Expedition Kit Check and Khumbu Route Briefing in Thamel

Guests arrive mid-morning at a gear loft above an outfitter in Thamel, where a full 8,000-metre kit is already laid out across the floor. The session starts with the layers, boots and gloves, each piece picked up and explained in terms of the temperatures and the days it has to last. Guests then move to a rigged line on the terrace to practise clipping in, ascending and changing over, with corrections given one at a time. A large printed route board follows: the South Col route read camp by camp, with rotations, load carries and weather windows marked as they are actually run. The last hour is questions over milk tea and dal bhat, covering acclimatisation schedules, pacing and what usually goes wrong. Everyone leaves with a packing list annotated during the session.