What Berghaus say:

The 45L capacity is ideal for long days in the mountains and the main bag can be easily accessed with a rear zip, so you can get to your kit whenever you need it . The pack is made out of extremely durable and water resistant materials, and all other components are hardwearing, for great performance in the harshest conditions. The pack shape and harness have been updated to a women’s specific design, to improve load transfer, stability and comfort.

Features

Colour: Black/ Yellow

Capacity: 32L and 45L available.

Dimensions: Height (cm): 57 Width (cm): 23 Depth (cm): 29

All Attachments = 1680g Stripped =1240g

Intro

Working as a glacier guide  on Vatnajökull, aka Europe’s largest glacier, my day-to-day involves carrying a bit of a smaller backpack at around 30l to guide guests onto an outlet glacier by the name of Breidamerkurjokull. It carries everything I need for the day, which is usually a 30m rope, crevasse rescue kit, a helmet, a harness, gloves, first aid kit and a spare layer and a 1L  water bottle.

But here’s the thing - the moments of  magic usually  happen on our days off.  I wanted to test out the Berghaus Mtn Guide 45 backpack for ice climbing as it was more roomy and could also fit in a longer rope, an extra puffy jacket and my camera equipment. I’ve often struggled to pack everything into my usual backpack and it’s often at the sacrifice of the lunchbox or carrying enough fluids for the day. 

So you can imagine the excitement when  the unbelievable happened - where high pressure weather happened to coincide with a particularly cold snap, allowing us to explore a beautiful location  not usually accessible by the public for a spot of ice-climbing.  Yep, you heard correctly - ice climbing on icebergs suspended in a frozen lagoon, for the need to get out in the long winter months. To accompany my adventure, I was very excited to test the Berghaus Mtn Guide 45 backpack - which definitely drew in some admiring looks amongst my fellow guides. 

The Berghaus Mtn Guide 45L Backpack  felt like a pack aimed at those who viewed winter with the appetite to get out, and wanted a backpack that could fit everything they needed for a long day out in the mountains and on the glacier. 

 At 45l, it fitted  a surprising amount of essential kit and equipment, yet  the functional design that makes it  easy to retrieve kit whilst wearing gloves,  whilst a simple opening system and options to streamline the bag down with a removable top lid. The cincher is the attachment points to isolate kit such as crampons on the outside of the pack, and skis can easily slide into the side of the pack. 

The bonus - the Mtn Guide is probably  going to be the brightest pack you’ll own in an attractive luminous yellow which is actually an additional practicality. No chance of losing the pack when topping out on short winter days and not being able to locate  the rucksack buried in the snow. 

Waterproofing 

For anyone who has ever headed out in less than ideal conditions, having a waterproof pack is of utmost importance to minimise discomfort and having a truly miserable winter day. The Berghaus Mtn Guide 45L Backpack definitely feels like the most practical, tough bag you’d want to protect all your gear in, camera included. Featuring a TPU coating that uses 420D ripstock nylon, that means the bag has a great combination of weight to strength ratio to resist scrapes and tears as well as fantastic water resistance. The use of 210d nylon Seawastex® fabric on the shoulder straps and bivvi  is a choice of material that's perfect for travel bags and other industrial usage.I’ve had way too many days where I’ve had to gingerly retrieve a soaking wet kit in dry bags located in black rubbish bags because the backpack I’ve used hasn’t been waterproof and has leaked water, which means a costly amount of time needed to dry everything out.  The Berghaus pack was great at keeping all my kit dry and unmatched resistance to seeping water from the elements. 

Comfort/ Size/fit

Carrying heavy loads requires a rucksack that can handle an even distribution of weight.  I was pretty impressed with the Berghaus Mtn Guide 45 Backpack , which incorporated a women's specific harness system that sat comfortably on the hips, even when wearing multiple layers like waterproof trousers. The backpack was fine for the days where I was carrying around 12kg of weight and I used the chest straps to make sure the weight sat evenly on my shoulders. For even greater comfort, the breathable back panel isn’t just a layer of tough rigid fabric - it incorporates a 10mm hypercushion spacer mesh, covered with  what Berghaus describes as a ‘hardwearing monomesh flat nylon’ which  helps with  moisture management and  overall comfort . The addition of padding and abrasion resistance has been thought about,  without  allowing the risk of snow build-up.

