Winter Backpacking Packs are more specialized than regular three-season backpacks, with a stronger emphasis on carrying heavier weight loads, external attachment points, and durability for handling bulky gear with sharp points, such as snowshoes, skis, ice axes, and crampons. They also favor more pockets and the ability to access and put away gear quickly, so you can avoid standing around between gear transitions and getting cold. Pack volumes can vary anywhere from a minimum of 50L to 80L.

Here are our picks for the best winter backpacking backpacks:

The North Face Cobra 65L

The North Face Cobra 65 is a versatile winter backpack suitable for climbing, multi-day mountaineering-style winter trips, and backcountry skiing. Like many specialized winter packs, it can be configured in several different ways, depending on your trip needs, with optional components that can be removed if they’re not needed. It comes with dual side compression straps which can be used to hold snowshoes or skis, dual ice axe holders, a top lid with rope carry, a crampon pocket, and a hip belt with a pocket and tool carry. Read the SectionHiker Cobra Backpack Review.

Hyperlite Mountain Gear Ice Pack 70L

The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Ice Pack 70L is a winter backpacking and mountaineering pack made with ultralight Dyneema DCF fabric, which doesn’t absorb water and is very durable. It gracefully combines a minimalist sensibility with a roll-top design and features an integrated crampon pocket, hip belt gear loops, numerous external attachment points, and daisy chains. A reinforced back panel is provided to haul heavier loads. Hyperlite offers this pack in 70L and 55L sizes. For day hiking when less volume is required, we also recommend the Hyperlite Prism 40, which has a top lid pocket.

Osprey Mutant 52L Backpack

The Osprey Mutant 52 packs a wealth of great features into a mountaineering and climbing backpack. It features a floating lid, wand, and ski carry system, a hipbelt with gear loops and daisy chains, ice tool and shaft holders, and a helmet attachment option. The top lid and hip belt are also completely removable, allowing for weight savings or use with a climbing harness. Priced at $230 (a steal), the 52 oz Osprey Mutant 52 is a great winter backpack for fast-and-light or hut-to-hut trips where you can streamline your gear list. We also recommend the smaller volume Osprey Mutant 38 for winter day hiking or ice climbing. Read the SectionHike Mutant 52 Review.

Black Diamond Mission 75L Backpack

The Black Diamond Mission 75L is a top-loading, mountaineering backpack with a floating lid, front crampon pocket, hip belt loops, and a full-length side zipper for easy gear access. It is fully strippable with a removable waist belt, lid, and framesheet. A metal dogbone ice tool attachment provides a secure attachment for technical ice tools and mountaineering axes, while a tuck-away rope strap secures even more gear to the outside. The mission is also available in a 55L volume. Both packs are made with 420d ripstop nylon fabric with a UTS coating for bomber durability.

Mountain Hardwear Direttissima 55L

The Mountain Hardwear Direttissima 55L is a versatile top-loading mountaineering backpack with an adjustable torso length, which is rare in alpine backpacks. It has a floating lid with three secure zip pockets, a removable crampon pocket, rope carry, reinforced webbing haul loops on the hip belt for pulling sleds, and an A-frame and diagonal ski carry. There is also a large zippered front pocket for storing avalanche tools, side pockets to secure alpine essentials like tent poles, pickets, and wands, and wrap-around compression straps to lash gear to the outside of the pack. The pack is made with a 210d nylon ripstop with an 840d nylon base capable of withstanding anything you can throw its way.

Cold Cold World Chaos Backpack 60L

Chances are you’ve never heard of Cold Cold World Backpacks before, but their packs are famous in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. The Chaos is a frameless, top-loading backpack featuring a floating top lid, front crampon pocket, ski loops, gear loops on the hip belt, dual ice ax loops with shaft holders, and multiple daisy chains, allowing you to lash gear to the outside of the pack.  It features an internal sleeping pad pocket, allowing you to use a foam pad as a frame. A stock Chaos weighs in at just 3 lbs 12 oz, which is quite respectable for a pack that’s this technical and durable. Read the SectionHiker Chaos Review. The 50L Cold Cold World Chernobyl is also a winner, especially for gear-intensive winter peakbagging.

Exped Lightning 60L

The Exped Lightning 60 is a versatile trekking pack with DNA suitable for light-and-fast mountaineering objectives. It is a roll-top pack with an adjustable torso length, featuring numerous external attachment points for securing bulky mountaineering gear, including technical or walking axes, to rope and tent bodies. It has two side stretch pockets capable of holding tent poles, pickets, and wands, and includes glove-friendly hardware so you can adjust without exposing your hands to the cold. The Lightning is available in two volumes: a 60L and a 45L model. Read the SectionHiker review.

Mammut Trion 50L Backpack

The Mammut Trion 50 is a rolltop backpack with an optional floating top lid pocket and vest-style shoulder straps with external mesh pockets. It features rear full-zip access to the main compartment, a separate pocket for avalanche safety equipment, a detachable hip belt, side ski carry, and holders for trekking poles and ice axes. 

