Himalayan trek : Shopping, Preparation

Imagine you are in 12000 ft in a very cold place around 0 degree. What are the things you will carry to adjust to the climate condition ?. Once again our trekking Guru was instrumental in finalizing the stuffs.

We did lot of research and came up with a list of things required.Most major purchase is a good 70 - 90 ltr back pack.
As far as lightning equipment, you can purchase from below online.. very reliable.
http://lightorati.in/
Guru purchased Fenix PD35 XM-L2 and works beautifully.

clothing required :

1) Woolen cap / Monkey Cap / Fleece cap (Qty -1)

http://www.decathlon.in/ACCESSORIES-STRETCH-HOOD-BIONASSAY

2) Thermal inner Wear

Pants (Qty - 2 to 3)
http://www.decathlon.in/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=4175&manufacturer_id=7

Shirt (Qty - 2 to 3)
http://www.decathlon.in/WARM-WEAR-FLOWFIT-MEN-TOP

You can either buy from decathlon or from Jockey.

3) Sweat Shirts / Jackets (Qty - 1)

http://www.decathlon.in/WARM-WEAR-INUIT-DOWN-JKT-MALE

or

http://www.decathlon.in/WARM-WEAR-BIONNASSAY-300-FLEECE

or

http://www.wildcraft.in/Products/Wildcraft-Shop-Gear--Apparel-Clothing-Jackets/Wildcraft/Lightweight-Quilted-Thermo-Jacket/pid-4163281.aspx?Rfs=attrZZcu00066789-002VPYQcu00066789-002-9__cu00066789-002-2QQcu00066789-008VPYQcu00066789-008-19QQcu00066789-001VPYQcu00066789-001-1&pgctl=2160334&pgid=303747

or

http://www.decathlon.in/WARM-WEAR-SOFTSHELL-ALPINISM

4) Hand Gloves ( Qty -1)

http://www.decathlon.in/ACCESSORIES-FORCLAZ-500-BIFACE-GLOVES

or

http://www.wildcraft.in/Products/Wildcraft-Shop-Gear--Apparel-Clothing-Jackets/Wildcraft/Fleece-Gloves-AS-Black/pid-6083672.aspx?Rfs=attrZZcu00066789-002VPYQcu00066789-002-9__cu00066789-002-2QQcu00066789-001VPYQcu00066789-001-1&pgctl=2160334&pgid=303747

5) Wollen / Warm Socks ( 1- Pair)

6) Normal Socks ( 4 - Pair)

7) Trek pants (Qty - 4) ; Do not use Jeans pants.

http://www.decathlon.in/APPAREL-PANT-FORCLAZ-900-MEN

and

http://www.decathlon.in/APPAREL-FORCLAZ-900-WARM-PANT

8) Camp Sandals / Chappals / Floaters ( Qty -1 pair)

9) Sufficient normal inner wears.

Other items ( Must have below items)

1) Sun Glasses preferably plastic ones.

2) Sun screen lotion.

3) Medical kit

4) Toilet kit

5) Body lotion / moisturizer.

6) Carry 200 ml of Pure Badam oil / gingelly oil. They will be useful if temperature drops much below expected.

7) Carry 3-4 tablets of acetazolamide ( trade name Diamox) as an emergency remedy for altitude sickness.

8) Torch with extra battery.

9) Small knife / swiss army knife

10) Whistle

http://lightorati.in/outdoor-adventure-gear/whistles

or

http://www.decathlon.in/Accessories-ITALIAN-WHISTLE

11) Fevi Kwivk ( Qty - 2 nos)

Other Optional Items

1) Power bank for mobile phones. You can buy from SP road or online.

Example : http://www.snapdeal.com/product/anker-79an7909ba-power-bank/938360659

2) Camera with spare memory card and batteries.

3) Compass.

4) Shaving Kit ( Mechanical / electrical)

Food Items

Whatever food items required, we carried from Bangalore . Shimla is not a city and we will not be having much time in Delhi. Hence we carried all required food items from Bangalore.

1) Energy Bars as much as you need it.

2) Glucose / Fruit powder such as Tango, tropicana etc.. small box.

3) Electral pouches ( Qty - 4)

4) Ready to eat MTR Sambar rice / Bishi bele bath ( Qty -1)

5) Cup noodles medium size ( Qty -2)

6) Dry fruits and nuts as much as you need it.

7) Munching items during train journey.

8) Carry good quality water bottles. Water bottles can become brittle due to cold weather. Carry 1 liter bottles 2 nos.

9) Carry one medium size empty tiff-in box with spoon.

If you want to buy a good quality watch which can show altitude and temperature here is one.
http://www.flipkart.com/casio-outgear-digital-watch-men/p/itmd9gjgaccybjeq?pid=WATD9H77EH9QZN4F&otracker=search&pageNum=1

Carry one more spare bag if you want to do shopping. You can keep your luggage in YHAI luggage counter safely and can take only things which is needed.

Preparation :

This is what Guru has to say on his preparation methodologies :

Start jogging everyday. You must be in a position to jog about 15 Kms every successive day (that too without any backpack) before the Himalayan trek. This will help to reduce altitude sickness. you can keep track of your distance and duration needed to complete 15 kms everyday and keep on improving with the help of below android app

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nike.plusgps&hl=en

Buy a good trekking shoes with ankle support. Do not use this shoe for everyday jogging. For jogging use some good sport shoes. These shoes are meant for trekking and not jogging. I already have purchased below shoe last year

http://www.decathlon.in/FOOTWEAR-FORCLAZ-600-MAN

Trekking shoes and you need to know each other quite well. So buy this week and use it everyday (even going to office) and any trek/trip before Himalayan trek. Managing these shoes are difficult as they are heavy and their sole is quite thick. It will take some amount of time to get to now each other. It took me 6-8 Months to understand my trekking shoes and now I love it.

This is what Vineeth planned :

.
And I followed my Gym instructions. I lost 6 Kgs in 4 months and followed strict diet.

Morning sprouts 1 cup with 1 glass Musumbi juice.

2 hours later Kellogg (specifically mussoli I bought)

lunch 4 chapathis

1 glass fruit juice (any) before Gym.

dinner 3 rotis after Gym.

I used to break my diet in between but ultimately my intention was not to stay way from food but to keep myself fit. It yielded a good result and I was totally fit for the entire trek.

NoMads