Some Questions that the team had about gear and such

I have received some good questions, thanks for sending them. Here are some of my answers that I will share:

Crampons--You do NOT need technical ice climbing type crampons. You need a good general purpose mountaineering crampon that fits your boot well. Dave Hahn notes that he had problems last year with a pair he used: "they had a bunch of serrations on the tines... predictably, they tended to catch and lock one's foot on a rung. I think it is best to go with steel crampons, with straight tines. If one has normal sized boots, then it probably isn't so necessary to bring a backup pair as more crampons can be obtained in Namche... if one has big and hard-to-fit boots, then perhaps a second pair is a smart thing to have. I bring aluminum spikes as my back-up pair." There are several excellent general purpose mountaineering crampons out there, for example the Petzl/Charlet Vasak ( http://en.petzl.com/petzl/SportProduits?Produit=426 ) or the Black Diamond Contact (http://www.bdel.com/gear/contact_strap.php ) which do NOT have the aggressive serrations on the teeth. There are also several crampons (like the Grivel G 12 and Black Diamond Sabertooth) that have been "improved" recently by adding nasty serrations on the teeth. If you have these type, beware, this may increase the likelihood of a ladder rung getting wedged into the crampon. Practice at home with a ladder just a small distance off the ground to make sure that your crampons won't get stuck on the rungs!!

Helmets---Mark Tucker notes that several climbers decided last year that they were not going to wear a helmet, then got up to the Icefall or Lhotse Face and wished they had brought one, and ended up going around Base Camp trying to scrounge up a helmet. Our suggestion is to bring it so you have the option to wear it if you choose to. Passport photos---Ang Jangbu notes that everyone now will need THREE photos. One on arrival at the airport for your visa. One for your trekking registration certificate (this is a new requirement). You will also need one for your summit certificate issued by the Ministry.

Coughs and colds---Mark Tucker wants me to stress the importance of bringing plenty of cough drops, throat lozenges (prescription Tessalon yellow softgel w/ 100 mg of benzonatate are the best), hard candy, cough syrup, cold medication, etc. Plan on getting a cold and/or cough. If you have any history of asthma, the steroid inhalers can be helpful (talk to your doc). The "Khumbu Cough" is an incessant plague for people living at high altitude and it has wrecked a lot of people's expeditions over the years. If you live in a cold climate, get out and train in the cold weather. Get used to breathing hard in the cold dry air!! Bring a buff or bandana for sleeping at night (warms and humidifies the air a bit). Once your throat gets all irritated from coughing, it is tough to get it healed.

Small water bottles--a couple small (.5L) water bottles that you can put in your pockets INSIDE your down suit might be handy.

Utensils---you should bring a bowl, insulated mug, and a spoon for above Base Camp. We will have dishes for BC and on the trek.

Lithium batteries---the US government has now made it more difficult to ship lithium AA batteries. We used to ship over a bunch of them, but this is not allowed now. We are attempting to source them via Singapore now. I am not advocating that you break the law, but I suggest bring some extra with you. My understanding is that it is OK to have them in "devices" so I suggest that you fill every possible "device" you have that takes AA batteries with AA lithium batteries! The key is just that they must not possibly come in contact with each other, to prevent accidental discharge. You can also carry a couple extra in your carry on, in the original packaging (again, so they can not touch each other). You should definitely have them for your headlamp on the summit day and I would suggest having an extra 6 AA lithium batteries for your walkie talkie, again for summit day. This is cheap insurance. Lithium batteries are the only ones that work reliably up high in extreme cold.

Cheap down pants--- I came across this site: http://www.justdownpants.com/ which has a basic pair at a good price. These sure would be nice for sitting around Base Camp, maybe with a down jacket, especially if you leave your down suit up at at Camp 2.

Fine tuning the climbing gear--you want to be able to do a basic crevasse extrication using the minimum gear. For example, if somebody topples off a ladder, smacks their head, and is hanging down in a crevasse in the icefall, on the fixed rope, where you have to get them dragged up to the edge. A couple carabiners, a cordalette, a couple prussik slings, etc, would be a big help to do this. You do not need a bunch of gear with you, but the knowledge of how to improvise a quick C pulley system would be excellent. You can review this, and also when you get to BC before you head up.

Some other skills to review before the trip--use of your ascenders on the fixed rope, how you will rappel if you drop your descender, how you would get past a knot in a rappel rope, how to ascend and descend past knots and anchors in the fixed rope using your safety sling, etc. You will have the chance to work with Mark Tucker at Base Camp on this---just make sure you have the gear you will need.