Granite Gear Blaze 60 Backpack

The Granite Gear Blaze 60 is a great roll-top backpack with an optional top lid and front zippered access to the main compartment. Weighing just 48 oz, it features an adjustable torso length and a hip belt with adjustable sizing, allowing for easy carrying of loads of 50+ lbs. Numerous compression straps make it easy to attach snowshoes or a foam pad to the outside of the pack or to haul ice tools, ropes, and avalanche rescue gear. A woman’s Blaze 60, featuring gender-specific shoulder straps and a hip belt, is also available. Read the SectionHiker Blaze 60 Review.

Sierra Designs Flex Capacitor 60-80L

The Sierra Designs Flex Capacitor 60-80L is a top-loading backpack with a unique top lid and compression straps on the sides and front that let you modify the pack’s volume or strap bulky gear to the outside. This is complemented by a stiff yet lightweight frame that enables the hauling of heavy loads, far exceeding those that can be carried by similarly sized internal framed backpacks. In addition to top lid storage, side compression straps, and dual ice axe loops, what makes this pack stand out is its expandability. It’s perfect for non-technical trips when you need to carry a lot of extra gear, such as a larger sleeping bag, a tent, more cooking fuel, and extra food. Read the SectionHiker Flex Capacitor Review

How to Choose a Winter Backpacking Pack

Backpacks tailored for mountaineering and winter backpacking use have a different feature set than most 3 season packs. What follows are the features that I’ve found most useful for winter trips in mountainous terrain. While I think these translate fairly broadly across winter locales, you need to be the judge on the features you believe are most relevant for your needs.

Volume and Weight

If you plan on taking weekend-length cold-weather trips, you’ll probably want a pack with 55-80 liters of internal capacity. The sweet spot is approximately 70 liters, but you may be able to reduce it to as low as 50 liters if you carry less gear or require less insulation. Try to get a pack that has adequate compression so you can shrink its volume if not needed, while keeping the weight of an empty pack under 5 pounds. Pack and gear weight is even more important in winter conditions than at other times of the year because you’ll be wearing and carrying a lot more of it.

External Attachment Points

Mountaineering and winter backpacking packs require multiple external attachment points to carry sharp, pointy, or bulky gear (microspikes, crampons, shovels, and snowshoes) that won’t fit inside the main storage compartments of a backpack. The most useful external attachment points include compression straps, daisy chains, hip belt webbing or gear loops, and ice ax loops with shaft holders.

Compression Straps

Compression straps serve two purposes: to help compress a load and bring the weight closer to your core muscles, where it can be carried more easily; and to attach sleeping pads, snowshoes, avalanche shovels, or skis to the sides of your pack instead of the front, so that the load doesn’t pull you backward and off-balance.

When choosing a backpack, try to find ones that have two or three tiers of compression straps that run horizontally across the sides of the pack. The compression straps should be adjustable and easy to undo while wearing gloves, so you can slide winter tools under them. Avoid packs that have compression straps that zig-zag back and forth on the backpack, using one strap to save weight. These are very difficult to use, especially when wearing gloves.

Daisy Chains

Daisy chains are often sewn onto mountaineering and winter packs and can be used to lash extra gear to the back or sides of the pack using canvas or velcro straps. They usually have many loops sewn into them that run the length of your pack from top to bottom.

Ice Ax Loops

There are two kinds of ice axes in this world – straight walking axes and curved climbing axes. If you need to carry a walking ax, look for a pack that has at least one ice ax loop at the base of the pack and a shaft holder, both off-center along the back of the pack. The shaft holder can be a simple cord lock like those found on many Osprey packs, or a more robust buckle. If you plan on carrying two climbing axes, look for packs with two ice ax loops and shaft holders.

Hip Belt Webbing and Gear Loops

Some climbing-oriented packs feature canvas or plastic gear loops on the outside of the hip belt, allowing you to clip climbing carabiners to them. While not a substitute for a proper sit-harness, these loops can be quite convenient to rack climbing gear.

Crampon Pockets

Crampon pockets are a convenient and safe place to store crampons when you’re not wearing them. Located on the side of the pack farthest away from you, they keep the crampon points away from your arms and legs, your head, and your gear, where they can do real damage.

Floating Lids

In winter, it can be very helpful to have a backpack that can expand in volume to carry more gear. One way to do this is to buy a pack with a floating lid, typically featuring a top pocket that can detach from the main body of the pack but remains secured by four straps. Extra gear, say a coil of rope, can be sandwiched between the pocket and the top of your pack in this manner.

Zipper Access

Zipper access to the front or side of the backpack is a highly desirable feature for winter use because it makes for much faster stops, eliminating the need to pop open a top lid and dig around your backpack looking for gear You don’t want to stand around for very long on winter trips, but to get moving so your body can generate heat to stay warm.

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