Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork trekking poles. When it comes to poles, don’t stint on price. With two reconstructed knees, these are essential. They also have big snow baskets you can put on as well.
Nalgene water bottles. I had two one-litre ones and two 500ml ones. The small ones fit in your down jacket for summit day.
Two waterproof expedition bags. I had a Mountain Designs one from home and a bigger fake North Face one from Kathmandu. The fake one is still going, just.
Jetboil Sumo stove. Check with your expedition as to the stoves they use. If they don’t use Jetboil bring your own (Tim now uses them!).
Bowl (with a locking lid) and a spoon.
Snivel gear – the creature comforts
iPhone and Bose sport earbuds. Not really “snivel” gear, a phone is pretty much essential, even in the Khumbu. If not for connecting with home, then for listening to music and audiobooks and taking photos.
Mophie iPhone power case. Doubles battery life.
Power Monkey Explorer solar charger. Most of the tea houses have power to charge your phone. Tents do not, although we had a mini solar farm at Base Camp.
Kindle Paperwhite. Because hauling book bricks around is stupid. The backlight on the Paperwhite means you can read it in your tent at night without a headtorch.
First aid kit. It’s “snivel” gear because it usually involves things to keep you more comfortable (ibuprofen) than alive. If I needed “keep-me-alive” stuff, Tim had it all.
GoPro. Mine didn’t work up high, which may have just been the extreme cold on our summit day. I’ve seen plenty of awesome GoPro footage from up high on Ama.
Pee bottle. Actually pretty essential for when it’s cold and you can’t leave the tent. Buy a fake Nalgene in KTM and throw it out as soon as you can!
What I took that I didn’t need
Food. I took a heap of snacks and some Gatorade powder. Tim supplied everything and in the Khumbu, local tea houses have enough for basic trekking. That said, a couple of Cliff Bars saved me on summit day.
Thermoses. I had two Camelbak Chute thermoses that were awesome. In retrospect I really only used one, but could have easily got away with none. Used them in Base Camp only.
Extra camera. Used my iPhone exclusively for pictures. I’d probably just get an old cardboard disposable one for backup summit shots. Half the weight of a digital.
Extra stove fuel. Tim’s fuel fitted my stove.
I probably could have stripped out some clothing (extra softshell pants, spare merino top), and maybe ditched my Icebreaker quilted top in favour of my softshell hoodie.
What I didn’t take that I REALLY needed
It’s hard (impossible) to find good throat lozenges and pseudoephedrine tablets in KTM. Buy nose and throat ones that clear the sinuses.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
About the author
I, demens, et saevas curre per Alpes,
Introduction
October 2016 - Australia
November 6 - Kathmandu
November 7 - Kathmandu
November 8 – Kathmandu, Lukla, Monjo
November 9 – Monjo, Kyangjuma
November 10 - Kyangjuma
November 11 - Kyangjuma
November 12 – Pangboche, Ama Dablam Base Camp
November 13 - Base Camp
November 14 - Base Camp
November 15 - Advanced Base Camp
November 16 - ABC
November 17 - Camp 1
November 18 - ABC
November 19 - Camp 1
November 20 - Camp 1
November 21 - Camp 1
November 22 - Base Camp
November 23 – Camp 1
November 24 – Camp 2
November 25 – Summit day
November 26 – Camp 2.9
November 27 - Base Camp
November 28 – Base Camp
November 29 - Base Camp
November 30 – Namche Bazaar
December 1 – Kathmandu
Getting there and a gear list
The Mother's Necklace Page 12