The Deepwinter is our alpine pack for guiding and extended climbing missions. The primary consideration when designing the Deepwinter was to create a pack which was comfortable enough to carry 3-4 days food and gear up the valley yet be light and flexible enough to use as a summit pack and for technical climbing.

To this end the Deepwinter has the light and strong fixed length DW Harness which is supported with a polypropylene sheet. We have not included any aluminium support bars as while good for pack rigidity they can be extremely annoying when technical climbing. Our thinking is a well packed pack is rigid anyway, so take your time and tuck those socks in the voids.

The latest incarnation of the Deepwinter has a squarer form (which makes packing easier) that lies flatter to your back, simpler and stronger ski attachments and additional daisy chains. It has a new shovel flap with a built in plastic crampon patch. The shovel flap in summer is ideal for a folded sleeping mat, toastie pie iron or clothing. The Deepwinter also has fittings to take our optional DB Board Straps if you feel like strapping your snowboard to it.

Here's what the product reviewers had to say in the winter 2004 issue of the NZAC 'the Climber':

The Deepwinter is a fairly traditional style alpine pack. It has a reasonably low profile square shape that is slightly wider at the bottom, and includes a shovel pocket with a built in plastic reinforced crampon patch. The fixed lid is generous and adjustable and has internal and external pockets. Gear attachments are simple but functional and include glove friendly ice tool clips, daisy chains, side stake pockets and big brightly coloured gear loops on the waist belt. The loop between the tops of the shoulder straps is reinforced to act as a haul loop. The pack is 1000 denier Cordura throughout with extra reinforcing on wear points like where the back joins the base.

Despite the heavy construction, the Deepwinter is the lightest pack in the overview by 300g. This is due to the fixed and extremely simple harness system. The back is flat and minimally padded and supported by an internal plastic sheet. Three different lengths are available. Three straps on each side provide the compression and attachment for skis and snow stakes. One thing missing is a compression strap over the throat of the pack, which can be handy for securing a rope under the lid.

The Deepwinter is a good example of a simple pack with just the right features for alpine use. Although perhaps not the most comfortable pack for heavy load carrying, this is more than made up for by the lightweight yet rugged construction. This was the only New Zealand made pack that we received for this overview.