Interestingly, whilst testing on a particularly cold evening with a temperature inversion, the back panel of the bag developed ice but this didn’t seem to affect the Mtn Guide 45 backpack’s functionality. 

The Mtn Guide also has a removable metal frame in the internal of the bag, which helps add greater stability, but this can also be easily removed if needing to strip weight to make the bag as lightweight as possible. For a transition to a summer alpine set up, the rucksack can be made lighter by removing the hip belt webbing and padding, and two buckles separate the lid and the bivvi collar closure. Side compression straps can be easily stripped away   along with the  sternum strap. Finally the backboard; frame; aluminium stays can all be removed meaning the bag can be as minimalist as possible yet still fitting a roomy 45L capacity for overnight missions or big alpine days out. 

Ease of use 

The Berghaus Mtn Guide 45 has been designed for  people who spend many months wearing gloves. One of the biggest issues is finding a  bag practical enough that it  can be used in cold wintery conditions where glove dexterity  makes everything more of an issue . For me, I really liked the ice axe attachment - a lightweight metal slider with two cut out holes  on a lightweight bungee  which can be threaded through the head of the axe, whilst two reinforced attachment points in velcro  with an ‘X’ logo makes it super easy to attach onto the shaft of the axe,  whilst still keeping gloves on. Similarly, if the bag also needs to have walking poles attached as well, there are a variety of ways in which to  attach it, either with the same bungees, or using the  neon webbing loops, or stowed on the side using the buckle clips. I also really liked the option to be able  to adjust kit stowage on the outside, such as attaching a rope  externally and under the lid. The bivvi like collar can be adjusted with the easy closing black cord - so its cinches to stop the rain and snow from getting in. A yellow buckle located underneath the grab handles can be adjusted depending on the thickness of the rope / spare layers you need to attach to the top of the pack- perfect for faster kit management. 

To adjust the overall bag, a central luminous  yellow compression strap - attached to just  above the reinforced plastic black axe holders - helps cinch the bag and attach to the lid, adding greater load transfer. 

Multi-purpose

Is the Berghaus Mtn Guide 45 a backpack for everything gnarly? I like the clearly British design elements, which prioritise practicality over making everything whippet thin, uber light and in practice to use when the weather is terrible. For me, the addition of  the black attachment points,  allow for a ski-touring skis set to easily slide into the plastic, whilst the narrower strips at the front easily secure the pics of the ice axes. Sure, the reinforcements add extra weight  and are permanent to the bag's design, which I think is a plus because you’d rather have something that had the durability then fail in a committing and desperate moment in the adventure. I think also the use of such a toughened material also shows that the design team have made a practical bag that will last the test of time, over opting for  a lighter weight material.

Fiddly bits and Features 

One thing I would say I’ve noticed with the Berghaus Mtn Guide 45 Backpack is the back zip to access the main compartment. The zip is a chunky one ( also in the attractive fluro yellow) with a lightweight fabric cord pull. I would have prioritized a T-shaped toggle as it’s quite hard to do the zip compartment when you’ve taken out a number of items from the main compartment, so everything in the backpack becomes a bit more lumpy. The zip is also quite difficult to do up if the bag is unevenly packed  - it’s much easier to pack the bag from the top down if you  want to fill the bag and make use of the bag’s full capacity.I like the use of the top lid being somewhere that I can store essentials such as snacks and headtorch / compass spare gloves in the underside of the lid. 

Conclusions - Rating  - 5/5 

Despite having not owned a Berghaus pack before I’m a real convert thanks to the level of attention to detail and the overall design of the pack. It’s comfortable, well designed and able to withstand protection from the harsh icelandic winters.  I can’t wait to use this backpack throughout the winter months for ski-touring and  long days out exploring the glacier. For me, the standout qualities are the choice of waterproof fabric, the ease of technical features such as the ice axe attachments and having removable side straps.

 I was most impressed with the blend of functionality, design and weight. It’s not intended to be the lightest bag you’ll ever own - but perhaps being the brightest and well designed backpack you’ll have to hand if you're serious about winter mountaineering.