In a 2015 YouTube video, an interviewer asked Gary “Laz” Cantrell why no women had finished his race, the infamous Barkley Marathons in the rugged mountains of Tennessee. “The race is too hard for women,” he replied with a sly grin. “They are simply not tough enough to do it, and I get to say that for as long as it goes that no one proves me wrong.” Since the inception of the race—which consists of five consecutive 20-plus-mile loops, hence “marathons”—in 1986, only 20 runners have finished. Until this year, all of them were men.

On March 22, a crowd flanked a tree-lined road at a campground in Frozen Head State Park. Spectators aimed their cameras at a woman in a red shirt and black capris running as fast as she could. Jasmin Paris, 40, was covered in dirt and scratches, and she could barely keep her eyes open. When the Brit touched the chipped yellow gate—in doing so becoming the first woman to ever finish the Barkley Marathons—she folded in half and then crumpled to the ground. The clock read 59 hours, 58 minutes, 21 seconds. Paris had attempted the Barkley on two previous occasions; in 2023, she became only the second woman ever to make it to the fourth lap. This year she completed all 100 unmarked, mostly off-trail miles, including approximately 65,000 feet of elevation gain, with just 99 seconds to spare before the 60-hour cutoff. Photographers closed in around her as her chest heaved and she gasped for air, capturing the soon-to-be widely shared images of the moment her life changed.

While the Barkley finish supercharged Paris’s notoriety—she made headlines in numerous media outlets and received an honor from the British royal family—she’s no stranger to long-distance success. In 2019, Paris became the first woman to win the 268-mile Montane Spine Race in the UK, breaking the course record by 12 hours even after stopping to pump breast milk for her 14-month-old daughter. Paris is a mother of two young children and a lecturer in the School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh, where she specializes in small-animal internal medicine. Her training for the Barkley took place during Scotland’s cold, wet winter in the early hours before her kids woke up.

Paris told the BBC that she ran her race for women around the world: “Not just runners but any woman that wants to take on a challenge that maybe doesn’t have the confidence. The idea that I might have inspired them to believe in themselves and have a go—that’s huge.”

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Caroline Gleich was 55 miles into the 65-mile trek to base camp on Pakistan’s Gasherbrum II when she started to feel queasy. It was July 2022, and temperatures were in the triple digits. A few minutes later she threw up. The 38-year-old ski mountaineer felt weak and dizzy. Over the next three hours she vomited 30 times.

After a few rough days, she and her husband, 43-year-old realtor Rob Lea, finally made it to base camp at 16,900 feet. This was just the first part of their journey: they hoped to ski from the peak’s 26,362-foot summit, a longstanding shared dream. Then, just as Gleich started to recover, Lea got sick. They languished in their tent for a week, feeling miserable, before calling off the expedition. They’d paid the money, invested the time, flown across the world, and bailed before they even laid eyes on the mountain.

“It’s hard to put your goals out there and to fail,” Gleich .

For an athlete like Gleich, part of an alpine objective’s allure is that there’s no guarantee of success. The whole point is to do something hard—like climb Mount Everest, which she did in 2019 (with a torn ACL, no less). This particular ethos might help explain why Gleich is running as a Democrat for a U.S. Senate seat in deep-red Utah, a state that has exclusively sent Republicans to the Senate since 1977 and has never elected a woman to the post.

“How many people are so stuck on trying to ensure success that they don’t even show up to the start line?” Gleich says. “You’re definitely not going to win if you don’t show up.”

Gleich’s ski career really took off in 2017, when she became the first woman to ski all 90 lines in The Chuting Gallery, a steep skiing guidebook that chronicles the most coveted, difficult descents in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains. Then, in 2018, she climbed and skied 26,906-foot Cho Oyu, the world’s sixth-highest peak, and solidified her reputation as a talented high-altitude mountaineer. She has appeared on the covers of Powder, SKI, and Backcountry, picked up sponsors like Patagonia, Clif Bar, Leki, and Julbo, and gone on expeditions in Peru, Ecuador, Alaska, Antarctica, the Himalaya, and the Karakoram.

She is also no stranger to Sisyphean political tasks. She has spent much of her professional ski career moonlighting as an environmental activist. As soon as she built an online audience for her skiing—she has —she started using that platform to advocate for protecting public lands and taking action on climate change.

For the past decade, she has gone to Capitol Hill every year to lobby with organizations like Protect Our Winters, Heal Utah, the Access Fund, and the American Alpine Club. She , at a hearing about the climate crisis; spoke at rallies to save the Great Salt Lake; and at the Colorado State Capitol. In 2022, she was to meet President Biden and Vice President Harris and to celebrate the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. She also hosts a podcast, The Caroline Gleich Show, where she talks to guests about topics like , , and . (Editor’s note: The author works as a video contractor for Protect Our Winters.)

Normally, to win an election in Utah, a politician needs to have certain attributes. They tend to be male, Republican, have the backing of large political-action committees, and belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). Gleich is not any of those things. Current gives her a less than 1 percent chance of beating her opponent, Representative John Curtis (who has served in the House since 2017 and does check all those boxes). In 2018, it to win a Senate seat. As of this writing, the Curtis campaign to Gleich’s $665,000.

“I have always been an underdog for my entire life,” Gleich announcing her candidacy. “When I told people about my dreams of climbing and skiing the biggest mountains in the world they told me, ‘You’re too small and delicate, you’re not strong enough, you don’t look like a mountaineer,’ so I’m used to doing what people tell me is impossible.”

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Rab Veil 12 Reviewed

Price: $180
Weight: 10 ounces (without flasks)
Size: S-L (Unisex)
Capacity: 12 liters
Pole Storage: Yes
Hydration: Flasks and bladder

Running packs can often feel like a cumbersome-but-necessary evil: you’d rather not have to wear one, but you need to be able to carry essentials with you. Good packs will lessen this burden by doing a number of things well, and great ones will make you forget you’re even wearing one at all.

The Rab Veil 12 fits into the latter category. It’s a true quiver of one that’s equally suited for an hour-long morning jog as it is for an all-day weekend outing, or even a 100-mile adventure. If you like to do runs of different lengths, but only want to buy one pack, this is the one for you.

This fall, our testers took it out on a variety of outings, including a midday run on the 13-mile Mesa Trail that meanders beneath the Flatirons in Boulder, Colorado, a quick five-mile road session before work, and a four-mile jog to one of the many beautiful alpine lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park. That last mountain adventure truly showcased the Veil’s performance: Imagine arriving at a river, 10 miles into a run and more than ready for a water refill, reaching behind your neck to the shallow pocket where you stashed a filter, quickly replenishing your flasks, and grabbing a snack from a side pocket—all without taking the pack off. That’s the kind of seamless convenience the Rab Veil 12 provides, which allows runners to adjust layers and get what they need without needing to stop for lengthy transitions. That general ease, plus the pack’s comfort and organization, are why it’s one of our favorite hydration packs of the year.

