[ ] Passport (must be valid for 6 months after trip)
[ ] Photocopy of the information pages of your passport and 2 x passport photographs (to be sent in advance)
[ ] Visa (can be obtained on entry - 2 x passport photos and £40 / US$70 required. Please note that there are no facilities to obtain photographs at Kathmandu airport). Alternatively contact the Nepalese Embassy to arrange for a Visa in advance
[ ] Insurance - this MUST include helicopter rescue, repatriation, be valid for Island Peak and the issuing company must accept we may need to instigate proceedings without first contacting them, but this is unlikely since we will have use of a satellite telephone (see here for further details)
[ ] Money. You will probably need around £60 to £100 personal spending for the trek and expedition phase and £50 to £100 for Kathmandu depending on souvenir hunting ability. Don't change money at the airport as you will get a better rate of exchange in the Thamel District of Kathmandu. £ sterling are fine so no need to bring dollars
[ ] There are cash points in KTM so bring your credit cards just in case.

[ ] 45-55 Ltr rucksack (See Note 1)
[ ] Boots / Approach shoes
[ ] Tevas / sandals (optional)
[ ] Waterproof jacket - lightweight breathable preferred (but not too lightweight) e.g. Gore-Tex Paclite, eVent or similar. A full weight breathable jacket is fine - it just weighs a little bit more
[ ] Waterproof trousers (Must go on over trekking boots / plastic boots)
[ ] Duvet jacket (optional for trek but a really superb 'luxury' item. Could be very useful for the mountain if it's a cold day)
[ ] Windproof top (optional)
[ ] Fleece (optional)
[ ] Lined windproof (highly recommended instead of the windproof top and fleece mentioned above - Marmot's Driclime, Mountain Hardwear Tempest, Berghaus Rage, Rab VapourRise etc)
[ ] Thermal / wicky tops x 3 min (mix of short and long sleeve). Check out Icebreaker, Smartwool and Macpac
[ ] Thermal leggings (optional / personal preference)
[ ] Trekking trousers x 2 prs
[ ] Underwear x 3 (minimum)
[ ] Good quality trekking socks x 4 prs. You can't beat Smartwool
[ ] Light gloves (depends on circulation as to how thick they should be)
[ ] Sunhat (baseball style hats not so good as they offer no ear protection from the sun)
[ ] 2 x 1L Water bottles (NOT Sigg bottles - See Note 2)
[ ] 4/5 season sleeping bag (3/4 season sleeping bag if only coming to Base Camp and not on the mountain) (See Note 3)
[ ] Sleeping bag compression sack
[ ] Sleeping bag liner (optional - but stops your bag getting too soiled and adds extra warmth depending upon type)
[ ] Karrimat / Thermarest / Ridgerest (repair kit required if using Thermarest)
[ ] Beanie style hat or silk balaclava (must be comfortable to wear when sleeping i.e. no big seams and poppers to jab you in the head)
[ ] Headtorch - with spare bulbs (if required) and spare batteries. Note:- LED preferred due to excellent battery life, no spares required and light weight. Check out the range by Petzl and Black Diamond).
[ ] Sunglasses (See Note 4)
Go to Sunglasses gear review
[ ] Sunglasses hard case
[ ] Sun cream - Factor 50 or above. (Small tubes preferred for the mountain)
[ ] Lip salve with SPF
[ ] Toiletries
[ ] Sponge or flannel (makes washing your bits a lot easier)
[ ] Towel
[ ] Small personal 1st aid kit (See Note 5)
[ ] Personal medication (See Note 6)
[ ] Foot powder (optional)
[ ] Wet wipes (these are readily available now in KTM)
[ ] Antibacterial Hand gel (50ml tube should suffice) - again available in KTM
[ ] Multi vitamins (optional)
[ ] Iodine / water purification / filtration system (See Note 7)
[ ] Penknife / multitool
[ ] Watch with alarm
[ ] Trekking poles (optional / personal preference). It's got to be Leki or Black Diamond
[ ] Personal stereo + Batteries (optional)
[ ] Camera + Lots of Film / memory cards + Spare camera batteries
[ ] Personal solar charging system (optional). The powermoney eXplorer is the best I have come across. Solar panels on their own are fine (but limited) - this one has a battery for holding power when your device is already charged so it is very versatile
[ ] Waterproof rucksack liner or rucksack cover (if using a cover it must be a good fit with no chance of losing it en route). Lots to choose from in the Exped range.
[ ] Reading book
[ ] Diary
[ ] Pen
[ ] An old (working) mobile phone with charger. You can buy a SIM in Kathmandu card for around Rs350 and it's about Rs18 per minute to phone the UK (subject to signal of course) and texts are almost free
[ ] Kitbag for portering (90L). Available in KTM for around a tenner! Not as durable as a North Face duffle but will suffice for the trip
[ ] A few heavy duty plastic bags to pack items in to your kitbag
[ ] Small combination padlock that fits kitbag zippers
[ ] Tips for the crew (£50 worth of rupees)

