Ramdung and Parchemo
The following checklist should help you with your packing. As a general rule, you should always try to keep the weight of your equipment to a minimum. Your personal mountaineering equipment (boots, axe, crampons etc) will be carried separately. On arrival at Lukla you will hand these items of equipment to your trek leader who will pack them in communal bags until you reach base camp. For all flights to STOL airstrips in Nepal, the maximum allowance for hold baggage (including your personal mountaineering equipment) AND hand baggage combined, is 15 kg. It is essential you keep the weight of your baggage within this limit. Paying for transportation of excess baggage is not normally an option on these flights. You may be asked by your trip leader to wear your mountaineering boots and clothing on the flight and carry any allowable heavier items on your person. It is possible to leave clothes or other items not required on trek at the group hotel.
You must bring the following items:
Hiking boots
Mountaineering boots - see ‘Mountaineering Equipment’
Snow gaiters
Trainers / sneakers or similar for camp use
Socks
Underwear
Technical walking socks (2 or 3 pairs)
Trekking trousers / pants
Windproof and waterproof overtrousers / rain-pants
Long johns (thermal underwear)
Thermal baselayer shirts (2 short sleeve, 2 long sleeve)
T-shirts or similar
Fleece jacket or warm jumper/sweater
Windproof and waterproof jacket with hood
Warm jacket (down)*
Sunhat
Warm hat and thermal balaclava
Eyewear - Sunglasses
Thermal gloves or mittens
Warm and waterproof over-gloves or mittens
Daypack minimum 40 litres
Headtorch/Headlamp with spare batteries
Sun protection (including total bloc for lips, nose etc.)
Water bottles 1 Litre (1 quart) x2
Selection of dry bags (to keep trek bag contents dry)
Sleeping bag rated comfortable down to minus 25°C*
Sleeping bag liner
Thermarest or similar sleeping mat*
Washbag and toiletries
Small towel
Antibacterial handwash
Basic First Aid Kit including: A broad spectrum antibiotic, antiseptic cream, throat lozenges, diarrhoea treatment
(Imodium), altitude (Diamox), painkillers, plasters
(band-aids) and blister treatment, and re-hydration salts (Dioralite).
Small padlock (to lock trek bag)
The following items are optional:
Shorts
Fleece trousers
Swimwear (for the hotel pool in Kathmandu)
Travel clothes
Trekking poles (recommended)
Spare laces
Insect repellant – (DEET)
Camera, film, spare batteries
Penknife (remember to pack all sharp objects in hold baggage)
Pee bottle
Mountaineering Equipment
Mountaineering double boots - see below
Ice axe *
Crampons (preferably with ‘step-in’ bindings)*
Mountaineering or climbing harness*
Karabiners (4 x screwgate)*
Descender (rappelling device) *
Climbing helmet*
Sling (120cm. / 3ft.)*
Prussik loops X 2 (5m. / 16ft. of 6mm cord makes 2)*
The Nepalese are still traditional and conservative in the way they dress. Therefore to avoid embarrassment on both sides we recommend that you respect this and do not wear revealing clothing or sleeveless tops while visiting Nepal. Shorts are acceptable, but they should reach to just above the knee and be modest and for women it is preferable to wear trousers or a long skirt.
Equipment hire / rental
Items marked * can be hired / rented through KE Adventure Travel. Please make all requests at least 6 weeks prior to the trip departure date. All equipment is issued in Kathmandu. Please remember to allow room in your trek bag for these items (note that on trek your mountaineering equipment and plastic boots will be carried separately in communal equipment bags).
Mountaineering boots required for this trip
Climbing at altitudes of up to 6500 metres, the temperatures can be very cold (as low as minus 30 degrees centigrade). Standard leather mountaineering boots are really not suitable for these cold, high altitude conditions. Plastic boots with insulated inners (eg. Scarpa Vega HA, Scarpa Omega IT) and also the new generation of synthetic double boots (eg. La Sportiva Spantik, Boreal G1 light), are the best to keep your feet warm at altitude in these extremely low temperatures. Also, you can sleep in the removable inner boots to ensure warm toes in the morning! These boots are also designed to take step-in crampons, quickly and efficiently. This combination of plastic or double synthetic boots and step-in crampons is by far the most sensible option when considering a trekking peak climb. You must make sure that you are suitably equipped for these extremely low temperatures.
Needle Sports (specialist mountaineering equipment shop)
Needle Sports is the English Lake District's foremost specialist climbing shop supplying mountaineering, rock, ice, alpine and expedition equipment worldwide. Internationally recognised as among the very best of the UK's top technical climbing gear retailers. They have a good range of equipment appropriate for this trip and offer knowledgeable advice both on their website and in store.
View >>http://www.needlesports.com/
