Packing for a ski hut trip can be a bit more challenging than your traditional backpacking adventure. You can forget the tent and sleeping pad since you are hiking to a hut. But there are a few hut trip-specific items you MUST HAVE to safely hike to a ski hut.
Hut Trips require avalanche safety gear. The 3 most important items for avalanche rescue are a beacon, shovel, and probe. Plus, you should be educated on how to use all 3 of these items with confidence. There is great free training with BCA which will get you familiar with the basics of using your backcountry gear. We highly encourage taking an Avalanche course to properly educate yourself before any backcountry skiing adventure.
Like any backpacking trip, it’s in your best interest to keep your pack as light as possible. And you should coordinate with your group so you don’t carry duplicates of items that can be shared.
This post will provide everything you need to pack for an overnight ski hut trip. But we also have a complete guide for planning a hut trip, including details for booking reservations, avalanche safety, backcountry skiing, and daily life at the hut.
Pre-Trip Chores
Our pre-trip chores for a ski hut trip are things we need to do in preparation for the trip. Make sure all the electronics you plan to bring are fully charged because a lot of huts don’t have outlets.
It’s also a good idea to trim your toenails before a trip to prevent any discomfort in your ski boot.
Additionally, you will want to buy and prep any food before hiking into the hut. Although most huts will have kitchen supplies, such as cutting boards, knives, pots, pans, etc. Preparing food ahead of time just gives you more time to enjoy the trip, and creates fewer dishes to wash.
Add anything else to this list that you need to get done before you send off on your overnight ski hut trip.
- Charge devices (GoPro, Camera Batteries, cell phone, GPS, headlamp)
- Charge battery banks
- Fill water bladders or bottles
- Trim toenails (skiing/hiking comfort)
- Buy groceries for the trip (list at bottom)
- Prep food/meals
Ski-Touring Setup
Of course, a ski-touring setup is one of the most important items when packing for a ski hut trip. This includes backcountry-specific skis or a split board and climbing skins.
Touring skis and splitboards have special bindings that allow your heel to lift up so you can make long strides. And climbing skins are like a directional carpet that provides friction for hiking uphill.
Below you can find all the essential ski touring gear that you need for a successful ski hut trip.
- Skis (with touring bindings) [Or Splitboard]
- Ski boots
- Climbing Skins
- Powder poles
- Helmet
- Goggles (+appropriate lenses)
- Balaclava/neck buff
- Mittens/Gloves (or both)
- Avalanche Beacon (that you know how to use!!!)
- Avalanche shovel
- Avalanche probe
- Backpack (can often just use your backpacking pack, but some people like to bring a smaller pack)
- Extra beacon batteries
- Radios
- Gear repair tools
- Skin Wax (during spring conditions, snow can build up, so wax can keep your skins gliding smooth)
- Topographic Map (Digital and/or paper)
Clothes
The key to any skiing adventure is to layer your clothing. You will be working hard as you ascend up the mountain to the hut, but conditions may vary, such as snow, rain, wind, or just brutally hot sun. And of course, you may want separate clothing for when you are chilling at the hut.
Personally, Jake and I like to use merino wool layers. There are so many benefits, but the biggest perk is that wool is odor-resistant. So despite working up a sweat on the way to the hut, you can keep wearing the same clothes without fear of smelling bad. Plus merino wool is quick-drying and breathable, making it a great baselayer for any skiing adventure.
- Ski Jacket or Shell
- Snow Pants
- Base layer Long sleeve (no cotton) (x2)
- Long Underwater
- Underwear
- Ski socks (2 pairs)
- Non-ski socks
- Sports Bra & Bras (Ladies)
- Gloves or Mittens (or both)
- Neck buff
- Warm hat
- Warm mid layers (fleece or micro-puff)
- Slippers (preferably with a hard bottom so they can be worn outside)
- Outhouse footwear (hard-bottom slippers or lightweight sandals)
- Sweatpants
- Sun hat (weather dependent)
- T-shirt (weather dependent)
Gear
Here is a list of other gear you need on a ski hut trip packing list.
It can be nice to have a small battery bank to charge your phone, especially if you rely on your topographic map via your phone. Most huts have solar power, but only enough to run the lights at night, and not extra power for charging electronics.
Also, the water used for drinking is typically just snow melt. Boiling the water is a common way to treat it for drinking.
But there may be a lot of floating debris in the water. Therefore, Jake and I found it worthwhile to bring a water filter. Plus, if you filter the water you don’t need to boil it, which can help speed up the process.
Bringing a sled for gear can be helpful for some huts. But this depends greatly on the terrain, distance, and conditions. Always secure all the gear to the sled with ropes, bungees, etc. Pulling the sled uphill with a rope is usually pretty effective (albeit physically demanding).
But the challenge comes when going downhill or across fall lines. For these scenarios, it’s imperative to also have a tail rope to keep the sled from sliding sideways. The use of a gear sled needs to be decided on a case-by-case basis.