[ ] Plastic boots (available for hire). Please DO NOT bring Scarpa Alphas - they are not warm enough.
[ ] Gaiters (must be wide enough at the ankle to fit over your plastic boots)
[ ] Crampons - Heel clip and 'French' straps or thermoplastic 'Y' toe piece preferred. (See Note 8) Your crampons need to be reasonably sharp so alloy crampons are not suitable.
[ ] Crampon antiball plates
[ ] 4 x long heavy duty plastic cable ties (optional - emergency crampon repair)
[ ] Fleecy salopettes or similar. Alternatively mountain trousers or soft shell trousers with long johns (See the range the Needlesports)
[ ] Bivvy bag (optional but is a great way to protect your sleeping bag from getting damp when the frozen condensation melts in the morning as the sun comes up when under canvas. Rab do the 'Survival zone' which is lighter than Gore-tex, packs down smaller and is a fraction of the price)
[ ] Warm good quality mountaineering socks x 2 prs min. Check out the Smartwool range.
[ ] Air activated warm up sachets for summit day. Optional and depends on your circulation. Check out the Heatmax range.
[ ] Mountain gloves (preferred to mitts for dexterity but depends on circulation)
[ ] Down mitts - available in KTM at a fraction of the cost of Europe. (optional / personal preference - but it would be a shame to turn back half an hour before summitting due to having cold fingers)
[ ] Powerstretch Balaclava
[ ] OR a neck warmer / buff (this probably gives better versatility as it can be used n conjunction with a beanie to give multiple options.

For the next few items have a look at my page about dealing with fixed ropes.

[ ] Light weight harness. I highly recommend the Troll Alpinist - unfortunately it has now been superceded by the Mountain Technology Alpine Harness which is shit. Also recommended are the DMM Super Couloir, Troll Quartz or Black Diamond 'new' Bod (it's got a belay loop). Please note - DO NOT bring a Black Diamond Alpine Bod (Why not? See Note 10)
[ ] Belay plate & Lightweight Figure of 8 (both preferred, but if only bringing one bring a Fig 8)
[ ] Jumar (available for hire)
[ ] 5 x locking Karabiners. HMS / Pear Shaped Karabiners preferred due to ease of use with gloves on and wide gate opening (but NOT the DMM Boa - they don't fit through the holes in the jumar). 'Autolocking' style karabiners are NOT recommended.
[ ] 1 x 4m length of 9mm dynamic cord
[ ] Helmet
[ ] 1 x ice axe
[ ] Plastic insulated mug (See Note 9 )
[ ] Pee bottle (I used to say that this was optional but I have been told by the last group that it should be down as an absolute necessity. In which case I recommend bringing a Nalgene 1L Loop Top Wide Neck Polythene Bottle)
[ ] For the ladies - you also need a Shewee. Please practise before you need to use it in anger!