Pockets

The standout feature of the Rab Veil 12 is the sheer number of pockets, their volume, and their easy accessibility while on the run (you can grab and stow things in nine out of 11 of them without taking off the pack). Two large zippered front pockets can easily hold the biggest iPhone on the market and whatever other items you need to keep safe—keys, cards, a Garmin InReach—with room to spare. In addition to dedicated pockets for two 500-milliliter soft flasks, there’s an open pocket behind each of the flask pockets for stuffing snacks or even an external battery to charge a phone during a long outing. You’ll also find large stretchy mesh pockets on the side, a pocket at the back of the neck, a large open compartment on the back, and plentiful bungee cords for strapping bulky jackets. When fully packed, the Veil 12 holds more than it looks like it can, but doesn’t feel oversized and cumbersome when it’s mostly empty.

Comfort

The pack is comfortable to wear for hours at a time, both when it’s mostly empty and when it’s stuffed full. We appreciated the 10-ounce pack’s light weight, while still packed with tons of features—from extra storage to pole carry—that let us tote everything we needed without changing how the pack wears. The pack is built around what the brand calls ‘Mono Mesh Chassis,’ a transparent layer made of durable ripstop and an airy mesh that Rab claims is 50 percent lighter and retains 70 percent less water than other similar constructions. Testers confirmed that it added breathability and reduced the excessive back sweat common when running with a pack. The chassis is also designed to add support and reduce bounce (and it does both things well). Stretchy side panels combined with bungee cords on the sternum allowed us to customize the fit perfectly while on the go, which made the pack feel more like part of our body or an extra layer of clothing—and less like a backpack.

Performance

The Veil 12 is a trusty companion for runs of all lengths, but it really shines on all-day adventures. The pack has a spot for everything you need while on the move: a filter, sunscreen, chapstick, water, a wind shirt, fleece, a snack, or your phone to consult a map or take a photo. On an 11.5-mile out-and-back to Black Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, one tester appreciated that the large back compartment made it easy to stash a puffy, which he threw on at the lake at 10,600 feet. Our testers liked stuffing most of their gear in the front and side pockets for easy access and saving the larger compartment for lighter layers. They reported that the water flask compartments were “slightly bouncy,” but not enough to be annoying.

Comparison

The competitive Salomon ADV Skin 12 feels a little more compact and snug than this one, but the Veil outshines it in the breathability department.

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There’s a running pack for everyone these days. Are you a trail aficionado, or more of a road-only type? Hungry for vert,Ìę or like to go long?Ìę From fast-and-light styles to options that hold everything you could possibly want, there’s a pack that will meet your needs.

The Winners at a Glance

• Best for All-Day Outings:
• Best for Quick Trips:
• Best for Racing:
• Best for Training: La Sportiva Trail Vest 5L
• Best for Fastpacking:
• Best for Weekend Long Runs:
• Best for Multisport Use:

The Best Running Packs of 2024 Reviewed

Best for All-Day Outings: Rab Veil 12 ($180)

Weight: 10 ounces without flasks
Sizing: S-L (Unisex)
Capacity: 12 liters

Pros:

• Soft fabric
• Huge, plentiful pockets

Cons:

• Water flask slightly bouncy

Pockets are my love language. I’m particularly a sucker for zippered front pockets, and this pack has two. Last year our testers fawned over the buttery fabric, giant mesh pockets, and easy-on-the-eyes aesthetic of the 6-liter version of this pack. With this year’s new 12-liter capacity, our favorite ultra race pack has become our new long-distance go-to. The two zippered front pockets are ideal for long runs: we put a phone and InReach Mini in one (there’s a small separate mesh compartment that keeps them secure) and cards and cash in the other. There are two flask pockets, two large open mesh pockets behind the zippered ones, and two gigantic side access mesh pockets that wrap around the back. There’s also an open neck pocket on the back with a secure zip pocket inside (which I found great for an external battery for charging my phone on a long effort) and a large zippered compartment for extra food and layers, with a pocket for a 2-liter bladder. Bungees on the back secured other odds and ends and front and back pole storage gave tester Blair Callaghan quick options to stash gear and candy during a 14-mile trail run in the mountains outside of Seattle.Ìę Ìę

Bottom line: A workhorse for the long-distance lover.

Read More

Best for Quick Trips: Janji Multipass Sling Bag ($56–58)

Weight: 5.8 ounces
Sizing: One Size Fits Most
Capacity: 2 liters

Pros:

• A fanny pack/sling bag carrying style
• Versatile

Cons:

• Hard to access pockets while running

This versatile bag is tiny, but mighty. It can be worn like a standard fanny pack, or over your shoulder like a sling bag, on the front or back. A secondary crossbody strap secures the bag from bouncing while you’re running in sling mode, and can be stowed when you’re not. When not using the strap, you can slide the bag around to the front and grab what you need while on the move. It is the right size to “carry everything you need but nothing you don’t,” said a tester. An outer zip pocket easily holds a phone or wallet, a large internal pocket has a hook for keys and a mesh pocket for cards, and the bungee pocket is perfect for stuffing extra layers or a water flask. The ripstop body adds durability and a DWR finish keeps items dry when the weather changes. I loved that this bag can work for everyday walking and for running. Whether on a quick jog to the post office or an hour-long trail run, we appreciated being able to carry essentials without having to wear a full backpack.

Bottom line: Versatile, comfortable carrying options for when you need to bring things along, but don’t need a full backpack.

Best for Racing: Salomon S/LAB Pulsar 3 ($160)

Weight: 3.17 ounces (Size small)
Sizing: 2XS-XL (Unisex)
Capacity: 3 liters

Pros:Ìę

• Super light and breathable
• Adjustable fit

Cons:

• No pole storage, but can be added for $30

This is the pack for the fast runners among us—and those who appreciate lightweight, breathable gear. The Pulsar’s polyester-elastane material has four-way stretch so it fits like a good hug, and the elastic, bungee cord chest straps allow the wearer to get a mega-custom, comfortable fit by simply tugging on the strap. “I love the hook-and-bungee adjustment system. It’s easy to change the fit on the run (pun intended) as the load changes, and is quick to get on and off. No complaints,” Blair said. Even though the pack is small, it is mostly made up of pockets. On the front, two flask pockets hold Salomon’s 250-milliliter soft flasks (included), one zippered pocket stores valuables, and two large stretchy pockets can fit a few hours of snacks. On the back, a kangaroo pocket holds a puffy, and a pocket at the neck fits an accessible wind layer or a water filter for fast transitions.

Bottom line: Best for anyone’s race day, but especially those trying to podium.

