What is the one piece of gear you wish you could have brought and you really could have used every day?

Also, what was one luxury item you brought allong that you used every day that you thought was worth the extra weight?

And finally what were some of the items you thought you would need on the mountain/treck in that you did not use at all and were not worth their weight?


this is basically a open question for do's and donts on what to bring to the mountain

(this is a serious question and I know that a tent , stove are nessesary items and I can also see how bringing your 4 person leather couch would make things more comfortable but I would like some constructive advice on this one...what I am refering to is the small things that made your trip better and the things that you wish you didnt bring and could have been rocks from the trailhead)

Thanks for all you input

Worth Bringing:

Trekking Poles - only used these above base camp but they really helped

Not Used:

- Crampons & Ice Axe (we didn't need them for the regular route but this depends on conditions)
- Brought way too much food - bring less and just buy pizza and burgers every night at base camp.
- Brought way too much fuel

Luxury Item

A good book
Wish I'd brought an ipod too

Other

Next time I might opt to rent an eating tent while at base camp. It's real nice to have a table and chairs.

Best Thing to Bring

A positive attitude and a good sense of humor.

Oh and one more thing to consider. Since mules will be carrying your stuff to base camp (assuming you're using a mule service) you may as well throw in extra items. You can always leave extra items/gear in storage at base camp.

-Rick

Global_09 wrote:What is the one piece of gear you wish you could have brought and you really could have used every day?

My EMS Primaloft belay jacket (4 oz Primaloft) that I wore each night and on summit day.

Global_09 wrote:Also, what was one luxury item you brought allong that you used every day that you thought was worth the extra weight?

Two things here, my mp3 player and a soft Thermarest pillow case (that I stuffed with my belay jacket) for a comfortable night's rest.

Global_09 wrote:And finally what were some of the items you thought you would need on the mountain/treck in that you did not use at all and were not worth their weight?

I also agree that we took too much food and fuel our first time. Last season we took very little food, only 4 liters of fuel and way more $ US in small denominations to buy cooked food and beer at Daniel Lopez's camp.

PS. If you would like a gear list to compare send me an email at info@adventureclimbing.ca

For me a luxury item almost anywhere is Down Booties. I like the ones by TNF or MH that have a rubber grip sole. I also bring along books and Ipod Nano. On Aconcagua I read "Endurance" about Shackleton as I was holed up in a tent for 2 days.

Even though we had ice from about 6000m up in early December on normal route, I still think an ice axe was not required. Trekking poles would have sufficed.

Other thoughts. I am really glad I had warm boots, Vasque 9000. I saw a lot of people suffering with a lot less.

thanks, from what you all said i think i will being a few good books, some nice trekking poles and skimm on the food and fuel.

i look forward to climbing, hope to see some of you there this comming climbing season

Luxury item
Books, Ipod shuffle.

Extra stuff.
As mentioned before. Too much food. I always spend more time than expected in Daniel Lopez's tent. But its hard to avoid bringing too much food if you get stuck up at high camp in bad weather waiting for either a good summit day or the right conditions to go back down. The extra food comes in handy. So far that has not happened to me personally but you must be prepared. Perhaps too many changes of clothes can be another problem. Its nice to have clean stuff. But staying a little dirtier for a few days saves on the weight. This works only if your tent mate follows the same formula. Baby powder helps the smells. (•:

Missing items
Hummm. A hot tub for the end of a longs days load carrying. (•:

bring a small binocular to check out the amazing peaks. The High Andes tend to be accociated with the scree slog up Aco, but in reality they offer much more, with a stunning scenery, particularly from high points such as Aco.

I never was up Aco (lack of interest) but spend quite a bit time down there (uhm, 12month-ish) and climbed the one or other mountain, some a bit more involving than Aco.
What luxuries I always bring are:

- a MP3 player and a good book
- these extra Clif Bars/Snickers/what-ever-you-like for that little piece of happyness on a shitty day sitting out a storm
- on some trips a small gas stove together with my regular stove, since melting snow is a pain I like to shorten. This is true particularly for longer outings where the pack is heavy anyways and that misery of water melting is there everyday for many days in a row. Not sure, water might be avaiable on Aco?
- a small Leica binocular is a constant companon too, for the scenery and for checking out the routes ahead (ice, crevasses, that sort of stuff).
- down jacket, down gloves and down booties. I hate freezing, partly cause I am a whimp, partly for rational reason (freezing makes me burn way more calories --> need more food or loose more energy or get sick).
- compass with inlinometer
- piss bottle - going out in the night sucks. Best are Nalgene Cantene as they compress and take up no space.
- at least one ice tool and crampons. Never leave home without them if there is a chance that you need them.

What I stopped taking...hm:
- inflatable insulation mats. They suck for the simple reason that they will get punctued some day leaving you hating if you are lucky or with a real problem if your are not.
- Hauling pack and summit pack. My Wild Things Andinista does a good job hauling in and is light enough as summit pack. Similar packs exist.

Have fun and be safe!
T.A.

Rick Kent wrote:- Brought way too much food - bring less and just buy pizza and burgers every night at base camp.

The pile of money required for that would weigh more than carrying the food!

I did end up carrying down an extra week's worth of food and fuel, but we didn't expect to summit in 9 days (We did the traverse). We only bought a single meal on the way down. We also didn't need crampons/axes.

My reply probably won't mean a lot to you - I'm sort of a minimalist and soloist to boot (which encourages minimalism, as you've got to carry all your crap yourself). However, for what it's worth, I REALLY should've brought extra parts for the stove (or, considering I never could figure out what was wrong with the damned thing, a whole other stove). Far as other extra stuff goes, another book or two would've been nice. There's serious down time there.