Fitness:
- Plenty of Cardio for at least 6-months. By the time I climbed the mountain, I was ready to run a full marathon.
- If running is not your thing, then biking and swimming are good. But, from my personal experience, swimming alone won’t cut it.
- I hiked almost every weekend at nearby trails. If you don’t have access to the trails, you can use the treadmill at an elevation with a 10lbs backpack every weekend for a good 4-5 hour walk at a 3-3.5 miles per hour speed would do the trick. Again, I hiked for “almost” every weekend for at least 3-months in advance to the trip.
- I personally didn’t do much of a weight training. But, I felt bad that my leg muscles were not strong enough while I was at the mountain.
Vaccines:
Pre-trip preparation has been a little exhausting for me. Today, I took some of the vaccines needed. Even though my insurance covers the travel vaccines, I have the toughest time getting appointment with my clinic. So, I decided to break it down this way:
- Yellow Fever Vaccine (Required) – At a travel clinic that doesn’t take insurance for $110
- Polio (Recommended) – At a travel clinic for $60
- Hepatitis B (Recommended) – Given that this one requires 3 sittings over a period of time, I skipped it.
- Hepatitis A (Recommended)- At Mclean Chest Pharmacy that takes insurance
- Typhoid (Recommended) – Oral pill from Mclean Chest Pharmacy
Gear:
I made countless number of trips to REI and spent considerable number of hours on their website reading reviews and comparing products before I finalized my list. Here goes it:
Cold Weather Gear
- Waterproof, windproof jacket
- Waterproof, windproof over pants
- 300 Series polar fleece jacket
- 100 Series polar fleece pants
- 2 Thermal long sleeve top – Smart Wool Medium weight
- 2 Thermal underwear long-johns – Smartwool Medium weight
- 3 Pairs of thick socks – 70% wool – Smartwool heavy cushion
- 1 Pair good hiking boots with ankle support and waterproofing
- 1 Pair gloves with liner – Goretex
- Ski mask
- Wool Scarf
- Sunglasses with good UV protection
- REI Gaiters
Mountain equipment
- Walking sticks
- Thermarest
- REI Expedition -20F sleeping bag
For the full list, I used these videos as a baseline on top of the list provided by my trekking company.
I took Diamox with me but didn’t really use it. But I did take Malaria tablets.
Also, I decided to hire a satellite phone for emergency purposes.
For my experience on the mountain, check out the article here.