Best for Training: La Sportiva Trail Vest 5L ($129)

Weight: 5.8 ounces
Sizing: Small and Large
Capacity: 5 liters

Pros:Ìę

• Lightweight and breathable
• A versatile, dependable, daily driver

Cons:

• The striped design is not our favorite

Stellar for its size, this no-frills pack just does its job. You can easily take it for both short and long runs. Carry the bare minimum up front—two flasks, a phone in the zippered pocket, and a snack in one of the two front stretch pockets—and it will hold them snugly for a weekday six-miler. Or stuff it full for a weekend long run and it still wears comfortably, thanks in part to the buttery, breathable fabric. A large mesh back pocket and a back kangaroo pocket are “ideal for cramming full of everything you don’t need frequent access to,” tester Mike notes. “Although, you can easily pull a puffy from the back kangaroo pocket while you’re running.” The company says the pack will be released in June.

Bottom line: Easily could be the one-pack quiver for most runners.

[Available in June 2024]

Best for Fastpacking: Outdoor Vitals Skyline 30 Fastpack ($198)

Weight: 20.6 ounces (S/M); 21.6 ounces (M/L) without flasks
Sizing: S/M and M/L (unisex)
Capacity: 26 liters (S/M) – 31 liters (M/L)

Pros:

• Incredibly lightweight for the capacity
• Well-ventilated for all-day wear

Cons:

• Only two sizes

This new fastpacking piece from Outdoor Vitals stood out for its ability to support our fast intentions and multi-day efforts, with hydration pack features in the front and storage in the back. The front has two flask pockets, two zippered pockets, and two pockets with a bungee closure. Two side pockets can hold extra water or even a tent or sleeping pad. The roomy main compartment can fit everything you need for multiple days out on the trails with ease and there’s an internal zip pocket for valuables like car keys, or it can also fit a bladder. A stretch pocket on the back fits a puffy, or even crampons, and there’s a spot for carrying an ice ax, which makes this pack a trusty companion no matter the conditions. The roll top closure combined with a water-resistant finish protected our gear from whatever weather we encountered. To make this pack comfortable for an overnight trip in the San Juans, I fine-tuned the chest straps, which can be adjusted horizontally and vertically. A shoulder harness helps evenly distribute weight, and a foam back panel offers added support and comfort. I loved the pass-through sleeve on the bottom to store a puffy, and the zippered bottom pocket for trash. If you want a pack that is comfortable to wear all-day, day-after-day, this is the one.

Bottom line: Fastpackers or runners going long who need to carry extra gear.

Best for Weekend Long Runs: Salomon Adv Skin 12 ($160)

Weight: 10.33 ounces
Size Range: łĘł§â€“Xłą
Capacity: 12 liters

Pros:Ìę

• Customizable fit
• Good for both short and long runs

Cons:

• Can chafe a little at the back of the neck, depending on shirt

The Skin 12 feels like a good hug—tight but not suffocating. Stretchy bungee cord adjustments provide an ĂŒber-custom, snug fit and prevent flask sloshing and bouncing. Our testers loved all 13 (!) accessible pockets on the vest. It has all the expected mesh flask and snack pockets, plus zippered pockets for valuables, a large mesh kangaroo pocket on the back for big layers, and a sneaky bonus stretchy pocket behind the neck. On a 25-mile trail run, one tester stashed her wind shirt and water filter in the top rear pocket to avoid having to ever take off her pack. The Skin 12 fits everything you need for a triple-digit run, yet one tester also noted that the vest “wasn’t cumbersome for a six-mile run where I wasn’t carrying much.”

Bottom Line: A perennial favorite for its adaptable fit, convenient organization, and comfort over the long run

Best for Multisport Use: Black Diamond Distance 15 ($180)

Weight: 12.7 ounces
Sizing: ł§â€“L
Capacity: 15 liters

Pros:

• Durable and rugged
• Great for different uses

Cons:

• Too much pack for shorter runs

The Distance 15’s 200-denier fabric is woven with a heavyweight polyethylene yarn that Black Diamond claims is stronger than steel relative to its weight. It held up admirably against sharp rocks and crampon snags on Colorado’s Longs Peak. Ice-ax holders and trekking-pole sleeves boost the pack’s versatility on trail, snow, and rock, while two flasks, a reservoir attachment, four front pockets, and a roomy main compartment support triple-digit mileage. Even half-full on a mellow 15-mile run, the Distance didn’t bounce.

Bottom Line: Light and comfortable enough for running with the storage and durability needed for mountain adventures

How to Buy

Fit: Nothing compares to putting on a running hydration vest, filling up the flasks, and taking it out for a spin. Comfort is always the first thing to consider. How does the material feel? Are there any pressure points or places that rub? Can you get it nice and snug? The second thing is bounce. Nothing makes the miles feel longer than a water flask sloshing around with every step you take. Make sure you try it with the weight ranges you’ll likely be carrying.

Size: To get the right fit, you need to get the size right. Since sizes vary between brands, start by checking the brand’s measurements, and then measuring yourself. The vest should feel snug, but not restrictive. If it’s hard to take a full breath without battling the straps, it’s too small. If there are gaps in the fabric around the shoulders, it’s likely too big. If you are maxing out the straps in either direction — cinched all the way in, or all the way expanded — consider shifting sizes. Finally, if you’re having trouble finding packs that fit properly after trying all of this, try a different size option. If men’s packs aren’t fitting right, try a unisex or women’s-specific model and see if that helps. °ÂŽÇłŸ±đČÔ’s packs typically have more room around the bust, are narrower in the shoulders and are shorter. For the final test, load up the pack (at the very least with a full flask) and see how it feels with a little bit of weight.

Preferences: The final consideration is personal preferences: Does the pack meet your specific needs for what you want to do with it? Some people, for example, demand a zippered front pocket, or pole storage, or large pockets capable of holding many easy-to-access snacks.

How We Test

• Number of testers: 3
• Number of products tested: 24
• Number of miles: 240
• Number of vertical feet: 38,100

We tested all over the Rockies and the Pacific Northwest, throwing on packs for easy weekday road miles and sunrise trail runs. Our testers included two women and one male of varying heights and preferences. One tester loves to push speed, while another just likes to be out in nature plodding along. We logged all runs in a spreadsheet and ranked them for comfort, bounce, pockets, pros, and cons.

Meet Our Lead Testers

Anna Callaghan is a longtime șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű contributor based in Boulder, Colorado—which happens to be a great place to test running hydration vests. She’s managed the category for the last few years, and this year enlisted another Boulderite, plus a Seattle-based tester (her twin sister, Blair, who is a physical therapist and ultra running coach) to help put these packs through the ringer.

The post The Best Running Hydration Vests of 2024 appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

It took them just three months and one day. Their time smashed the previous record, which was held by Nirmal (Nims) Purja, who became a celebrity mountaineer after climbing the mountains inÌęsix months and seven days.

