Ama Dablam climbing expedition - Gear

This gear list is provided to help you in the best way to complete your equipment needed for your trek/climb. Most of the things are not only recommendations they are requirements.

Travel equipment

Duffel bag will be offered to you from us or you might want to buy a waterproof exclusive one. Put nametags on it well shown and can’t fall off. Expect your duffel bag to get wet and muddy during our trek. Please don’t bring a duffel bag with wheels; they are nice at the airport but hopeless for our porters to carry. We will keep some of your clothes in the hotel during our trek so please bring a simpler bag to keep them in. It is good if you can lock it for your safety.

Locks for your bags. Please consider that the airport security might want to take a peak in your bag, which makes it better to use zip ties (plastic bands) during Your travel. That will make it easy for security to cut them if they need to check your luggage. Bring several of them so you have enough for your flight home as well.

Hand luggage; make sure that you in an easy way can reach things you need without to take off your bag. It should be big enough to carry things for an overnight stay. Reminder on liquids like perfume, deo stick, toothpaste etc should fit in a 1-litre plastic bag provided from the airport. No bottle can exceed 100ml. If you think your daypack is small enough to fit into the airports regulations on size bring that one as your hand luggage.

Travel wallet, this can be a nice to carry your passport, money, tickets etc There are two different styles to choose between. Either you have the one with a waist strap and you can tuck it inside your shirt or trousers or you bring a model that you can hang around your neck and place inside your shirt. Remember to bring two passport pictures for your Visa.

Passport must be valid for at least 6 months after your trip to Nepal is finished. Make sure that you have empty pages for Visa stamps. It is easy to get a Visa at Your arrival to Kathmandu airport. Bring two passport pictures of yourself.

Trekking equipment

Backpack, 35-45 litres is enough. Make sure it fits you well and has a padded waist belt. In this you carry what you think is most important from day to day during your trek. An extra fleece jacket, shell jacket/trousers in case of rain, snow or windy days You should also carry Your camera, sunglasses, snacks, water etc in your pack.Rain cover for the backpack.

Trekking poles, strong recommendation from us because they will help you to keep your balance and strength during the trek. They will also save your knees enormously, especially downhill. Bring collapsible so you can putt hem in your backpack when not used.

Sleeping bag, down or synthetic is your choice. Make sure it is rated to at least -12 degrees Celsius, a 4-season bag. It can be chilly around Mt Everest Base camp. Inner liner for your sleeping bag, not necessary but nice and soft to sleep in and is also spreading the moisture, which gives the sleeping bag better insulation. Will also help to protect from cold with a couple of degrees.

Garbage bags bring three big ones to stuff your equipment in which will be put in the duffel bag to protect from rain and moisture.

Boots/tennis shoes/socks

Trekking boots, waterproof, Gore-Tex or similar. Not too heavy but stable enough to manage long day treks with easy to mid heavy backpacks. They should be high enough to support the ankles. Make sure they are broken in.

Tennis shoes or sandals for evenings in the teahouses or in Kathmandu.

Socks, three pair of thicker and three pair of lighter ones. Bring a brand that you like and fit you well. Your feet should have space enough in the boot with a combination of two pair of socks and maybe also soles if you have cold feet. Boots fitting to tight on the foot will make them cold. We like Smartwool.

Clothes

Base layer, bring two, one of them expedition weight. It must NOT be cotton, it has to be wool or some kind of synthetic, which transfer moisture to next layer and prevent you from being cold.

Mid layer to be carried on top of your base layer Fleece is great for this layer. Use micro fleece, which is light and has excellent capacity to transfer moisture and is really warm.

Activity clothes like Dry-Fit fabrics. For use more a lower altitude there we will experience hot days during the trek, this clothes dry really quick and you will avoid to get cold when we are sitting down for a lunch or a break. Bring three of them.

Underwear, same thing as for activity clothes. There are a lot of good ones to choose between. Which dries quickly and has wind stopper fabric. We like Houdini.

Shell jacket, waterproof and breathable. For trekkers 2-layer Gore-Tex is enough and for those joining our expeditions we recommend 3-layer Gore-Tex, as it can be cold and very windy on the mountain. Gore-Tex is developing all the time and has now developed what they call Pro-Shell which is breathing better, lower weight and stronger fabrics.

Shell pants, se above. High quality pants with long leg zippers, which makes it possible for you to take the pants on and off without taking off your boots.

Insulated jacket, down or synthetic. It will be cold when the sunsets and it's a great jacket to bring, with hood can be nice.

