most expensive to cheaper than my summer boots - currenlty I lean towards the upper end of this list, following my bomb proof approach. I wear La Sportiva Trango GTX in the summer on the Muir Trail, and have done 150+ mile hikes in '70s style 7 pound leather mountaineerin boots, so weight and bulk don't scare me:
Lowa Expedition 8000 GTX $949
La Sportiva Olympus Mons $900
Millet Everest GTX $899
Kayland 8001 $849 reg - sale $600
Phantom 8000 $800
La Sportiva Spantik $629
Scarpa Phantom 6000 $600
La Sportiva Baruntse $600
Lowa Civetta Extreme $424 ($199 ebay my size right now)
Scarpa Omega $389
Scarpa Inverno seen for less than $300
To go lighter you need to drop the inner boot idea. There are a number of models out there that look warm and water-proofed enought to possibly work on a trek through 200 miles of snow (I'd add a tall set of gaiters to all boots here, possibly the Berghaus expedition gaiters that cover the whole boot and add warmth). Not sure what I'd gain with a combo of these lighter boots plus gaiters - easier to walk in? I am not going ice climbing or rock climbing, so technical capabilities of these boots below aren't really important for this trip, and for climbing something high and cold in Alaska or Washington, I probably wouldn't use these either. They look more like the ice climber's choice, although with these special low temperature
gaiters from K2 , they may just be two boots in one, albeit probably heavier than some of the dedicated cold weather boots above.
Phantom Guide $529
Batura $525
La Sportiva Nepal Evo $475, very similar to my summer boots
Scarpa Phantom Lite $450, appears discontinued
Sleeping pads - use two when on snow, preferably a self-inflating and a closed foam. Some get by with one - always a tradeoff between comfort and weight.
I have both kinds, and both on their own have their flaws. My inflatable loses pressure overnight - even in summer - enough to have me touch the ground by 3am. The foam pad is bulky and nowhere near as comfortable. For the winter trip, I am pretty sure I'm doing foam as the base, and something inflatable on top, but not the pad I have right now. Heard good things about the new Thermarest and then there are down-filled inflatable pads as well.
Sleeping bag - a -20F down bag. Lots of choices - will cost $250 on up.
I'm getting a vapor barrier liner for sure - still on the fence with down versus synthetic, but knowing now that I will need to pack/carry the thing, down is probably the only choice. So a warm down with goretex fabric bag most likely - been looking at the Marmot and Western Mountaineering options and in either case, $250 won't get me what I am looking for. More like $600 I guess.
also - backpacks - considering going back to a frame pack to have the capacity for all that heavy gear I now will not be tugging behind me in a sled. I have a large Gregory internal frame pack and may just go wtih that, but 95 liters may just not be big enough for this trip. Their Denali is 107 liters, but $$$ like anything else that's really good