Harila is a former professional cross-country skier who came to mountaineering somewhat recently. In 2015, Harila climbed Africa’s Kilimanjaro, and despite getting severe altitude sickness, got hooked on the sport. In 2019, she quit her job as an executive at a furniture company to climb. That same year she went to the Himalaya for the first time, summiting peaks like Lobuche East (20,075’) and Putha Hiunchuli (23,773’). In 2020, she sumitted Aconcagua. Then in 2021 she summited Everest and neighboring 27,940-foot Lhotse in just under 12 hours, which was a record at the time.ÌęTenjin has been working in the mountains since he was 16, and was integral to this record, ensuring both summits and safety throughout the project. He’s from Makalu, where he lives with his wife and their two teenage boys.

Harila decided to attempt the 8000ers record after seeing Purja’s success in 2019.ÌęHer goal was to empower women and demonstrate that women have a place in a sport that is dominated by men.

The previous record—seven years and ten months—was held by South Korean climber Kim Chang-Ho, who was simply on a mission to summit all 14 peaks. He became the 43rd person in history to completeÌęthe feat. Notably, Chang-Ho didn’t use supplemental oxygen, while Purja and Harila did. (Purjais currently working to climb all 14 without oxygen and recently posted that he has two peaks remaining).

When Chang-Ho summited his final 8000er in 2013, just under eight years was considered pretty dang fast. It took renowned Italian alpinist Reinhold Messner—the first person to climb all 14 peaks—16 years to do it (he also climbed without oxygen and put up new routes along the way).

The pace at which Purja and Harila ascended the 8000ers may make these mountains seem trivial, but for most mountaineers, summiting just one of these peaks is considered a lifetime achievement. On every 8,000-meter peak climbers must move through what’s called the Death Zone, the area above 26,000 feet where there’s not enough oxygen to sustain human life. Some seasons, these peaks record few summits—or none at all—due to dangerous conditions and bad weather. Climbing just one requires a significant investment of time and cash—usually two months and tens of thousands of dollars for travel, guiding fees, and other costs.ÌęDoing it quickly requires a climber to have access to ample support staff, guides, porters, supplemental oxygen, and helicopters. Or, put more simply: lots and lots of money.

To help fund her first attempt at the record in 2022, , Harila relied on sponsors and her own savings. Prior to sponsors joining her, Harila was forced to sell her apartment to finance the project. During Purja’s attempt, he remortgaged his house.

Harila was on track to set the record during that initial 2022 attempt, but she couldn’t get permits to climb in Tibet, which stymied her effort by delaying her climbs on 26,335-foot Shishapangma and 26,864-foot Cho Oyu. China had closed its borders to foreigners due to the pandemic, refusing to grant her access. In late April of 2023, her permits came through and she was able to reach both summits—she had completed allÌę14 peaks in just 1 year and 5 days. But, she still wasn’t the fastest. So she decided to re-climb the other 12 peaks and try for the record again.

Speed records are a more recent phenomenon, and in the last few years the goal of climbing fast has drawn more attention to the 8000-meter peaks. As the peaks have gotten more attention, fiery debates once confined to niche climbing circles have risen to the mainstream. Chief among these isÌę of the 8000-meter peaks have actually stood on top of the true summit, or the very highest geographical point. Eberhard Jurgalski, who runs the website 8000ers.com and unofficially keeps the records, says that . Purja is among them, he says. Jurgalski says Purja during his record attempt, but rather the foresummits (Purja has since reached the true summits of both, and also still claims his record). So, if you’re in Jurgalski’s camp, when Harila summited all 14 of the peaks this April, her time of one year and five days was actually the fastest time because she reached each of the mountain’s true summits. on June 7 announced that “Kristin has beaten Nimsdai’s 14x 8000m True Summit Record With Oxygen.”

Another point of tension, which has persisted throughout the history of Himalayan climbing, exists between Western climbers seeking summits and the local climbers and guides who support them. The former might garner fame, media attention, and celebrity, while those in support roles often gain little and risk a lot. In 2013, șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű described the industry as a dangerous anomaly: “no service industry in the world so frequently kills and maims its workers for the benefit of paying clients.”

For her 2022 attempt, Harila hired Nepali guides Pasdawa Sherpa and his uncle Dawa Ongju Sherpa.ÌęWhile climbing Broad Peak, the two Sherpas were breaking trail through untrammeled snow when they were swept off their feet in an avalanche. Unhurt, they continued on and were hit by another slide. Despite the obvious risk, they continued to the summit anyway, telling șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű that they “did it all for Kristin.”

But the two Sherpas soured on Harila after she left to climb in China in April without them. Harila that she’d invited Pasawa and Dawa to climb Cho Oyu and Shishapangma with her, but that who was granted visas was out of her control. The record would have changed the Sherpas’ careers. Though Dawa Ongju has 37 summits of 8000-meter peaks, he knows that they’re not enough: records have become currency.

For her 2023 attempt, Harila enlisted the support of Seven Summit Treks and Tenjin Sherpa, who led the way on all 14 peaks. On April 26, Harila summited her first peak of the project, Shishapangma. In an Instagram caption she wrote of the difficulty of the climb, thanking Tenjin for his help. “He carried so much rope up, and without him this summit would not have been possible,” she wrote.

Harila and the team faced a number of challenges over the last three months: a long summit day on Dhaulagiri, a UTI on Makalu, getting off-route on 28,169-foot Kanchenjunga, dangerous avalanche conditions on 26,545-foot Annapurna, controversy , a trip to the hospital after Manaslu, and altitude sickness on 26,660-foot Nanga Parbat.

Speed records do not necessarily measure mountaineering skill, especially if the record-setters are guided. And they’re not for the thin-skinned: neither Harila nor Purja have achieved their goals without ample controversy. For Harila to find success, many variables had to line up: funding, weather, snow conditions, logistics, and personal health. And she had to rise to the occasion with immense strength, tenacity, sustained mental fortitude, and imagination.

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At 1 A.M. on October 4, 2022, Ankush Sharma woke for tea. He was high on India’s Draupadi Ka Danda II, an 18,600-foot peak in the Gangotri range of the , near the Chinese border. The mountain, often called DKD2, is surrounded by intimidating 6,000-meter giants like Thalay Sagar, Shivling, and Meru—the latter home to the Shark’s Fin, a wall of granite that was first climbed in 2011 by Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Renan Ozturk and chronicled in the popular 2015 documentary Meru. DKD2, while 3,200 feet shorter and far less severe in comparison, is still glaciated and crevassed, and it harbors some of the same deadly hazards as the range’s fabled peaks.

Sharma, then 23, was on a 28-day advanced mountaineering course run by the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM), one of India’s top climbing schools. Around him the other students were waking up, too. It was summit day. șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű it was breezy and snowing lightly—“slittering” some of the students called it.