Trekking/climbing pants, a lot of good pants to choose from. Remember that they should be comfortable and durable.

Gloves/Mitts, Bring a thinner model for the trekking and a thicker one for higher altitude. We recommend mitts if you have cold hands.

Hat, a warn hat in wool (there are great models to buy in Nepal on the trek up manufactured in yak wool) or a good fleece model. A sunhat or a baseball hat a bandana can protect your neck from the sun. If you are cold a balaclava is a great hat.

Casual clothes, for time in Kathmandu. Like shirts, pants and a light jacket.

Swim suit , big chance that we have a hotel with a pool in Kathmandu.

Equipment for teahouses/Base camp

Headlamp, use one which has both LED light and normal light. The LED light is good for reading but for climbing you want something brighter. If it is really cold you might want a headlamp with extended wires so you can keep the battery box in your inside pocket to protect the battery against the cold. If you already have a headlamp with the battery box attached to the lamp, no worries. It is normally not a problem at 6000 meter. Bring spare batteries and bulbs. Petzl Myo 3 is a nice lamp.

Water bottles, bring 2 one-litre bottles with wide opening and foam insulation can be good as protection from cold so your water is not freezing. We like Nalgene. Some like camel bags, if you bring one just remember to insulate the tube or it will freeze.

Camera/video camera, Bring extra batteries and memory cards/film.

Pocketknife, i.e. Victorinox, Leatherman or similar.

Personal accessories

Wristwatch, use one with alarm and light for reading in the dark. Suunto is good.

Sunglasses bring strong models with high protection against the sun. For climbers bring glacier glasses with protection on the side to avoid snow blindness. For those using contact lens, ski goggles with a lighter lens is a nice protection against strong wind and snow. That goes of course for everyone else as well.

Sun block, high protection, at least 30 (even for the lips) some people like Zink paste for extra protection on nose and ears.

First Aid, bring more basic things like aspirin, band-aid, hand sanitizer, tape, compeed (against blisters)

Prescription Medications, like allergy or asthma medication. Lighter sleeping pill for the flight if you prefer.

Towel, small light one and hygiene accessories. Small mirror to use for contact lens, shaving etc.

Hand detergent like Y-3 for easy washing of underwear and socks.

Book/diary/deck/portable videogame.

Music is nice; Bring a MP-3 like an Ipod. The bigger models like Ipod Classic using a hard disc, they sometimes jamming around 4500 meters because of the hard disc is not appreciate the altitude. Rather use Ipod Shuffle or Nano not using a hard disc.

Snacks, the food is great on the trek and in Base camp but please bring your favourites from home. Also consider bringing energy drink mix, energy bars and energy gel or what you prefer to get an extra kick sometimes.

Accessories for climbers joining us to 7000- and 8000 meter expeditions

Ice axe, light straight glacier model between 60-70cm long depending on your height. A strap to the axe can be good to get for steeper climbing or when we are on a ridge. A lost axe will be a big problem.

Crampons, one rule only, your crampon MUST be compatible with your boot. It cannot fall off under any circumstances. Make sure that your crampon has anti snow plates so soft snow cant ball up below them.

Helmet, We climb mountains there it is no big risks of rock falls but if you feel more comfortable with one please bring it.

Harness, Make sure it has adjustable leg slings so you can take it on and off without remove your boots.

Carabineers, four large with locking and two large without locking. Pear shaped.

Ascender, for ascending on fixed rope. Petzl has a good one.

Small repair kit (duct tape, wire etc)

Thermos 1 liter (We like the brand Thermos)

Descender, rappel device like a figure 8. Not an ATC. You want things smooth high up on the mountain.

Prusik rope 6mm, 10 meters to use for jumar, safety line etc.

Climbing boots of highest quality. Like Millet's Everest or La Sportiva Olympus Mons.

Downsuit, like Mountain Hardwear, North Face or RAB, you ca also use separate down jacket and bibs. If you choose jacket and bibs make sure that the bibs has a high waist so you don't get cold.

Sleepingbag, should be able to manage -25 degrees C.

Sleeping matress, Therm-a-rest, Exped or just a thick cellfoam matress, advantage here is that you don¨t need to worry about a leek.

Glacierglasses, with good protection to avoid snow blindness, bring a spare pair for backup.

Goggles for extreme cold and windy situations

Mitts, warm mitts to protect your handsif nothing else for backup in Your pack for rough weather.

Down slippers, down filled sock to wear in Your tent, really nice.