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When my Hyperlite Prism pack arrived in the mail I thought it was a mistake. The cardboard box was stretched and slender, like I’d been sent a rolled piece of artwork, instead of the squat box I’d imagined. And though I shouldn’t have worried (there was in fact a pack inside), that first impression set the tone for my next 12 months of testing; a lovely year of few complaints, several surprises, and a resounding satisfaction in my choice of pack.
Who and what the Prism is for
The Prism is a 40-liter alpine-climbing pack intended for one- to four-day missions. I’ve found it to excel in particularly snowy and cold environments for three main reasons: 1) it has a clever ice-tool carry system that doesn’t require you to lash the head of your tool to the pack (it slips into a diamond-shaped pocket instead); 2) it is damn near fully waterproof; 3) it has a fixed crampon pouch, which feels a bit indulgent while alpine-rock climbing.
The Prism was a worthy pack last October in the Bugaboos, when I bid shirtless sport climbing adieu and hiked into a snowy maelstrom to mixed climb. Our objective was a handsome gash on the North Face of Pigeon Spire; a plumb line with little route-finding required. It did require a large rack of rock gear, twin ropes, deep-winter apparel (-8°F), and a stove, and the Prism humped it all up the Bugs’ notoriously steep approach trail with comfort and support. In an effort to further save weight—at 2.2lbs/979g the pack is already weighted in your favor—I’d removed the Prism’s lid, thinking the dual drawstring closure would repel any invasive snow. I regretted this decision a few hours later, when wave after wave of spindrift pummeled us from above, and resolved right then to always bring the lid when climbing in gullies. (But, to be fair to the drawstring closure, my partner Ian, a veteran alpinist of several decades, called it “the snowiest day of mixed climbing” he’d ever been part of.)
A few months later, again with Ian, we added skis, bivy gear, and two days of food to our pack list and skinned away from the Icefields Parkway near Jasper. The Prism had no issues supporting the added weight, and I appreciated the pack’s versatility (sewn daisy chain, compressions straps) when making last-minute gear decisions and while carrying my skis for a technical scrambling step. After a brief night’s sleep on a glacier we left our bivy gear behind and I relished in the lightness of my pack while torquing up the loose limestone. The wide, padded hip belt was easily removed and stored in the pack—providing unobstructed access to the double rack clipped to my harness—and a tapered bottom fit kept the remaining weight squarely on my lower back. Learning from the Bugaboos, I kept the lid affixed and enjoyed the organization the two pockets offered: belay parka, water, mittens in the main compartment; food, cell phone, and sunglasses in the lid.
Buy the Prism here.
(Minor) Drawbacks
Even when the lid is kept on, the Prism is not without fault. My main gripe is that the compression straps are not removable, which, while only a minor addition to the pack, feel silly to carry up and down a long route when I won’t be using them. My other issue is with the low-profile side pockets which lay so snug to the pack that they are hardly useful when the Prism is full. So: two dings against a pack that is otherwise excellent. C’est la vie.
Why I prefer lids over roll-tops
Finally, I’d like to commend Hyperlite for supplying the Prism with a lid instead of the increasingly common roll-top design. Roll-tops weather spindrift better—there’s no doubt about it. And if you don’t intend to open your pack over the course of a long climb, roll-tops may indeed be the better option. But if you’re stopping to belay, pulling out a jacket, or grabbing a snack, I’ve found packs with lids to be far more practical for two reasons. 1) If you are multitasking (i.e. belaying and drinking water) and a wave of spindrift comes down, you can quickly flip the lid shut and provide some degree of protection against the invasive snow. A roll-top, in contrast, is much harder to close in a hurry. 2) A pack with a floating lid has the opportunity to “expand” its carrying capacity, and thus provides a more secure carry than simply piling equipment across the top of the pack.
Parting thoughts
A lightweight and elegant pack doesn’t need a closing sales pitch; its design speaks for itself. If you are in need of a durable winter-climbing pack that shirks frills and prioritizes convenience, the Hyperlite Prism is a worthy choice.
Anthony Walsh is a digital editor at Climbing.