, a 28 year-old from Mumbai with short brown hair, slept for an extra hour instead of getting up for tea. Lalwani once had a busy marketing job with little free time, but he quit after discovering hiking in 2015. The outdoors changed the course of his life. Another 28-year-old, Deep Thakkar, a part-time fund manager who wore a close-cropped beard and glasses, wanted to climb iconic mountains, like Nepal’s Ama Dablam, so he moved from the coastal Indian city of Gujarat north to the mountains in the state of Himachal Pradesh to train. DKD2 would be his first 5,000-meter peak.

By 3:30 A.M. the sky was clear. From Camp 1 at 15,800 feet, seven instructors led 34 students, three porters, and one nursing assistant who worked for NIM out into darkness. A solo climber unaffiliated with the group who planned to ski off the top set out after them. He was the only other person on the mountain. It was NIM’s first trip to the summit since the pre-monsoon climbing season in the spring. When the group reached their first landmark, Rambo Rock, at about 16,800 feet, they clipped into a fixed line—the first of many that day—and used ice axes and crampons to navigate the brief rocky section. Lalwani was in the middle of the long, tightly packed row, their headlamp beams bobbing up and down upon the snow as they right and weaved upward, carefully skirting small cracks in the glacier. Soon the sky started to brighten with the first hints of morning. Those at the front of the pack broke trail through snow. As they ascended the final stretch, they passed just uphill of a deep, narrow crevasse.

Yes! This is going to happen, Thakkar thought when the summit came into view. A few instructors and strong students had nearly reached it already and were fixing ropes that would make the final 500 feet easier for the others still en route. All 46 climbers were together on the slope, and almost everyone was attached to the fixed line with a carabiner, waiting to move up. They wore standard-issue orange helmets, and jackets in reds and blues with a NIM patch on the chest.

As they climbed, a small amount of snow slid down from above. “Hey, it was a mini avalanche,” Lalwani said. Though it wasn’t enough to knock anyone off their feet, the slide alarmed Lalwani. He calmed himself with the knowledge that NIM had been taking climbers to DKD2 since 1981; he’d never heard of an accident.

Just after 8:30 A.M., Sharma reached the summit snowfield at the end of the fixed line, unclipped himself, and walked toward one of his instructors who was already on the top. Behind him, a crack shot silently across the slope and released a large slab avalanche. Everything below the fracture line began to move as the entire slope broke into chunks of snow and ice that flowed like water. A few hundred feet below, Thakkar watched in horror. There was no time to react. The slide toppled climbers, gaining momentum as it churned downhill. The man uphill from Lalwani fell on top of him. Lalwani plunged his ice ax into the snow, hoping to arrest their movement, but they were swept down the mountain. As they slid, he tried to keep his head above the mass of snow, but he felt like he was drowning.

Sharma, nearing the summit, glanced over his shoulder. TheÌęfixed rope was gone. His friends had all vanished. And yet he’d heard nothing: no screams, no commotion. “Everything happened in the blink of an eye,” he says. “And everything happened in silence.”

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On June 5, Jack Kuenzle, a 27-year-old former Navy SEAL, set a new fastest known time (FKT) on Alaska’s 20,310-foot Denali, going airstrip to airstrip in a stout ten hours and 14 minutes. His effort bested the existing FKT held by Swiss-Ecuadorian climber Karl Egloff by an hour and a half. Kuenzle has been steadily picking off FKTs on popular snowy peaks in the lower 48 over the last year: Hood (1:31:31), Rainier (3:04:31), and Shasta (2:30:48). This year, he set his sightsÌęon Denali.

“It’s Denali, it’s the highest peak in the U.S., it’s ultra-prominent, and it’s skied a lot from the summit,” said Kuenzle, while hiding from a thunderstorm in the bathrooms at Chautauqua Park in Boulder, Colorado, after finishing a run on Green Mountain, a week after he set the record. “Having a competitive record was also a really big motivation
It’s a couple steps up from what I’d been doing.” To Kuenzle, due to the peak’s scale and high altitude, Denali felt like much more of an alpinism record and made his other recordsÌęlook more like “skimo racing in a resort.”

The Seven Summits, the highest peak on every continent, each have their own individual challenges and require different skills, but they do share one element that sets them apart from most other objectives—high altitude. The shortest peak is Puncak Jaya/Carstensz Pyramid at 16,023 feet. (We’re including both 7,310-footÌęKosciuszko and Puncak Jaya on this list because both count for Seven Summits records, but the latter has emerged as the consensus summit as it’s the highest peak on the continent of Oceania while the former is the highest on mainland Australia).

A few athletes best known for trail running are now concentrating on making bids for speed records across all Seven Summits, like Tyler Andrews and Fernanda Maciel. Kuenzle, who on trails before getting bored and deciding to develop his skills on more technical, mountainous terrain, says he has no interest in attempting FKTs on any of the other Seven Summits after Denali. Nor is he planning to defend his new Denali record. “I just don’t know if I’ll ever get that lucky on weather again,” he said on the phone.

As far as FKTs go, the variability of conditions and other factors often make the records difficult to compare cleanly. Kuenzle would rate his weather as a 10/10. He basically wore the same outfit the entire time (tights and a sun hoody), which is indicative of how favorable conditions were. On , Kuenzle wrote that while his effort was 90 minutes faster than Kilian Jornet’s, he is “in no way 90 minutes faster than him on this terrain.” Given all of these variables, says Kuenzle, it’s important that style between attempts is matched. Meaning things like whether an effort is unsupported (no outside help) or supported (help allowed), but mainly that the location of the start and finish are the same. On Denali, the airstrip structures at basecamp move every year, which is why Egloff, Jornet,Ìęand Kuenzle all started in slightly different spots. Additionally, while Jornet and Kuenzle attempted the record in the same style and both used skis, EgloffÌęemployed a different style and did the whole thing on foot.

The website FastestKnownTimes.com (owned by șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű’s parent company șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Inc.) verifies and chronicles FKT attempts in the U.S. and many around the world. The most popular ones (including California’s 211-mileÌęJohn Muir Trail and the 42- or 48-mileÌęRim-to-Rim-to-Rim route in the Grand Canyon) are running/hiking paths on well-marked dirt trails, but many of the routes on the Seven Summits are far more difficult or have unique challenges that set them apart and require specific skills.

Below, we break down the FKTs on these peaks as they stand and dig into the challenges each one poses. While most of these FKTs were done on foot, a few of them were done on touring skis—like Denali and Elbrus. Over the years, as gear gets better and lighter and streamlined tactics continue to be honed, it’s likely that the times will continue to get faster. “The worst case scenario is 50 years from now, all these records still stand because nobody ever attempted them again,” says Kuenzle.

