Salewa Ortles Wall 38L Backpack review: a technical pack that delivers

Meet the reviewer

Jessie Leong

A former brand ambassador for Merrell and current Ordnance Survey #GetOutside Champion, Jessie Leong’s lifelong outdoor odyssey began with Duke of Edinburgh’s Award walks in the Peak District. This segued into long hill hikes in the Yorkshire Dales, multi-Eagle Creek Pack-It Essentials Setday treks in the Lake District, scrambles in North Wales and adventures scaling alpine pinnacles.

Salewa Ortles Wall 38L Backpack: first impressions

As someone who writes gear reviews on a regular basis, it’s a joy when technical gear arrives just in time to be thoroughly tested on a planned trip. When the Salewa Ortles Wall 38L hiking backpack arrived, I was about to head off to Europe’s biggest ice cap, Öræfajökull, part of the vast glacier region of Vatnajökull National Park in Iceland, where the bag would be thoroughly put through its paces.

Before the trip we were issued with a long kit list for a four-day training course working on the glacier. The Salewa Ortles Wall 38L backpack is a decent size – large and roomy enough when the straps are uncinched to fit heavy kit, such as crampons, rope and belay jackets, at the bottom, with bulkier but lighter items such as gloves and climbing gear nestled at the top. It’s also conveniently the correct size for carry-on luggage.

The course was set to run regardless of the weather forecast, so I made sure key critical items were in a dry bag for extra protection against the elements. Personally, I was excited to see how the bag would perform being taken on and off in wet, windy, and slightly wild conditions. It was a great chance to see how the different features of the bag would fare not only with wet kit, but also the multiple attachment points for crampons, ice axes and rope which would be taken in and out of the bag at different points in the day.

So how would the Salewa Ortles Wall 38L fare as both a hand luggage bag and as a glacier daypack?

Salewa Ortles Wall 38L Backpack: fit

As someone who is of athletic build, with a slightly longish torso (but short legs!) I’ve tested many packs in my time, some gender specific, some activity specific, and found many with smaller back lengths to be uncomfortable, especially when carrying loads. Fortunately, the Salewa Ortles Wall 38L was amazing for fit, thanks to the non-bulky shoulder straps which have cut out sections that help distribute the weight evenly over the shoulders without feeling too close to the collar bones.

Well-fitting hip belts also ensure that the pack doesn’t over-pull on the shoulder area, and the hip belts had a reasonably sized buckle that could be deployed with gloves on. I found the back of the pack where the EVA pads with 3D channel ventilation were was great to wear – it’s not just the standard straight up and down of other alpine packs which can feel uncomfortable on longer days when the pack is next to skin.

The Salewa Ortles Wall’s EVA pads also help give the bag some stability. This meant I felt comfortable without the sharp objects in the pack causing too much discomfort. There are three adjustable points for the sternum straps so there’s no worries about a chest strap sitting uncomfortably high / low – a key feature in ensuring all-day comfort on longer walks, or while navigating rough and uneven terrain. Fit is critical for challenging terrain, as having a poorly fitting pack can cause problems with balance, so having a bag that was fully adjustable and comfortable to wear (even over five or more layers) was a massive bonus for me.

Salewa Ortles Wall 38L Backpack: functionality

On a glacier guiding course, the pack needed to handle plenty of elements, carrying all the kit required for the day while also providing space for snacks, water and spare layers to be easily accessed, as well as still feeling comfortable after hours of use.

I found the pack’s front compartment pouch was great for spare snacks, but when fully loaded the tension on this pouch increased, and its capacity was reduced when the main pack was full. Due to the contents of the main pack only being accessible via a side zipper or the roll top, the front pocket becomes quite key as the main ‘grab zone’. I would have liked to have seen a slightly wider expanding pocket that could fit in something like a small jacket or map, or a spare layer.

There is also a smaller pocket on the back – just above the nape of the neck – which seems the perfect ‘car key’/first-aid kit pocket. Often if it’s harder to get into the main bag, it means it’s trickier to access key things that help with comfort and keeping on top of personal admin. The smaller pocket was a useful size, but again, was trickier to pack when the bag was fully loaded.

The Salewa Ortles Wall 38L pack has just enough useful straps that minimize flapping about, which is particularly useful when exposed to high winds. It’s worth noting that when mountaineering you’re not always wearing crampons for the whole day – e.g. for the approach to a glaciated area – so side compression straps can be a useful place to store crampons, rather than at the very bottom of the pack underneath all the rest of your kit.

Salewa Ortles Wall 38L Backpack: features

A glacier course was a great place to see how the various features of the Salewa Ortles Wall 38L Backpack functioned in a ‘live’ setting. I found the bag’s rope fixation features, which use a magnetic buckle, a bit fiddly to undo – it’s a case of flipping the two opposing magnets to release this strap. In addition to this rope buckle, the side compression straps help cinch down a rope or attach muddy crampons and ice axes onto the side of the pack. A load control strap also helps with distributing weight evenly so that externally attached items don’t throw the balance off.

One of my favorite features was the ice axe attachment point. It’s easiest to poke the shafts of the ice axes (adze facing down) into the built-in holders, then pop the easy-to-attach fixes which simply thread through the top of the axe. Ice axe protectors then keep the axes from sticking out and hurting someone behind and give them good protection when you’re putting the bag in and out of the car. There are also detachable straps that can be used for a diagonal ski fix – although I will be testing these at a later date in the winter season – and a pole attachment point for ski/walking poles.

What impressed me about the Salewa’s features is that they are all useful functions that are necessary from a mountaineering/climbing perspective. Nothing feels superfluous, and for the keen alpinists, there are features that can be removed to shed weight, such as the removable ISB bar and the hip belt padding.

For ice climbing and glacial travel, however, having multiple heavy items such as ice screws, karabiners and crevasse rescue equipment negates the need to go ‘ultralight’ as durability and accessibility is more important. There were the standard features you’d expect from a mountain pack, such as hydration exits and pole attachments, but also thoughtful additions like having an emergency print on the inside of the front compartment, and reflective print on the front of the bag.

Salewa Ortles Wall 38L Backpack: waterproofing

The Salewa Ortles Wall 38L Backpack is a rugged, well-made pack that’s designed for rough terrain in an alpine environment. The bag is made from a combination of Regen Robic Recycled Nylon Ripstop in both 210D and 420D. Water repellent zippers mean the bag is resistant to water ingress, and a roll top keeps the body of the bag relatively free from water – until you need to get into the pack to retrieve waterproofs and spare layers. I also found that the side zipper wasn’t that useful for me, as I tended to go into the pack from the rolltop, which meant I had to dry the bag out each night because most of the items got damp from being in contact with the glacier. One thing I’d like to see would be a more water-resistant dry bag/pouch inside – there’s a zippered pouch where I stored a notebook and pen but I was worried about how wet it might get when I opened the bag. Similarly, it would have been good to include a rolltop dry bag for the main compartment to add some extra security against water penetration. 

Salewa Ortles Wall 38L Backpack: value for money

Combining useful features with practicality for load carrying in a technical situation requires a rugged and well-built pack to cope with long and demanding situations. I felt comfortable carrying the Ortles Wall 38L backpack, even when it was fully loaded, due to the ease with which I could balance the weight between shoulders and hips. For me, the build quality and the specific mountain/alpine design justifies the cost, and I think it’s a great rucksack for the price.