Lorenzos Everest Assent
Photo of Lorenzo

Lorenzo Gariano
Lorenzo Gariano who runs Botany Bottle and looks after the plants at the Open University's Knowledge Media Institute, went climbing in the Everest region and sent back audio reports. All this was part of Lorenzo's Seven Summits activities: climbing the highest peak on each continent (read more about Lorenzo's Seven Summits quest).

Lhotse - Equipment

Here is the equipment checklist it was suggested Lorenzo should take.

Lightweight polypro, capalene, or 100wt. Polartech, stretch fabric is best- top and bottom for layering, plus an extra set. 2 sets.
Mid to exp weight polypro, capalene, or 100 wt. Polar tech, stretch fabric is best - top and bottom for layering. 2 sets.
Pile (fleece) coat- 200 or 300 weight polar tech
Primaloft or light down pants or Pile (fleece) pants 200 weight polar tech, full side zips are best (can be lighter pile)
Expedition Down parka and down pants with hood expedition weight down suit is ok also! Extra Down Parka for Base Camp.
Expedition Down Suit, You can get these in Kathmandu but the North Face ones are lighter (and a lot more expensive!)
Gortex jacket and pants or full Gortex suit (best), the lighter weight Gortex is best, side zips on the pants! Wild Things makes a very good lite suit!
3 pair light weight polypro sock liners
5 pair heavy wool or polypro socks
1 pair mid weight to heavy weight poly pro gloves, wind stopper material is highly recommended!
Expedition insulated gloves with shells. Thick Alpine Glove system.
Expedition down, prima loft or pile mittens with shells (super thick), OR, Marmot, Mt. Hardware, North Face brands are all good! Lightweight!
Balaclava or thick ski hat with neck gaiter, neoprene face mask for face protection
Baseball cap or similar sun hat
Good pair ski goggles with UV protection, good for high winds! New, with darker lenses.
Sunglasses with side shields, quality name brand glacier glasses are important! (UV protection/dark). Julbo, Cebe
Everest One Sports or the new La Sportivas Olympus Mons are the best and warmest boots! Available for a reasonable price in Nepal and Europe. Double plastic climbing boots are basically not warm enough unless you use over boots and then they are heavy. Make sure they are not tight, that you can get your finger behind your heel with all socks on and insoles in! Loose is better than tight.
A second pair of lighter single boots for later season BC to C2 trips. Crampon compatible leather.
Regular Shorter gaiters and over boots (highly recommended) for higher up, neoprene over boots are best. Not necessary for One Sports.
Hiking shoes (broken in!), high tops, it's a long trek in!
Sleeping bag rated to -20 plus a sleeping bag rated to -40! Compressor stuff sacks for bags! Down for the high bag. You can use a new-20 bag for up high, but you will be a bit on the cold side. The advantage is its lighter, you will be carrying this. This is what the guides do.
Sleeping pads 1 long regular or guidelite Thermarest for up high on the hill, plus one Super fat, wide, long Camp Rest LE for BC or equivalent.
Lightweight themnarester chair optional.
Expedition pack, 4,500 cubic inch minimum. The Kelty Cloud 4500 is the lightest available and the best for this. Next best would be the Wild Things Ultra Light Andinista, or the new North Face Ultra light packs.
Mid size day pack (can be airline carry on), for trek in.
2 Large duffels for transporting your gear on the plane, yaks and porters.
Lightweight helmet for the Lhotse Face. To go over hat.
Ice axe (70 cm is better), Grivel air axe is great, light weight aluminum! The Climb Axe Ghost axe is the lightest.
Light weight Alpine seat harness. Black Diamond Alpine Bod or Climb High Alpine Attack are both superlight.
Lightweight crampons. The Stubia Ultra light Universal crampon is easy and very light, the Grivel G10 also is good.
2 locking carabiners.
8 non-locking carabineers. Ultra light Black Diamond Nutrinos or equivalent.
Figure Eight Rappel device.
20 ft. Of webbing or sling material for rigging ascenders long enough for foot loops!
Basic crevasse rescue equipment - at least 2 ascenders for fixed ropes (jummars, petzl or clog) and 1 more ascender which can be a Tie Block (best) or prusik loop. Please make sure they are rigged for self rescue. Bring 4 arm length sewn runners to rig jummars and pack leash.
Trekking poles (adjustable preferred).
2 One quart/litre water bottles, insulated holders (OR brand insulators), lexan nalgene bottles are best! Wide Mouth required.
2 One Quart Nalgene bottles for pee bottles. BC and up higher.
2 bottles potable aqua purification tablets or Polar Pure Iodine Crystals (best) you can also bring a water filter pump along.
Insulated drinking mug (minimum 2 cup size!) Not metal! Light. Spoon (lexan or metal)
Plastic bowl, lightweight.
2 Good headlamps with extra batteries and bulbs, the new LED headlamps are excellent, at least 1 Petzl Tika for up high. Light!
4 butane lighters, Swiss army knife (optional).
Personal medical kit (we'll have a larger group med kit), include; Diamox, Z-pack antibiotics, strong pain meds (emergency only!), Erythromycin.
2 bottles of cough suppressant and a lot cough drops or hard candy to keep your throat moist and treat and prevent high altitude coughs.
New Spenco or Band-Aid (compead) blister patches, Mole foam (for blisters).
Asprin/advil, at least 100 ea.
Baby powder is good for long trips with no showers!
Sunscreen (25 or better) 2 or 3 - 4 oz. Tubes/bottles. Minimum!
Lipcream with sun protection, 2 tubes
Stuff sacks for everything!
1 roll tp in plastic Ziplocs, just for the hike in. We will have plenty at base camp.
2 bandanas
2 tee shirt
Pocket chemical hand warmers (minimum 15 pkgs. of 2)
Wash-n-ups (towelettes), 1 or 2 per day (indiv.pkgs), several larger packages of towelettes are a great idea. Everyday we have to put on a ton of suncream and these are great to wash this off.
A couple small bottles of hand sanitizer. Personal Hygiene is important on a long trip like this.
A bag of your absolute favorite foods; Energy bars, exotic coffees, goo, jerky. 20 Ibs max or so. This is just a bit to go with the food we will have.
6 to 8 books.
Optional- small electronic device, small laptop, mini DV video cam. We will have plenty of power at BC to recharge things. Both solar and generator- 12 and 120/220 volts.

Misc items
Visa card, bank ATM card, about $750 in cash, passport, money belt/neck pouch, address book, journal, 1 or 2 reading books, travel lock, luggage id tags, hotel information from Adventures International, swimsuit for the beaches if you stop in Thailand!, street and travel clothes (hot, fairly humid, occasional thundershowers), 2 or 3 changes for flying and in town, camera and film, soap and small towel (for hotels and beach), personal prescriptions, vitamins (optional), comb/brush, toothbrush/paste and dental floss. Shampoo, shaving items.

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© 2003 Lorenzo Gariano and the Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University
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These pages are the personal responsibility of Lorenzo Gariano and the members of KMi who are supporting him. The views expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of the Open University. The University takes no responsibility for any material on these pages.