It is easier to organise your luggage into three parts rather than one enormous bag: hand luggage, valley belongings and a compact high-altitude kit. That way, you do not have to unpack everything on the floor on the day you move to the refuge.
Hand luggage
Keep the essentials you would need if your checked luggage were delayed or you needed to report a problem straight away.
- Documents, money and your phone.
- Regular medication and your personal first-aid kit.
- One warm layer and essential toiletries.
- Office contact details and flight information.
- Valuable or fragile items, subject to your airline's rules.
Your valley bag
Leave everyday clothes, spare footwear, spare belongings and items not needed at altitude in the valley. Nights 1–3 are spent down below, followed by the move to the refuge. After descending, the group spends night 8 in the valley.
Your high-altitude kit
Take only the agreed list up the mountain: warm layers, mountaineering boots, crampons, a headtorch, hand and face protection, glasses or goggles, personal medication, toiletries and compact personal belongings. Protect everything from moisture and label it.
What needs to be within easy reach
Water, a snack, a warm layer, gloves, glasses and medication should not be buried at the bottom. Pack your day rucksack so that you can add clothing or get an item out without bringing the whole group to a full stop.
What not to take up
- Several sets of street clothes.
- Heavy cosmetics and glass containers.
- Items with no clear purpose on the programme.
- Duplicates of equipment already included in the group kit.
- Valuables that cannot be stored securely.
Check before moving to the refuge
- Lay out your kit against the published list.
- Show any doubtful items to the guide.
- Check boots and crampons together.
- Separate your valley bag and confirm where it will be stored.
- Complete the final check before taking the cable car, rather than after settling into the refuge.