Climbing a mountain such as Ama Dablam requires some specialised equipment for both your safety and comfort. Plan ahead and practice with all your gear before you leave for Nepal. Make sure all your gear fits in your rucksack, that your boots don’t give you blisters etc.
There are some optional items listed at the bottom of the page, everything else should be regarded as required equipment.
Vertical Frontiers has a selection of equipment available for hire and sale.
Remember – light is right.
Below is a rough guide, please phone or email with any questions, and don’t forget to visit our main Ama Dablam page, we’ve got expeditions in 2012 & 2013.
Technical Gear:
Climbing Helmet, a hard shell type is recommended.
Sit Harness, with a easily adjustable buckle. Adjustable leg loops and gear loops are important. The old style Black Diamond bods are not recommended for various reasons. Don’t bring one! The DMM Super Couloir is a good all round harness. (Available for Hire)
- Two Jumars with handle. The petzl one’s are great. (Available for Hire)
- Fig. of eight abseil device, and one standard belay device.
- 4 – 5 meters of 8.5 – 9.0mm Dynamic Rope for cows tails.
- Medium Sling, 8ft x1.
- Prussik Cord for abseils x2
- Screw Gate Karabiners = 3
- Twist lock screw gate = 1
- Snap Link Karabiners = 2
Crampons with anti-balling plates. With a plastic front bail are good. Lightweight ski touring alloy crampons are not strong enough for hard ice. Bring some straps or strong cable ties as a repair kit and triple check your crampons fir your boots. Petzl Vasaks are lightweight and simple. (Available for Hire)
Ice Axe 50cm, with an adze. A lightweight B rated general mountaineering axe is fine. Consider a lanyard, wrist loops get in the way. A DMM Cirque would be a good example. (Available for hire)
Footwear
Boots: Plastic or Double Leather Boots are recommended. Summit day can be very cold and the correct boots are essential. You could get away with a thinner boot, but you will need over gaiters for the summit day. I don’t think it’s worth risking your toes or having to turn around from the summit because your boots aren’t up to the job. Scarpa Vega Plastics or La Sportiva Spantiks are ideal.
Ankle Gaiters or trousers with integral gaiters are needed for summit day.
Approach shoes or soft walking boots for the approach trek.
Down booties for in the tent and at basecamp. (optional) These can be bought very cheaply in Kathmandu.
Head Wear
Goggles for bad weather.
Quality, dark sun glasses. Cat 3 for the trek is OK but cat 4 for the mountain is really important.
Sleeping pads.
I like to carry a lightweight foam pad as well as a thin thermarest. You get lots of insulation with the added security that if you pop the thermarest you’ve still got some padding. We will end up camping on rocks at C1 & C2 so a thermarest on it’s own isn’t such a good idea.
The thermarest z-lite is really good, and lightweight pad to go under a inflatable thermarest. http://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/thermarest_zlite,_closed_cell_foam_sleeping_pad.html
The thermarest can be ¾ length if you want to save weight.
Clothing
Hands and Head
Warm Mitts for summit day. Outdoor research and Black Diamond do good models. http://www.snowandrock.com/pws/UniqueProductKey.ice?ProductID=OTR0074RR
Warm Gloves for moving on the lower mountain. Anything that’s fairly warm and fits your hands well. You will need to be able to handle carbineers and jumars with these gloves on. If you can buy a pair with removable inners then it’s easier to dry them out at night.
Two packets of chemical hand warmers. Great for summit day or cold mornings. Stick a few packets in, they don’t weigh much.
Thin fleece gloves. Are good for around camp and in the tent.
Balaclava As a spare hat, and if the weather turns Scottish.
Warm Hat. That fits under your helmet and covers most of your ears.
Upper Body
A gore-tex or equivalent jacket. Something simple, that has a helmet compatible hood which you have tested in crap weather. Montane do a good, affordable range.
Down jacket.For hanging around at camps (inc basecamp) and for summit day of course. It doesn’t need to be Everest proof but not far off. The Rab Summit jacket is a good example or a PHD Garwhal or Hispar. Another option is a lighter down jacket (Montane Black Ice) paired with a down vest or warm synthetic layer (Montane Nitro Jacket)
Primaloft insulated jacket To go over the fleece and under the waterproof jacket. Montane Prism Jacket (Available for hire)
Light or mid weight fleece
Thermalstop and bottom. Something comfortable and stretchy. I really like a one piece design I bought a few years ago. No cold spots and toasty. Outdoor designs and Rab both do a version.
