Mont Blanc for Downderry

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last week or so… I’ve just got back from a trip to Scotland. I was intending to do a bit of winter walking and ice climbing, but there was very little snow or ice around so had to console myself with some long distance (and very wet and windy) walking. It did however, give me the opportunity to figure out some of the gear and methods I want to use when we finally tackle the Tour of Mont Blanc in the summer. Especially as I was staying with a couple of army lads, and had the chance to see some of the ways they do things, that I don’t usually come across when spending time in walking/climbing circles. Here are some of the decisions I have made about gear choices…

Shelter

Although we will be using huts and refuges (and even possibly chalets in the valleys!), we also want to wild camp where possible. We also need emergency shelter in case we are benighted unintentionally. To cover all these bases, whilst keeping everything as lightweight and compact as possible, we’ve decided to forego a tent and opt for bivvy bags and a basha - Ray Mears style! We’ve purchased a couple of Rab Survival Zone bivvy bags to couple with (still to be bought) lightweight sleeping bags and cut down sleeping mats. The army basha (basically a reinforced, waterproof tarp), can then be erected, ridge-style, over the top of us incase the weather is really, really inclement. Below is a pic of Gaëlle testing the system out…

This gives us an incredibly lightweight shelter solution, that is also very versatile - the basha can be used as a ground sheet, an emergency poncho, or even a makeshift stretcher should it be necessary.

Cooking

Again, we’ve decided to go for the lightest weight, most compact solution we can think of. We’ve just bought a truly tiny MSR Pocket Rocket gas cartridge stove and intend to combine this with a lightweight (titanium?) brew mug for an all-in-one drink and meal kit (a tip I picked up from the army lads in Scotland). To make this work, we will need to carry a few boil-in-the-bag meals and instant drink powder - Just add water to the mug and chuck the boil-in-the-bag meal into it. When it’s boiled, eat the meal straight from the bag and chuck the instant drink powder into the water for a hot brew! For the meals, we intend to buy a couple of army ration packs from a surplus store (which come with a host of other useful items, like water purification tablets). The instant drinks are easy, as Gaëlle and I both work for Drinkmaster, who manufacture single portion, instant, powdered hot drinks in tiny, lightweight packaging.

These two systems should cover us in terms of shelter, cooking and emergency survival for a very minimal weight impact - important when it’s going to be plastered to our backs for 12 days! We will be ruggedly testing the various bits of kit over the coming weeks and will let you know how they stand up!