I never actually used this pack, but my friend did on 20 trip to the Wind Rivers. The hipbelt on his back broke in each side where some plastic attaches it to the frame. Major gear failure. Luckily enough was still attached for us to finish the trip, but we could have easily been SOL.

I'm pretty pleased with my Whitney pack so far. Although I haven't done a ton of trips with it, its definitely seen a fair share of use/abuse as it doubles as my suitcase from time to time. Still, I recently completed a six day/50mile trip through the Great Smoky Mountains through the backcountry and along the AT. I probably had 60lbs+ on my back at the beginning of the trip (yeah, I overpacked) but the load never really felt heavy to my 5'11" 185lbs. The CFS suspension system on this pack is awesome, and offers more adjustment and denser padding than other packs I've looked at. And although normally I'm not a huge organization freak, it was really nice to have so many different access points on this pack to compartmentalize my food, rain gear, etc. I never had to pull a bunch of crap out to get at what I needed, which was nice for sure. Still, my only complaint is that after six days of walking the minimal waterproofing laminate on the lower pocket was worn off from my cookset rubbing against it. No worries though, I have the rain cover for the pack so it stayed dry even in the rain. Overall, I would recommend this pack to anyone that wants to go on week long+ adventures and isn't a minimalist freak. If you're strong hiker, and like a comfortable organized pack, look no further than the Whitney, you won't be disappointed.

the ice axe and tool loops at the botton of the pack are fine, but Gregory uses velcro-ed straps now rather than buckle straps to attach the ice axe / tool handle to the pack's back. The veclro simply doesnt work. your tools and ice axe HANDLES will eventually come undone (this happened to me) and dangle in the back of the pack. NOT good if your climbing in the Andes like I was.

All the newer Gregorys have this feature (except th Denali pro). This is simply a poor enginerring design which needs to be fixed.

The product is okay, average quality, heavy for what you get. The harness system is good, and there is tons of room.
BIG PROBLEM: Gregory the company. If you have to deal with them. I was trying to get a clip from them, one of the buckles broke and they wouldn't send me one, even if I wanted to pay for it. They wanted me to package up the pack and send it to them for a quote on how much it will cost to fix. Um? Spend $25 on shipping to get "quoted" how much it will cost for a $.035 clip? I don't think so. Why does this happen? They wisely outsource their repairs to Summit House...so now my Gregory Pack is at the back of my closet, where it will stay, and I am proudly using an Osprey Pack.