Denali

Continent: North America

Height: 20,310

Average Guided Commercial Trip Length: 21 days

Route: West Buttress

FKTs: Jack Kuenzle (); Katie Bono ()

Kuenzle, who cut his FKT teeth on gnarly long-distance routes like the 66-mile Bob Graham Round in the UK (beating Kilian Jornet’s time by just shy of 30 minutes), had never climbed Denali before. On the day of his record attempt this year, the highest he’d been on the peak was 17,000 feet. While guided parties climb the mountain on foot, Kuenzle’s attempt was on skis. Kuenzle took Karl Egloff’s 2019 record, and Egloff had bested Jornet’s 2014 record by only four minutes. Katie Bono, the female record-holder, set her FKT in June 2017.

That’s not to say that Denali isn’t a huge challenge. It’s a serious peak that has fatalities every year from its various hazards: crevasses, high altitude, icy conditions, and severe weather. Guided parties typically spend at least two weeks on the peak dragging heavy sleds, ferrying loads, acclimatizing, and waiting for a weather window. “It’s intimidating. The terrain is just so huge,” says Kuenzle, adding that given the breadth of the route (spanning 33.61 miles round trip from around 7,000 feet to over 20,000 feet), it’s almost a given that you’ll encounter challenging conditions somewhere on the route.

Everest

Continent: Asia

Height: 29,035 feet

Average Guided Commercial Trip Length: 65 days

Route: South side ascent (Base Camp to summit)

FKT: Lakpa Gelu Sherpa (10h 56m); Ada Tsang Yin-Hung (25h 50m)

Everest is the world’s highest peak and the only summit that requires spending time in the so-called “death zone,” or above 26,000 feet where the oxygen level is too low to sustain human life (climbers typically try to minimize the time spent above that altitude). Everest is also tall enough to contend with the jet stream, which means that the top of the peak can be subject to winds as high as 70 miles per hour.

Lakpa Gelu Sherpa holds the record for the fastest ascent of Everest, with a time of 10 hours and 56 minutes, climbing from Base Camp to the summit via the South side in Nepal on May 25, 2003. In 2004, Pemba Dorje Sherpa claimed that he completed the same route in 8 hours and 10 minutes—earning a Guinness World Record title that stood for 13 years. But Lakpa Gelu challenged the veracity of Pemba Dorje’s claim, and ultimately a Nepalese court sided with Lakpa Gelu. Pemba Dorje was stripped of his record and Lakpa Gelu’s speed record is now acknowledged as the FKT on the mountain’s South side. Ada Tsang Yin-Hung notched the women’s FKT on this route in May 2021.

Kilian Jornet holds the record on the North side, which is accessed via China and sometimes poses bureaucratic hurdles. On May 22, 2017, he went up the North Face from Base Camp without fixed ropes or supplemental oxygen (both of which Lakpa Gelu and Pemba Dorje used), and then returned to Advanced Base Camp in 26 hours, setting an FKT on a route that previously had no speed record. ÌęThere’s been some dispute over Jornet’s feat, however, due to what some call inadequate verification.

Aconcagua

Continent: South America

Height: 22,841 feet

Average Guided Commercial Trip Length: 21 days

Route: Most have been on the route from the Horcones trailhead to the summit and back

FKT: Tyler Andrews (11h 24m 46s); Dani Sandoval (20h 17m 0s)

Aconcagua is not a technical summit, but its high altitude and frequent harsh weather make it a difficult undertaking. The climb is pretty straightforward, but it’s not a gimme. There’s no guarantee that commercial parties, who spend a few weeks on the mountain, will get a weather window. It is often cold, dusty and windy, but you could also get snow.

Tyler Andrews set his FKT this February, breaking Karl Egloff’s record by about 27 minutes. Dani Sandoval set hers in January 2018.

Kilimanjaro

Continent: Africa

Height: 19,340 feet

Average Guided Commercial Trip Length: 15 days

Route: Any round trip

FKT: Tyler Andrews (6h 37m 57s); Fernanda Maciel (10h 6m 0s)

Kilimanjaro, a non-technical climb with a slightly lower elevation, is often considered the easiest of the Seven Summits. requires athletes to run a little over aÌęmarathon (26.4 miles) with almost 14,000 feet of elevation gain at altitude, but one of the biggest hurdles is logistical. Climbers have to have a local guide and a permit to climb. When Tyler Andrews set the FKT in March he wrote about a “bureaucratic nightmare” with his guiding company that required him to leave the park and re-enter it, which “nearly cost us the opportunity to even attempt this record.”

Female FKT-holder Fernanda Maciel set her record in September 2017.

Elbrus

Continent: Europe

Height: 18,510 feet

Average Guided Commercial Trip Length:Ìę 14 days

Route: Round trip from Azau Valley

FKT: Karl Egloff ()

Elbrus is a snow-covered peak that’s moderately technical. The route is about 15 miles with almost 11,000 feet of elevation gain. Egloff set his record while he was racing the Elbrus Skymarathon, in which 500 athletes run to the summit of the peak and back every year, in May 2017.

Vinson

Continent: Antarctica

Height: 16,050 feet

Average Guided Commercial Trip Length: 20 days

Route: Round trip from base camp to the summit and back via the Branscomb Shoulder

FKT: Fernanda Maciel ()

Of the Seven Summits, Vinson is the most remote. Getting to Antarctica typically requires flying to Punta Arenas, Chile, and then taking another weather-dependent flight to the snowy runway at Union Glacier. Vinson is not particularly tall, but it’s snowy and steep in places, and requires crampons, an ice axe, and roped travel. One of the most difficult parts of the climb is contending with the extreme cold (as chilly as negative forty degrees) and harsh weather conditions on the continent. Self-care is crucial as errors, like exposing bare skin for too long (or at all), can result in frostbite.

Fernanda Maciel set her FKT, the only known speed record on Vinson, in December 2022.

Carstensz Pyramid (Punta Jaya)

Continent: Oceania

Height: 16,023 feet

Average Guided Commercial Trip Length:Ìę 11 days

FKT: none

Carstensz Pyramid, on the south coast of New Guinea in Indonesia, is a high-altitude rock climb and the most technical of all the summits. It entails scrambling, fifth class rock climbing up to 5.6, an airy Tyrolean traverse, and a series of rappels to descend. In addition to the physical difficulties, there are other challenges that have nothing to do with climbing. There’s the fickle equatorial weather to deal with, and political and bureaucratic problems. When he climbed it, mountaineer Alan Arnette wrote that he heard of climbers being “stranded at remote airports, porters abandoning teams, malaria and more.” We haven’t found any records of the FKT on this peak. (Note: if you have this record, please reach out and we will update this piece.)

Kosciuszko

Continent: Oceania

Height: 7,310 feet

Done Easily Without Guides

FKT: Ben Plunkett (10h 55m 42s)

We’re including Kosciuszko because it’s traditionally been counted as one of the Seven Summits—it’s the highest peak on mainland Australia—though mountaineers are increasingly considering Carstensz Pyramid as the true highest point on the continent of Oceania. Kosciuszko only takes four to fiveÌęhours to hike on an easy-to-follow path. On the main route you can take a 15-minute chairlift to get to the start of the climb. On the other side, hikers can follow an old road that goes almost all the way to the summit. The FKT we have listed here is actually for 15 peaks in the area (Kosciusko was the 11th peak on the attempt) so we include it given the absence of a straight Kosciuszko FKT. (Note: if you have this record, please reach out and we will update this piece.)