1. For the duration of the trip a 45-55L rucksack will be sufficient. On a daily trekking basis you will be carrying minimal personal equipment (water, camera and film, sun cream, fleece, waterproofs etc) but on summit day you will need the extra space for duvet jacket, harness, helmet, jumar, krabs, pack lunch etc. You can usually get away with using these for hand luggage on the international flight as long as it doesn't exceed the 5Kg weight limit. If you bring a larger sack you'll only fill it and be more susceptible to the affects of altitude. Note - it is well worth having a comfortable sack, preferably without side pockets so that snow stakes, thermarests, tent poles and other gear can be strapped to the sack using the compression straps.
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2. Nalgene Lexan wide neck preferred - won't burn your hands when it's hot, easy to fill with hot water and won't stick to your lips when cold. Platypusses (Platypae?) / Camelbacks are fine for trekking but NOT so good for early starts on the mountain - the tubes tend to freeze even with insulators. If bringing a Platypus / Camelback then you also need a 1L wide necked water bottle for summit day. Please DO NOT bring Sigg bottles. They are a nightmare to fill with hot water, they will invariably burn you if you use them as hotties in your sleeping bag, you'll spill water everywhere when you try and fill it from a pan of water when cooking on the mountain, they are prone to leaking if dropped or damaged and will stick to your lips when they are cold. Don't say I didn't warn you!!
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3. This depends upon your circulation and metabolism so buy accordingly. I recommend the Solar Flare Endurance by The North Face or The Wraith SL by Mountain Hardwear. 1,400gm Down Sleeping bags are available for hire.
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4. Glasses should provide 100% UVA/UVB block. Category 3 lenses are fine for the trek in but category 4 are highly recommended on the mountain. If you want to look chic on the mountain then sunglasses are fine but they need to hug the cheeks well and mustn't allow excessive amounts of light to be reflected from the snow and rocks around you in to your eyes. Alternatively glacier glasses with detachable side pieces may be the answer.
Go to Sunglasses gear review
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5. Plasters, blister kit, paracetamol, throat lozenges, re-hydration salts, immodium, dextrose tablets - all these items are available in Kathmandu. Please note that Diamox and antibiotics such as Amoxycillin and Ciprofloxacin are also readily available in KTM at a fraction of the cost of a prescription. There will also be a comprehensive expedition 1st aid kit but it is handy if you have a few bits and pieces to be able to deal with minor injuries and ailments yourself whilst on the mountain. For more information please read 'Health, Hygiene and Altitude in Nepal' which will expand on this in more detail.
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6. I need to be notified of any personal medication that people may be bringing so that I can prepare the group 1st aid kit accordingly. I will also need to know of any allergies to food or drugs that members may have. This will all be in confidence unless it is deemed important enough for other members to know about - in which case this will only be done with your consent.
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7. This is very much a personal preference. All water provided by the crew will have been boiled. Packets of flavoured drinks available in KTM if bringing Iodine.
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8. Your crampons must be totally compatible with your boots. This is not only in terms of the rigidity of the boot and the crampon but also you need to pay attention to the curvature of the boot and crampon. If the boot has an asymmetric shape from heel to toe then the crampon will need to have an asymmetric shape or you can often buy asymmetric bars to cater for this. Also the curve of the crampon should match the curve of the sole - don't try and force a boot with a turned up toe on to a crampon with a totally flat profile or vice versa. You will possibly need an extension bar if your boots are of a larger size. The best bet is to take your boots to a reputable outdoor shop with staff who are knowledgeable in these matters. Please DO NOT bring metal toe bail crampons unless they are a VERY good fit and there is a very deep recess for the bail at the front of your boots. Please bear in mind that if you buy metal toe bail crampons that you may be very limited to the next pair of boots that you buy as the fit has to be very precise. With crampons that have a heel clip and 'French' straps or thermoplastic 'Y' toe piece at the front you will have much more flexibility with the boot / crampon fit in the future.
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9. Again this is very much a personal preference. A mug works really well at Base Camp for keeping drinks warm but on the mountain a 1/2 litre wide mouth Nalgene bottle will do a better job as there is less likelihood of spillage. Personally I take both.
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10. It's not often that I get really opinionated about kit because there is so much good stuff out there nowadays. But I am afraid that I find the Black Diamond Alpine Bod to be an unacceptable piece of gear. Yes it's light and packs down small and is easy to put on but it has some MAJOR drawbacks. It doesn't have a belay loop which means that you have that funny dangly bit at the front of the harness. 'So what?' I hear you say. Well there are 2 downsides to this. Firstly they recommend that for abseiling you clip a locking karabiner vertically in to the leg loop and waist belt, which means that it is captive, which means that you could quite easily get a 3 way load (BAD). There have been a number of instances in the past where Fig of 8s have broken locking karabiners open (VERY BAD) and people have become detached from their abseil rope (EXTREMELY BAD). I hasten to add that this has not happened with any of my clients. I would also add that I don't know what harnesses these people were wearing at the time - but it would appear that they did have their locking karabiner in the manner described rather than in their belay loop. The second drawback of this dangly bit is that it is quite possible for you to only connect yourself to the dangly bit and to 'miss' the waist belt by accident. Hard as it may seem to you in the comfort of your sitting room or office when you read this, but there have been occassions where people have inadvertently clipped in to their rucksack waist belt rather than their harness waist belt. You are tired, you have big gloves on, you have a big down jacket on that obscures your vision, you clip in to the leg loop dangly bit but not the waist belt of your harness, you have a big rucksack on and before you know it you are upside down. Why take the risk? Just DO NOT come along with an Alpine Bod.
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I have negotiated a group discount on clothing and equipment of 15% for orders over £1,000 and up to 20% if over £2,000. Please check out Needlesports for their range of gear and contact them directly when placing an order.

Whilst this is a comprehensive list you will know what items of clothing and equipment you regularly use and what works well for you. If you have any questions about what is required, or what can be hired, then please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours - Tim Mosedale