WTF is in your Backpack?

Stop Hauling Your Life Up the Mountain

Here’s a simple question: What the hell are you carrying in that fully loaded backpack while you’re riding lifts at a resort?

I’ve been watching this phenomenon for years, and it’s getting worse. Riders loading onto chairlifts with expedition-sized packs stuffed to the gills, completely oblivious to the fact that they’re creating unnecessary risks for themselves and everyone around them. The lodge is 500 yards away. There’s food, water, bathrooms, and gear shops. Yet somehow, half the people on the mountain look like they’re preparing for a week-long backcountry traverse.

Let me be clear: I’m not talking about backcountry riders. I’m talking about the weekend warriors riding groomers with backpacks that could stock a small convenience store.

The Reality Check

Resort infrastructure exists for a reason. You’re never more than a few runs away from warmth, food, and assistance. The idea that you need to carry everything you might possibly want during an eight-hour day is not just overkill, it’s dangerous.

What exactly are you hauling up there? Extra layers? Leave them in the lodge. Snacks? Buy them on the mountain or easily store a few bars in your jacket pockets. Water? Most places have fountains. Camera gear? Your phone works fine. Emergency supplies? Ski patrol is professionally trained and equipped to handle actual emergencies.

The Hidden Dangers

Chairlifts are extremely safe, with fatalities occurring in less than one in 570 million lift rides. But when accidents do happen, backpacks frequently play a role.

In 2017, a man at Arapahoe Basin became caught on a chairlift when his backpack got tangled. He hung unconscious by his neck for several minutes before being rescued. In Utah, twice in two weeks children had to be rescued from chairlifts when their backpacks became caught. At Vail in 2020, a skier suffocated to death after his coat became caught on a chairlift.

Carrying a pack creates specific risks: hangups when the pack becomes entangled during unloading, and increased risk of slipping off the seat since the backpack centers your weight closer to the edge of the chair.

What You Actually Need

I can tell you what you really need for a day at a resort: your snowboard, boots, appropriate outerwear, lift ticket or pass, snacks, money, and a great attitude. That’s it.

If you’re cold, duck into a lodge for a bit. If you’re hungry, grab food on the mountain or extract that energy bar from your pocket. If you need to adjust your gear, every lodge has tools and techs. If something breaks, patrol and rental shops can help. The infrastructure exists specifically so you don’t have to haul your life up the mountain on your back.

The Last Word

Resort riding with a full surplus satchel on your back is a solution in search of a problem. It adds risk without meaningful benefit and marks you as someone who doesn’t understand the environment they’re riding in.

The next time you're tempted to cram everything you might conceivably need for the day, ask yourself: What am I actually preparing for? Because if the answer is “a day at a ski resort,” that riding pack is probably unnecessary, potentially dangerous, and definitely overkill.

Save the backpacks for the backcountry. On resort days, the only thing you should be carrying is your commitment to shred your best and have fun.