UKH

Hello fellow Mountaineers,
I've been climbing for about 20 years , rock ice mixed ,alpine, cave , canyon and lots more but for the first time I will be climbing in the Himalayas. I'm planing to climb Island Peak and Ama Dablam by the end of this year and any little tips and bits of useful information related to the subject would be priceless for me.
Tips on clothing ?
what did you wear?
what layers how and when ?
any suggestions/recommendations on fabrics?
what camping gear?
self inflating mats or foamies?
gas or petrol stoves ?
solar panels?
satellite phones/ electronics?
Cameras?
what food?
what fitness training prior to the climb?
has anybody used the InReach satellite beacon?
Where to get detailed maps of the area with any readable grid reference?
prices of the local services and fees , checkpoints etc?

these are just a few things I have thought of at the moment but anything worth knowing re this climb is more than welcome in here, please share your thoughts.

Many thanks
Cheers
Mike

In reply to Mike-Tango:

Look at the company websites for lots of good info, eg Jagged Globe , Tim Mosedale etc they all have kit lists etc, anything more detailed message me with specifics and will do my best to answer as have climbed both. all the best Sam

hmm.. I've got the kit list , my question was more about personal preferences and lil tips worth knowing but thank you just found some other kit lists and recommendations online , many thanks

In reply to Mike-Tango:
I have climbed it twice (although second time I turned around 30 minutes from the top)

Second time and more recently was in late November and fairly cold. Wore patagonia fleece lined softshell pants, patagonia r1 hoodie and goretex shell for most part. When cold had Marmot Greenland down jacket. Boots were LS Baruntse. Gloves ..some Hestra leather ones for the main part and BD Lobster Mitts for higher up.

Both neoair inflatable and z-rest.
We had jetboil but since then I' a big fan of MSR Reactors
Goal Zero for panels
Thuraya Dual Xt for satphone
On that trip I had Sony A700 but most people use compact cameras. I prefer DSLRS
Food for high camps was all freeze dried. Water can be hard to get at Camp 1
I dont think maps are necessary especially if you are going there pre monsoon or post monsoon seasons. Heaps of maps though in Thamel and Namche
Someone else wil have to help with prices.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/radson/sets/72157627962672963/

In reply to Mike-Tango:
I climbed it last year to Camp 2 but it wasn't fixed above that so we had to turn around. If you stick to the kit lists available you won't go far wrong. If you haven't spent much time on expeditions before you may want to invest more on decent base layers as you will spend many days at a time without a change of clothes.

The other tip I was given was to take leather gardening gloves for all the clipping and unclipping on the rock sections as it can be horribly abrasive on normal mountaineering gloves.

I also wore Baruntse's which were great.

For fees and the like I would suggest going with a guide who can sort all that out for you together with Sherpa support and tents etc. The big companies are expensive (USD 8-10K) but smaller operators such as Sandy Allen will be around GBP 4K which is better value once you take into account Lukla flights and lodge charges etc.

In reply to Mike-Tango:

The warmest down jacket you can find! The temperature changes can be extreme. (from sweating in a T-shirt to about 20 below in 30 seconds as we lost the sun).

Gas for cooking on the mountain, Jetboil or equivalent!

As much fitness training as you can get pre-trip, and as much trekking acclimatisation as you can manage.

As another poster suggested, Tim Mosdale has a very good blog on Ama on his website.

Cheers Adam

In reply to Mike-Tango:
From my experience

1. Get very very fit! Not so much stamina or strength, more lung capacity like running uphill, wind sprints
2. Practice ascending on fixed ropes

In reply to radson:

Great pictures, man! Cheers!

In reply to Mike-Tango:
As you are middle aged, I suggest that you contact Sid Clark who climbed it when he was older than yourself. He lives in Little Broughton, Cumbria.
No offence intended.