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If there’s one thing that will burn you on a hut-to-hut ski trip, it’s packing too much stuff. It’s worth spendingÌęthe time to packÌęall the right things, and nothing extra. For me, on a backcountry hut trip this spring in the Alps, that meant choosing items that were lightweight, highly functional, and didn’t stay wet or get smelly. Here are pieces that met or exceeded expectations and emerged as my favorites.

The Hat Quiver: ($38) and the ($115)Ìę

I had the lightweight, fleecy Skida Low Pile Hat on my head most of the time. It cut the wind and kept my ears toasty during cold tour days and was a stylish way to cover my gross hair at night in the hut. On sunny days I swapped it for an old ball cap with a flippable brim that fit under my helmet. For the in-town aprĂ©s scene I donned the Tio Lee Fargo (there’s nothing wrong with a little fashion!). It’s warm, aesthetically different from most hats I wear, and added a little flare to the puffy and jeans I wore everyday.Ìę

The Sleeping Bag Liner: ($75)

I often use the ($129), but I chose the Reactor Extreme this time. ItsÌępolyester liner is a little heavier than silk, but I brought it because the next-to-skin feel is much cozier. It claims to add up to 25 degrees Fahrenheit, and I found it warm enough to use it as a standalone sleep system in warmer hut bunks without needing to add the provided quilts.

The Sports Bra: ($60)

The new gold standard! I was on this trip with three other women and we all wore this same merino bra. It’s supportive for ski touring with a longer fit and thick band that ensured it literally never moved and chafed. The wider straps didn’t dig into my shoulders after long days under a heavy pack. I hardly thought about it at all and wasn’t jonesing to take it off at the end of the day. Most importantly, it didn’t smell after two weeks, despite many days with copious boob sweat.

The Oh Shit Puffy: ($800)

An “oh shit puffy” is always critical for those times when the weather turns and you need something to throw on during transitions to stay warm. The Rush was packable and plenty warm, though I was able to skin and ski in it on chillier days without overheating. This might have had to do with the brand’s air-permeable liner, which according to Arc’teryx, “speeds vapour transfer.” The face fabric is durable and wind- and water-repellant, which kept the jacket (and me) dry during a snowy white out day on the Aletsch glacier.

The Pack: 38 S ($210)Ìę

With each transition, be it from snow to hut or skinning to skiing, I was impressed by how well thought out and functional the aptly-named Haute Route pack was. Eight different compartments provide an easy spot to stow everything. I used the front outside zipper pocket for snacks; the top pocket for glasses, liner gloves, and other small essentials, the hip pocket for sunscreen, wax, and a scraper and the separate safety compartment for my shovel, probe, and my ice axe. My favorite feature was the back zipper which allowed me to access everything without unpacking. At night I could pull out my liner and toothbrush from the bottom of my pack without disturbing the other contents.Ìę

The Brain Bucket: ($150)

The photos of this helmet might look a little dorky (most helmets do, to be fair), but I’m a big fan. At just over 10 ounces, it’s lightweight and easy to pack, which makes it less tempting to leave it behind. I removed the visor for this trip, and appreciated the low-profile fit making it easy to put a hat under, or pull a hood over. I was also pleased with the helmet’s breathability. At home in Colorado I never wear a helmet to move uphill, but this one was so low-hassle and well-ventilated that I barely noticed it and often left it on for short ascents. Plus, it’s triple-certified for skiing, climbing, and biking, making it especially worth the price.

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It’s the morning of April 5, 2019, in the middle of spine-hunting season for skiers on Alaska’s monster peaks. The skies are blue and the wind is light. The choppers will fly today. It’s also a new moon, which is relevant depending on who you ask. During this lunar phase, the moon is aligned between the sun and earth, making it invisible. This exerts a stronger gravitational pull, resulting in extremes in ocean tides: high highs and low lows. Those who are spiritually inclined note that it’s a good time for manifestation and setting intentions. While sitting in a treehouse in Palmer, a small town on the outskirts of Anchorage, 28-year-old professional skier Angel Collinson makes a list of all the things she wants in her life: to buy property, to love herself deeply, to dance more often. Then she writes that she wants to sail around the world. She has absolutely no idea where that last one came from.

A few hours later, Collinson stands on top of a thousand-foot line in the Chugach Mountains with fellow pros Nick McNutt and Griffin Post. Her small frame is clad in bright, baggy Gore-Tex. A film crew is waiting.

This is what she’s known for. Collinson built her career snaking beautiful turns down improbable faces. She’s one of the best big-mountain skiers in the world and has racked up nearly every accolade possible: she won the Freeskiing World Tour (twice), scored magazine covers, was the first woman to win Powder magazine’s coveted Line of the Year award, and is notable as the first woman to nab the opening and closing segments in a ski movie, something that typically goes to men. In 2016, this magazine published a piece titled “Angel Collinson Just Broke the Ski Industry’s Bro Ceiling.”

The terrain below the trio is over 50 degrees, has complicated sluff management, and starts with a blind rollover—all typical characteristics of the Alaskan lines they’re used to. The skiing is well within Collinson’s ability, but she has to nail it. She consults a photo of the line on her phone so she can visualize. A familiar rush of cortisol and adrenaline floods her system. She long ago made friends with the fear that joins her in these moments.

Now there’s nothing left to do but ski. McNutt goes first and quickly vanishes over the edge.

“How you feeling?” asks Post, while they wait for their turn.

“Feeling good
 ish,” she says.

“You got this,” says Post, all he can muster as he tries to wrangle his own nerves.

“Yeah
,” she says, as if she’s unsure of her own answer. “I’m so tired of being scared all the time.”

Post drops in. Then it’s Angel’s turn. As she inches out over the edge, the snow below her black Völkls falls away into nothing. She takes a deep breath and drops in, laying down a few smooth turns. She needs to hit the ridge at just the right spot, but comes in a few feet too low. She stops, apologizes to the camera crew over the radio, and resets. She executes a sketchy kick turn and starts again. Almost immediately, her downhill ski punches through an unexpected layer of crust and lodges itself in the snow. The impact whips her backwards, spinning her downhill. Somehow she regains her edges, only to find herself atop a patch of exposed rocks. She hops and side-steps over them in a desperate attempt to recover, but falls again. Maybe I can stop, she thinks.

