Other Requirements: There may be many other requirements besides a permit. You may need to take a satellite rescue beacon or radio. You may need a rifle and ammunition (plus relevant firearms licences for each country you pass through).
You may have restrictions placed on the type of food you can import and rules regarding the disposal of waste.
There may also be specific rules regarding the employment of porters and in any case it may be easier to employ them via an agency - the permit issuing authority should be able to help you here.
You will almost certainly have to provide adequate clothing and footwear for any porters you employ even though most of them won't use any of the kit you supply, preferring to sell it asap.
Photo: A porter crossing a rickety footbridge in the Karakorum - you may be responsible for their safety.
Grants: While it is true to say that the days of expeditions being sponsored to the hilt by industry and climbing gear manufacturers are long gone, there is still the chance of some money/gear/food free or cheap for your expedition if it is either cutting edge or exploratory, or both. Major sources of funding for UK expeditions include the British Mountaineering Council (traditionally once more concerned with technicality than exploration, and predictably now more concerned with whether you are from an "under-represented group", for which read anybody who is not white/male/over 35) and the Mount Everest Foundation (more concerned with exploration than technicality) - be aware that MEF grant applications must be made in the year before the expedition takes place. Other major grant awarding clubs include the AC, the FRCC, and the Austrian Alpine Club (UK) - needless to say, you need to be a member. There are extensive lists of other grants available on the BMC, and Royal Geographic Society websites. As far as gear, equipment and food goes, best of luck!
Further Info: For more help, the BMC, UIAA, MEF and the RGS have very useful information pages on expeditions, such as Mountain travelling, How to plan an Expedition - part 1, How to plan an Expedition - part 2 and How to plan an Expedition.
Commercial Expeditions: There is of course a short cut to all this, and that is to pay some-one else to do it for you, ie go on a commercial organised expedition. These are highly suitable for the better heeled mountaineer with limited time of their hands. However, it is one of life's truisms that you get out of any venture just as much as you put into it and this is just as likely to be the case with organising your own expedition. Moreover, many commercial expedition organisers show little imagination when it comes to selecting objectives, returning time and time again to the same peaks such as Meru and Island Peaks, Aconcagua and Everest. Others are more adventurous: John Biggar, Paul Walker and the Spenceleys regularly features unclimbed peaks and new routes in their itineraries.
Equipment: We would be pleased to advise on and quote for any expedition kit list.
Much of what you need will no doubt already have, but if you are going to high altitude or operating in especially cold environments (it is essential when doing your expedition planning to work out the minimum and maximum daytime and night-time temperatures that you are likely to encounter), Needle Sports stock and/or can obtain many items of specialist equipment not easily available else where.
| Down Clothing |
We stock a range of Rab down and other clothing. |
| Down Sleeping Bag |
A top quality down sleeping bag is essential. |
| Buffalo |
For winter-type conditions, take the full Buffalo Double-P System - ideal for long-term use as it will not build up condensation. |
| Boots |
We stock specialist boots like the Scarpa Phantom range and can obtain high altitude ones on approval. |
| Extra Warm Air Mat |
Well worth having - you'll sleep better. But take a Closed Cell Foam Mat as well in case you puncture your mattress. |
| Bivi Boots |
Very useful for basecamp and bivis and well worth their weight. |
| Expedition Barrels |
We don't stock these tough blue barrels (see photo of porter on bridge above), but try DV Containers of Wrexham, North Wales. |
| Pee Bottle (men only) |
Very useful. Make sure it's clearly labelled, and large enough (1litre)! |
| Stove |
What stove to take can often be a dilemma on expeditions as one cannot transport fuel by air without making special (and expensive) arrangements. In the few countries where gas canisters can be purchased, certain gas stoves will work at altitude. Otherwise, pressurised multi-fuel stoves, such as the MSR XGK EX, are the stove of choice, as they will burn most fuels, including paraffin (kerosene) which is generally widely available. It is always worth taking a pricker (even with self-pricking jets) and plenty of spares, including spare jets. Remember to take fuel, or empty containers to put it in. Also take a piece of plywood about 5mm thick and about 300mm x 300mm. Put your stove on this and it won’t melt into the snow |
| Glacier Glasses |
