42 Days Remain: Gear sort starting with me feet... [Climbing, swimming, and sailing on purpose (was Everest 2014-2015)]
Welcome back to my adventure. Starting today, I intend to provide more details about my gear and trip preparation. Believe it or not, these posts help me organize my thinking about the climb. Nothing helps me more than to review my gear and climbing plan. Over the next few weeks, I plan to cover both topics - first my gear - and to post about gear relevant to each of the major body parts starting with my feet and ending with my head. Along the trip up north through my body, you will learn about the gear I plan to take and when I plan to use it. Brendan (my climbing buddy) and I spent some time organizing a Google sheet with all our gear. Care to see the entire list? Well, here it is. We have many items on our list and some may end up staying home. Until we finalize the list, expect it to change routinely until we depart.
My Foot Gear
Travel footwear from VA to Chinese Base Camp (CBC): My trusted flip-flops. These OluKai sandals (and their ancestors before them) traveled the world with me.
I may replace this pair with a relatively new pair. Nah....
CBC to Interim Camp and perhaps Advanced Base Camp (ABC): Approach shoes. I intend to either use my GoLite approach shoes - the same I wore to the summit of Aconcagua - or a new pair of Addidas trail running shoes if they fit and I can break them in before I leave. Bad idea to break in new shoes on a big climb. Blisters just don't heal at 6000m (20,000 feet) and above.