- Battery banks (most huts don’t have outlets)
- Water Bladder/bottle
- Phone
- Phone charger
- Headlamp
- Sunglasses
- Chapstick w/ SPF
- Sunscreen
- Pocket Knife
- Ear plugs (highly recommended if traveling with a large group)
- Carabiners
- Extra paracord
- Gear Sled (terrain & distance dependent)
- Water Filter (optional)
Sleep System
The best part of staying in a hut, is there are usually beds and pillows available. So all you need is a blanket or sleeping bag. While the temperatures may be cold outside, there is typically a fire going all night keeping the hut warm.
- Sleeping Bag
- Travel Pillow (optional)
- Pillowcase
Hygiene
Typically, the facilities at a hut trip are pretty limited. There is no running water and pit toilets are located separate from the house. (Although some huts do have running water, it’s not typical).
- Toothbrush
- Travel Toothpaste
- Any Medications
- Hand Sanitizer
- Vitamins
- Deodorant (optional)
- Ziplock bags with TP (provided, but we always bring extra)
- Body wipes (optional)
- Face towel
First Aid
It’s always a good idea to have a first aid kit on any ski hut trip packing list. If you are traveling with a large group, you may not need everyone to carry one. But sometimes groups split up and conditions can be unpredictable, so it’s generally a good idea for everyone to at least carry the essentials in their pack.
Another often overlooked, but super useful item is tape. If (when) your feet begin to blister, you can survive the rest of the trip by putting tape over your blisters. (The three best options are Leuko Tape, Duct Tape, or Hockey Tape). Tape can also be used for temporary gear repairs.
- Band-aids
- Gauze
- Leukotape or athletic tape
- Nitrile gloves
- Antibiotic ointment
- Moleskin
- Hand sanitizer
- Ibuprofen
- Tums
- Anti-diarrhea
- Tweezers
- Water purification tablets (emergency backup)
Food & Drink
Food and snacks are important on a backcountry ski hut trip. You will be exerting a lot of energy on your way into the hut, so you will want some snacks to help give you that extra energy boost. (Check out our best hiking snacks to fuel your adventure).
If traveling with a large group, it can be beneficial to split up meals between the group. For example, we had a group of 14 people on our last hut trip. We had 4 people dedicated to night 1 making a spaghetti dinner for the group. On night 2, another group of 4 members made chicken Caesar wraps for the group. Lastly, we had 6 other people dedicated to making après/charcuterie each day to enjoy in the early afternoon.
Our group did breakfasts and lunch on their own. But you could also collaborate on those meals as well.
Of course, you can each individually make your own food for every meal. But just note, that the stove is small and typically being used to boil water for drinking most of the time. So making a large meal for the whole group can actually make things easier rather than each person making a meal separately. Just be sure to communicate with your group and be on the same page for food each day!
Bringing drinks on a hut trip poses one of the biggest challenges. Quite simply, liquid weighs a lot!
Obviously, you need to bring enough water to make it from the trailhead to the hut. But besides water, you may want to bring other kinds of beverages.
Pro Tip! – Powdered drink mixes are an excellent way to have something other than water. (i.e. hot chocolate, hot cider, Gatorade powder, Liquid-IV, Noon, etc.)
When it comes to alcohol, there is definitely a hierarchy for drinks. When considering ABV per weight, the list goes; liquor, wine, and then beer. Light beer especially has a terrible ratio of alcohol to weight.
So use that information wisely to decide what kinds of drinks you want to bring.
Here is a list of our favorite food for a ski hut trip packing list.
- Backpacking meals (here is a list of our favorite backpacking meals)
- Jerky
- Wild Zora Bars (we love Wild Zora so much that we wrote a personal review of their food)
- Trail mix
- Larabars/granola bars
- Oatmeal
- Cheese and Crackers
- Pepperoni
- Candy
- Honey stinger
- Instant Coffee (although most huts will have a percolator)
- Choc-covered espresso beans
- Gatorade powder or electrolytes
- Alcohol
Photo & Video Gear
Photo and video gear of course is optional. Jake and I need most of this gear to bring you a great blog post like this! Additionally, we find it fun to take videos of us skiing, and photos to remember the fun ski hut trip!
Drones can also be a fun way to get a unique perspective of the area. But do your research before going, to make sure drone use is allowed in the area.
- Mini tripod
- GoPro
- GoPro charging cord
- Camera batteries
- Digital Camera
- Drone
Check out the fun YouTube video at Vance’s Cabin in Colorado we put together for How To Plan A Ski Hut Trip.
Optional Luxuries/Games
Lastly on this ski hut trip packing list are some luxury items. On any backpacking adventure, you want to be conscious of weight, therefore, some of these items may or may not make the cut.
- Cards (most huts have them)
- Games
- Dice
- Camp chair
- Speaker
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