Hi guys,
Many thanks for the posts, much appreciate!
Radson , amazing pictures, looks like you were very lucky with the weather.
Re fitness , I do lots of cardio, gym pretty much every day, interval running, lots of crosstrainers with or without weight, sometimes train with my spantics on. I'm easy with jumars as done a couple of more technical caves in Europe, I'm pretty good with base layers, got lots of icebreakers(150-200-260) plus X-bionic and UA coldgear tops which I love to bits ,all tried and tested many times down to minus 30C. As for a down jacket I've got the ME Annapurna and a Rab Summit, will probably stick to the ME as it's a box wall cut. I was thinking goalzero but it's a bit pricey so I think I will stick to the Solar adventurer as it's got a built in battery. On my kit list they recommend a big 80L bag but a friend of mine who climbed it said she took one and there was no need for such a big size so I got an Osprey variant 52 and packed it like for the summit and it seems to be perfect, any ideas about the bag?

many thanks again !!
cheers
Mike

In reply to Mike-Tango:

Just on packs. The pack is generally fullest stripping the mountain down not when going for the summit.

In reply to radson:

Or doing the first load carry to stock Camp 1.

In reply to Mike-Tango:

I took a Golite Gust and it did the job a treat, huge loads carried when making / breaking camp and very light on summit day as rolls down small.

In reply to Mike-Tango:

Hi Mike, thinking about it, I can lend you the Go-lite pack for the trip when you go, makes sense as it works and will save you buying a pack it is already an expensive climb, all the best in your planning Sam

In reply to Mike-Tango:
Do you plan on climbing the mountain by fair means, ie climbing features or just jugging on pre placed fixed ropes.

Climb the mountain by all means but do it for the right reasons, yes it looks beautiful and surely is a real challenge to climb, style matters.

In reply to Andy Clarke1965:

I would have though the right reasons are up for the OP to decide!

In reply to butteredfrog:

Yes the OP has a choice, driven by market forces, money talks, it should not be a sport for all, if you are not self reliant and lack the experience for the task in hand, go and find a challenge more suited to youre abilities, for a start Island peak is a walk.

Because people are exploited, they have no choice, selling ego trips to the feckless and wealthy, is not really a good enough reason to risk other peoples lives.
The mountain deserves better, give it back to climbers that appreciate the risk and commitment involved, a once coveted peak.

In reply to Mike-Tango:

However you chose to ascend the mountain, just don't follow in these two Russians footsteps! http://www.ekantipur.com/2014/04/30/national/two-russians-die-while-climbin...

In reply to Mike-Tango:

Mike,
RE: Electronics:
Go to Ncell office in Kathmandu and buy a local prepaid SIM card. You need passport photo, your passport and copy of passport. The coverage is great in most of the Khumbu, and very, very cheap. You'll never use US$100 worth of minutes on a month expedition (and you can buy more minutes at better tea houses). The 3G coverage is very poor, almost not worth the tiny extra amount to set it up, so the 3G cannot be relied on for Email. Older, standard GSM phones seem to work better than Iphones (in my experience) for Ncell. I have my Iphone with me too, as there are some spots where there is no Ncell, but you can roam with your international phone to Nepal Telecom. Of course this is spendy, but gives a second option. I use a Thuraya Sat phone as backup and when high on the hill or no coverage. Thuraya has great reliability (Iridium is terrible in the Khumbu). I'm thinking about getting a Thuraya sleeve for the Iphone. If I could really get and receive Email once a day with this set up, that would be great. However, the sleeve is new. Two people I knew who had it at Everest Base Camp, couldn't get it to work. So if you go with the sleeve, make sure you have the correct voice/data SIM, and all bugs worked out before your flight to Lukla. (Solar panel, and good size external battery pack, only way to go for power! You charge up at Tea Houses as you go in. But make sure your solar panel will charge your phones and battery, as some won't if the watts are wrong.). Cheers!

In reply to Mike-Tango:

Been up their a few times. Definitely look at Tim's website for some really good advice on AD. If you have any specific questions later, drop me an email.

In reply to Mike-Tango:

Sandy Allan is running a commercial trip there this autumn (November), and has done so for many years now. You could ask him at http://www.teamascent.co.uk/

In reply to Mike-Tango:

Hi Mike, I summited Ama Dablam Dec 13 and used the services of Tim Mosedale, whom I can't rate highly enough. I signed up for the full in country package, however he offers various levels of service.
If you are looking at using the services of a guiding company, many of the items you need can be supplied by them.
A.D. S.West ridge is a trade route, with fixed ropes throughout all technical sections and with 99% of climbers using them I would suggest you follow suit; if you wish to climb independently in alpine style, pick a different mountain.
If you would like more info, drop me an email