I'll be hitting Torres del Paine at the end of the month and wanted to know who has been there and what you would change about your gear selection looking back on your hike of "The W."

What size packs did those of you who independently hiked The W use?



Also, I plan on not using the Refuge's and tenting it the entire time.

It's been over 10 years that I went there, albeit with an organized group. Nevertheless, we carried all our stuff ourselves, so we carried just as much as if it had been an independent trip. Only if I would go solo would I have to carry a little bit more (same amount of food, but nobody to share the weight of common gear like my stove and first aid stuff, and my own, smaller tent is still a little heavier than my half of the bigger tent that I carried back then), but I would have no trouble fitting everything in the pack I carried at the time. It was a Lowe Alpine Cerro Torre ND 55+15.

I can't be sure anymore, but I think we may have spent one night at the refugio at Lago Grey and camped everywhere else.

By the way, we were there in December. I don't know the conditions by the end of May, so I can't say if you need something that we didn't.

Cheers, Rob

Rob, I appreciate the feedback. I'll keep this thread updated.

I did the W trek in December 2014 with a friend. You are in for a real treat, it is fantastic. We stayed an additional few days at Refugio Grey to do a day hike up the trail for glacier views, and to do the glacier expedition there. We also did exclusively tent-camping and did not buy any meals at the refugios either.

In terms of pack size, I had a 70 L pack and my trekking partner had a much smaller external frame pack. If you are in a group with a partner with a larger pack you could obviously do smaller. I don't have ultralight/small gear either so It definitely depends on your gear.

Highly recommend you attend one of the info sessions at the Erratic Rock hostel when you are down there. They are tremendously helpful (fun place to hang out as well).

In terms of gear on the trail, I hiked most days in a long-sleeve quick-drying shirt and hiking pants. Would only put on my rain-shell if there was long sustained rain as generally there it rains for 20-30 min and then clears up and you dry out. For the nights, I was fine in a good merino base-layer and puffy. Good trekking poles are a must as the winds are incredibly strong. For cooking, we had brought an MSR whisperlite stove and bought white gas from the hardware store. We were definitely in the minority though, most people simply bought fuel canisters and used something like a Pocket Rocket as the fuel is easy to come by in Puerto Natales.

The one piece of gear I wish I had brought with were better gloves, ideally with some water resistance to them. If you plan on hiking up past Refugio Grey at all there are some sections with metal ladder that can be brutal on your hands in the cold. My light gloves were not at all up to the task.

I'll leave you with that for now but if you have any other gear questions/trip questions happy to answer.

Also P.S. for your lodging in Puerto Natales, highly recommend The Singing Lamb. Beautiful hostel, great beds/showers, good breakfast, and very helpful staff.

^^^^Nice! Really appreciate the info.

I'll be going in June during the winter time and I like what I'm hearing about the park in June (basically empty). I think I'll be solid with a 60ltr pack. I can always get the extension for my Mystery Ranch pack that adds 900ci of space to the pack and can be used as a day pack.

As for all the clothing, I've got that squared away. I'll be taking a pair of Asolo 520 GTX boots and a pair of Asolo Jumla's for the drier days that have more rock on the trail.

I think 'm going to attack the trail like shown in this diagram I found on the net:

http://www.stephandben.com/2012/04/map- ... paine.html

Hi Robot,

You can definitely hike the W either way, however I would suggest going the west-east route (this is also recommended at Erratic Rock). This way you can sleep at the base of the Torres, wake up early and go see the sunrise, and then head back out at the end. This is definitely one of the best moments of the trek, seeing the sunrise, and I think it is a nice way to cap off the trek.