Been thinking about what I read in a couple of the reviews of the climb on Exodus’ web site. They said that on the morning of their final assault on the top, that their water froze, within half an hour of starting out. It seems that walkers wear a special day pack, called a camel, which has a water container in it, from which you can sip while walking. Dehydration is a real risk – you have to drink gallons. I wonder if the camel can be filled with hot water? That might give you a fighting chance of it not freezing straight away, and it would be like a lovely hot water bottle on your back.
The mind boggles at the amount of stuff the porters have to carry up. Not just our tents and our baggage – we softies just carry our day packs – but also the food, cooking equipment, and enough water to keep us all going more more than a week. I don’t suppose they take too much by way of clean clothing or anything else for themselves. I am glad to read that Exodus pay their porters more than any other company; it seems to me that they must have one of the toughest jobs in the world. It’s brilliant that women are trained as porters too: I imagine that didn’t happen until recent years.