Essential unless you want to go snowblind. For high altitude use Category 4 are recommended. |
| Sun Cream |
Equally essential and needs to be a high factor. |
| Altimeter |
Both Suunto and Garmin make ranges of excellent altimeter watches. These can be a great aid to navigation as well as giving advance warning of changes in the weather. |
| GPS |
The Global Positioning System has transformed navigation in the greater ranges and elsewhere and should be considered an essential safety tool. They are no substitute for a map though (if there is one that is!) |
| Satellite Phone, Personal Locator Beacon, Pulk, Rifle etc, etc |
While Satellite phones remain expensive, they can be hired, along with solar battery chargers, from Explorer's Web. Another good source of expedition equipment hire is Paul Walker who runs a commercial expedition service specialising in Greenland - Tangent Expeditions. |
| Most of the above you will have to take with you but, with baggage restrictions of around a total of 30kg per person on most airlines, you will need to buy much of your kit when you arrive. Fortunately the basics are generally cheap if you look in the markets and bazaars and can generally be disposed of at the end of a trip as a welcome gift to the porters, along with any surplus food. |
| Base Camp Cook Tent |
Base Camp Cook Tent If you can't find a tent, improvise with fabric, poles and string. It is really a wind break that you need more than anything, but it needs to be big enough for all of you if possible. |
| Steel Bladed Shovel |
Essential for digging latrines etc. |
| Third World "Primus" Stove |
Available in just about all poorer countries. Take spare washers, prickers, burner unit, and spanner. |
| Fuel and Water Carriers |
Plastic Jerrycans for Kerosene, White Gas and Water. They will leak, but a plastic bag makes a reasonable washer. Label each clearly. Being in the cook tent when some-one inadvertently fills up the kettle with Benzino Blanco is not funny! |
| Matches, matches (and more matches!) |
Ten times as many as you think. Don't rely on lighters. |
| Pots and Pans |
A large cooking pot or two, non-stick frying pan and kettle, big enough for cooking for the whole team, plus a spatula and wooden spoon. An extra mug and plate per member and a chopping board and sharp knife are also useful. |
| Plastic Washbowl |
For washing up and washing vegetables etc. |
| Fresh Food |
Potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots etc will all keep for several weeks in cold conditions, as will eggs if you can get them there in on piece. Cheese keeps well if vacuum packed and oranges and similar fruits should last at least a week. All of these are a lot better than dried food. |
| Loo Roll |
Take more than you think you need as it gets used for all sorts of cleaning duties. |
| Antibacterial Hand Cleaning Gel |
This will really cut down the amount of illness at base camp if everyone is studious about using it after they've pooed. |
The Trip Itself: If you have got this far, the expedition itself should be a doddle, and, assuming you avoid illness, accident, arrest, theft of equipment, passports or money, riots and acts of terrorism, you should have a great time. You may even climb your peak.
That more or less covers it, but feel free to ask or email for further advice.
Photos left to right:
1. Crag Jones climbing VS in big boots and carrying 8 days worth of food plus bivi kit at 6000m in the Karakorum.
2. John Bickerdike making the first ascent of Annsketinde (2460m) in the Staunings Alps, East Greenland.
3. Colwyn Jones high on the South West Ridge of Dansketinde (2933m) during the first ascent. In the distance is the Greenland Icecap.
And finally:
"Double check, double check and double check again."
and
"Remember, your expedition objectives are:
Come back alive,
Come back friends,
Climb the route,
In that order."
Photo: Colin Read and snowsled approaching Crescent Col on the fourth day of a week's trek to the coast after two weeks spent making first ascents, Staunings Alps, East Greenland.
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“The first question which you will ask and which I must try to answer is this, "What is the use of climbing Mount Everest?" and my answer must at once be, "It is no use." There is not the slightest prospect of any gain whatsoever. Oh, we may learn a little about the behavior of the human body at high altitudes, and possibly medical men may turn our observation to some account for the purposes of aviation. But otherwise nothing will come of it. We shall not bring back a single bit of gold or silver, not a gem, nor any coal or iron. We shall not find a single foot of earth that can be planted with crops to raise food. It's no use. So, if you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you won't see why we go. What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to enjoy life. That is what life means and what life is for.”
And you thought he just said, “Because it’s there!” (well, he said that too).
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| George Leigh Mallory, 1922 |