The Best Mountaineering Backpacks

We have collected some of the industry's best mountaineering backpacks and put them to the test for this review. We set out on weeks-long expeditions, scrambled up remote alpine peaks, projected steep, intimidating rock routes, swung ice tools on frozen waterfalls, skied volcanoes and couloirs, and dragged them around at our local crag for good measure. Yes, we do love our work as field testers. For this review, we then sat down with our notes—and the perspectives of different types of climbers—and crunched some numbers. We gave each pack a score for each of five metrics: Weight-to-Volume, Comfort, Durability, Versatility, and Features. Then we added them up and found our award winners. Read on to see which packs scored the best, and find the one that best suits your adventurous needs.