She can’t. Collinson tomahawks violently down the steep face, picking up speed. Her body cartwheels. Her skis are still attached. She feels a big, obvious pop: ACL, MCL, and meniscus. Post and McNutt watch in horror from below as her body rag-dolls down the face. Her vision blurs into a torrent of white as she tumbles nearly a thousand feet before sliding to a halt near the bottom of the slope.

“I’m all right,” she says calmly over the radio. Then she flips her camera around and films herself. Her face is flushed and her blond locks are a mess of snow and ice. “How do you like my hair?” she jokes, before exhaling. “That was gnarly.”

That morning when Collinson wrote down a list of things that would populate her dream life, skiing wasn’t on it.

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My go-to way to pee when I’m outside is to find a place to pop a squat. Usually behind a leafy tree. Second to a nice, clean restroom, I imagine that’s probably most people’s preference.

But there are times when you simply can’t pull down your pants and pee, like when you’re halfway up a multipitch climb, or sandwiched in the middle of a rope team while crossing a glacier, or even driving on a long stretch of well-trafficked highway with nowhere to hide. At moments like this, you’ll become acutely aware of your anatomical limitations and wish you had a pee funnel handy.

Why Else Do You Need a Stand-to-Pee Funnel?

There are other practical reasons for a funnel. It’s not pleasant to pee outside when it’s blizzarding, and no one wants to leave a warm tent on a cold night to go squat in a snowdrift. Or maybe there’s poison ivy all over the ground, or you’re on steep terrain. Whatever the reason, it’s pretty liberating to be able to drink as much water as you want without having to take into consideration your future pee opportunities.

I’ve long been a pee funnel crusader, but until now I haven’t tested the market to see what’s out there. Ultimately, different funnels are going to work better for different people, so consider your most common activities and what features would work best for you (like an extension tube, or wider funnel, or rigid plastic versus flexible silicone). Also, these things work best with a bit of practice—be sure to note the wind direction and trust the process.

Best Stand-to-Pee Funnels for Every șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű

Best For: Mountaineering

Sani-Fem Freshette ($23)

The was the first pee funnel I ever bought. It does everything just how I want it to, even if it does have some limitations. The hard plastic body is a little larger than other models, which is a problem if space is a concern. The flip side is that the wider funnel helps ensure you won’t pee on yourself. The extension tube has to be inserted into the funnel each time (just like the SheWee), and sadly, I ended up dropping mine into a deep hole when I wasn’t paying attention. (You can buy a replacement for $4.) For me, the extension tube is a key feature, as it allows for a little more flow direction, which means I can aim farther away and more precisely. I’ve found this to be a nice feature while mountaineering, when it’s more difficult to move your body into a better position on a steep slope while tied to other people.

Best For: Mountaineering, Hiking

SheWee Original + Peebol ($13 and $4)

The and Freshette are similar in design: hard plastic funnels with soft plastic extender tubes. The SheWee’s opening is noticeably skinnier than the Freshette’s—roughly half as wide—but it functions equally well. You just need to be a little more confident. Like the Freshette, the SheWee would work well while mountaineering and takes up a little less room. The SheWee funnel and extender tube, like the Freshette’s, can be disassembled and stored. The SheWee comes with a hard plastic protective case, as opposed to the thick plastic bag of the Freshette. It’s worth mentioning that the SheWee comes in a lot of fun colors, whereas the Freshette is offered in a very clinical brown. SheWee also makes something called a , marketed as a pocket-sized toilet. Before use, it’s a flat, phone-sized pouch, which makes it easier to store anywhere and a good option for anyone who’s ever ridden in a car with someone who hates stopping repeatedly for their passenger’s tiny bladder. Use the SheWee to pee into the pouch, which is filled with absorbent granules that can hold up to a liter of liquid, and then securely reseal and reuse it until it’s full. This might sound unnecessary, but in this particular arena, you don’t need it until you need it.

Best For: One-Time Use, Music Festivals

Sani Girl ($25 for 30)

Disposable pee funnels are nice to have around. The is compact, about the size of an iPhone, and lies flat until you give it a squeeze to pop it into shape. These are great for keeping in your bag or car or even your hiking pack for just in case. The funnel is made of industrial-strength paper (like a business card in terms of thickness) and has waterproof construction. The funnel won’t absorb urine and actually sheds moisture quickly. I used mine a few times at an outdoor campsite—it would also be great at music festivals or when public bathrooms are too gnarly to use—before recycling it. You could smoosh the Sani Girl if you tried, which doesn’t make it a great option for jamming through a harness. You’ll want a hard plastic funnel for that.

Best For: When You’re Harness-Bound

pStyle ($13)

Due to its open design, the allows you to get the angle just right in a confined space, making it the most agile of the bunch. It’s made with rigid plastic, but it’s narrow and a little shallower than the others, meaning it can slide more easily through a harness and under jeans (pants with zippers make things easier; high-waisted leggings make it much harder). It’s less of a funnel and more like a baby luge. Due to it being long and short (in terms of height), the pStyle doesn’t need a lot of space to operate. While the upper opening seals against your body, the “spout” portion is not enclosed, which means there’s splash potential if you’re not careful. I was a little nervous that the opening would be too shallow, but it sealed well and worked as advertised even with jeans and a harness. After a couple uses, you’ll get the angle down—start by pressing the pStyle firmly against yourself, lean a little forward, and let gravity do the rest.

Best For: Hiking, Backpacking

Pibella ($20)

The definitely looks intimidating. It’s small, and your window of success is quite literally only about an inch long and a half-inch wide. I was almost certain I was going to get the alignment wrong. Though it looks impossible, it works. I like the Pibella because it’s light, sturdy, and low-profile. The spout is shorter, like the pStyle, which is why I wouldn’t necessarily recommend them for steep or high-alpine environments, where the elements often make it preferable to control direction with an extension tube. The pStyle and Pibella are compact and discreet, however, making them easyÌęto store and making the decision to bring them along easyÌęas well.

Best For: Controlled Environments (Porta-Potties, Gross Public Bathrooms)

GoGirl ($27)

The has a friendly looking design and squishes down to the size of a golf ball. The difference between it and most of the other urination devices listed here is that it’s flexible and made of soft pink silicone rather than rigid plastic. While this makes the GoGirl more comfortable and less intimidating up front, you have to be more intentional about creating a seal. With the hard plastic models, there’s no such thing (short of pain) as applying too much pressure. With the GoGirl, pressing too softly or pressing too hard will not create an adequate seal. The flexible silicone is unforgiving, thus a little trickyÌęto maintain the proper pressure. The instructions say to press with your thumb and middle finger, and hold the device at the front and back. It’s doable, and I did it without issue, but it’s a more awkward position than other models, where you can hold the device anywhere. The GoGirl comes with a foot-long plastic extender that can be trimmed to your desired length. This device is great when you can control variables, like in a public bathroom. Trying to move the soft silicone through pants and under a harness and getting the right angle and pressure without sacrificing the seal would be an experts-only outdoor peeing maneuver.

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