MoapaPk wrote:I know lots of small people (~45 kg) who don't ask for special treatment and often carry packs as heavy as mine (I'm a whopping 67 kg).

You've gotten lots of good advice for cutting food weight; if you are getting a sure source of water (from huts, streams) you can even dispense with the stove. My last three backpacks were stove-less. Just make sure you have food that you will WANT to eat at altitude, and will drink enough water.

I suspect the OP just needed to rant a little, about a (now former) friend. But to restate the advice above: you really need to vet people in a polite way, before a big undertaking. Maybe you can do it with polite questions to the friend's friends, or maybe with a few short trips. If you are just using the friend for transportation... well that is different moral issue.

It is worth waiting to get good outdoor partners. Otherwise there will be a bitterness in your memories of the event, and your main purpose in going -- to enjoy yourself -- is lost. We can also work on our own tolerance levels. I recall my blood pressure starting to boil as a friend folded and refolded his handkerchief, wasting precious minutes as a snowstorm moved in; then I thought to myself: if 10 minutes of kerchief folding makes that much difference, maybe I didn't plan the start time too well? It takes two to tango.

nartreb wrote:A lot of the weight and bulk in foods comes from the packaging, as you've noticed. Plan your meals in advance, measure out each dish into sealed plastic bags, and you'll make a huge improvement. The basic idea is to take stuff that won't spoil or get crushed, that contains lots of calories (fats are your friend!), and that doesn't take too long to cook (because you have to carry the fuel, and because you don't want to wait an hour for breakfast if you're heading up a glacier before dawn). Instant rice or instant noodles, hard sausage, powdered eggs, powdered milk, vegetable oil, peanut butter are all good backpacking foods. But it's more important to take food that you like. It does you no good if you don't eat it. Bring your favorite spices and sauces, and make sure you have a variety from day to day. [Frites a la Belge le premier jour, frites allumettes le second? ]

Sugary foods are quickly metabolized into energy, but that doesn't last, and it's not very easy to match your sugar intake to your rate of exercise. You want a mix: some sugar (especially during or just before exercise), some complex carbohydrates (which are easily converted to sugar), some fats (highest energy:weight ratio, but slowest to digest), some protein (mostly because it's yummy).

Bring sugary snacks to eat as you walk (granola bars, for example), and keep some very salty snacks handy too (if you feel cramps starting, nibbling some salt will often cure you). And carry lots of water and drink more than you did. Try adding a little flavor to your water: sugar, lemon juice, tea, whatever you like. Load up on the carbohydrates and fats during your sit-down meals.

If you buy commercial freeze-dried meals or instant soups, be aware of the salt content. You need some salt to replace what you sweat, but many commercial brands add way too much. It's OK to eat one or two portions, but if you're hungry and eat double or triple for dinner, you'll regret it.

surgent wrote:The looking in the mirror to check his hair ... the refolding of a handkerchief ...

In both situations it seems to me to be some sort of nervous tic, perhaps subconsciously done. Both individuals may have felt completely in over their heads at those moments and expressed their discomfort with these peculiar actions.

I got to thinking... the "hair" guy as described by Xeno above knows full well he caved in. I would bet that given his heightened sense of himself before the trek, that this experience was humiliating and probably wants nothing more than to ignore it and hope it's never brought up again in polite conversation. I am not necessarily belittling that guy. He probably wants nothing to do with anyone that reminds him of his failure.

I'd give the guy his space and only discuss it if he brings it up, maybe a year from now with three beers in him.

How often do you see people react in the face of extreme danger (or perceived danger)? People do funny things. Some panic outright, some shutdown completely, some do odd behaviors.

On a climb once involving a number of 4th-class scrambles with lots of exposure (prussiked into a top-roped tag line as our belay), one guy in our team just collapsed into a blob and "gave up", too freaked out. This after ascending the hardest parts and just a few dozen feet short of the summit. We had to basically threaten him (kindly) to get his ass tied in and continue upwards. He did, and he did fine, and we never talked about it afterwards, and he is one of the strongest climbers I know. But at that very moment, he hit his wall. It happens to everyone.

jesu, joy of man's desiring wrote:Next time leave the canned food behind and give your friend a sponge bath

Xeno wrote:. . .To make the thread atleast somewhat useful. Something im really wondering about...why do you guys climb or hike mountains? and dont say....."because it's there" ...

CClaude wrote:Ok, I have a really bad attitude, but maybe people should put things into perspective... in reality a tiny bit of suffering... Read stories of Doug Scott... understand what true perserverance is and it will serve you well in life. In reality an adventure is a metaphor for life in general.

want to know a life that is interesting,. Read about Parofes.... a life well lived.

Life is a bitch... myself, I went from hoping to trad climb 5.13d and do long adventure climbs in Zion and Yosemite (along with Peru and Nepal) to dealing with a child that went blind, a divorce, a broken neck that should have killed me or left me a quad, to a woman who I want to marry I hope to be alive long enough to say our vows... get over yourself..She is the toughest persion I know so I know it will happen.

Get over yourself, and if this pushes you down, than life is a bitch