Lower Body
Waterproof trousers That you can get on or off over your boots when your wearing crampons. (Practice at home)
Soft shell trousers.Good for approaching the mountain and up to C2 or C3.
Insulated trousers For Basecamp and Summit day. Fleece works but Primaloft is better for warmth, movement and bulk. Must have side zippers! Montane Prism pants are good. (Available for hire)
Underwear Synthetic or thermal for the mountain and trek.
Thick walking socks, Three or four pairs. Smart wool works for me.
Thin Liner Socks
Sleeping Bag
Rated to -25 Centigrade. It’s cold at basecamp in your own tent and ironically can be warmer higher up when your sharing tents and wearing more kit in bed.
The Rab Andes 800 or (better) 1000. PHD do some good but pricey options.
A silk sleeping bag liner is good for basecamp.
Rucksacks
50 – 70ltr Rucksack. The loads aren’t massive, but there can be bulky items to carry and it’s very useful to have side straps where you can attach items as well.
Large Kit bag You can all your kit into the bag for the porters to carry.
Day Sack For the trek, 30ltr or so is fine.
Clothing for Trek
I tend to travel to Nepal in one set of clothes that I leave at the hotel for when we finish the expedition.
I trek in another set of clothes that I then wear at basecamp, changing into the mountain stuff for the hill.
Synthetic trousers, one light thermal and one short sleeve synthetic top along with a fleece usually works well for the trekking. Waterproofs in your day sack of course.
Other Misc. Items
Two 1 litre “Nalgene” type bottles. Buy at least one insulated cover. Sigg bottles are rubbish for expeds, nalgenes are easy to use are fairly bomb proof. Camelbak type drinking tubes are OK ish for the trek but always freeze on the mountain. Leave them at home.
Sun Tan Cream. P20, or baby block factor 50. Stick some in a small tube for the mountain.
Lip Block with spf 20.
Head Torchwith Spare Batteries, petzl tikka type is fine. Nothing to big, heavy or bulky.
ZipLoc Bags & Dry bags Plenty or small, medium and large dry bags. Exped do some cheap and affordable bags.
Spork/Plastic spoon.
Bowl and Mug for the mountain. A bowl with a lid is a must and I like one for my mug as well. GSI Outdoors do some great ones, especially the “Fairshare Mug” and the “Nesting Bowl” also. A mug or bowl combo that allows you to drink at least 500ml at a time is really useful. http://www.amazon.co.uk/GSI-Nesting-Bowl-Mug-Blue/dp/B001OPEX8U/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1335719411&sr=1-3-fkmr0
Drinking plenty of fluids is massively important on the mountain, don’t bring a crap small mug and a half litre bottle for your water!
Summit day snacks Just a few treats that you know work well for you. (Don’t bring much) Vertical Frontiers will supply snacks and bars for the rest of the mountain and trek.
Luxury Food item That you will share we the rest of the team at basecamp or on the trek. It makes for a good social evening!
Medicines
Medical Stuff:The expedition will have a comprehensive first aid kit with a full supply of drugs for emergency use. However it is recommended that you ask your GP for the items listed below that you will need to carry in your rucksack at all times.
Ciprofloxacin, Stomach Antibiotic – 1 course
Diamox, Altitude – 30 Tablets
Imodium, Stomach – 1 course
Pain Killers – Paracetomol, Aspirin etc., Altitude and general ailments – Plenty of.
A blister kit/tape etc. is also essential.
Essential Personal items:
- Wet Wipes
- Pillow case
- Blisteze cream for lips
- Moisturizer
- Sudacrem
- Swiss army knife/Small Leatherman
- Pee Bottle
- Wash Kit (can be purchased in Kathmandu)
- Small Travel Towel
Optional Extra’s:
- Telescopic Ski Poles
- Digital Camera with spare batteries and memory
- Books or Kindle type device.
- Mp3 Player.
- Old Cell Phone, you can buy a cheap Nepal sim card and send text updates back home.
- Altimeter Watch
- Buff/neck Gaiter
- Map for the trek (buy in Kathmandu)
Luggage is restricted to 20kg for the International flight and 15kg for the Lukla flight, although you will be wearing your walking clothes and boots. There will be opportunity to wash socks and underwear during the trek. Many non-technical items are readily available in Kathmandu before heading to the mountains.
It is advised that you travel light and try to cut down on unnecessary items as much as possible!
You can download a Pdf of the above kit list Ama Dablam Kit List.
