CAMRA Classes
New dates are posted.
Tip #3 Essentials, Let’s Go to the Top
For the Phoenix Summit Challenging this year, you don’t need a lot of gear. We’ve talked about footwear being The Most Important piece of gear you’ll need in blog #1. And we talked about how important it is to get your health dialed in with water and electrolytes being a big part of that in blog #2. Now let’s talk about what’s up top. Getting your pack and microclimate of shade together.
You won’t carry much, but you do need a comfortable way to carry the few things you may need with you. A pack that works comfortably with 5 lbs +/- in it, is about all you should really need. What are we carrying?
Gear List for PSC:
- 1.5 to 2.5 Liters of water should work well for each summit as long as you are refilling in the car to the next summit. Keep in mind you’ll want a little extra to wet a bandana for on your neck or rinse off any scrape or road rash you get on a nasty fall or maybe just to give a fellow challenger who didn’t take enough or who had an even gnarlier fall. 1 L of water = 2.2 lbs. so this is where most of the weight comes from.
- Bandana, it’s what you're wetting and putting around your neck when the exposure starts getting to you.
- Wide brim hat to get a little relief from that exposure.
- Small First Aid Kit. 1 – Sheet of Moleskin, 2 – 4x4 Gauze Pads, 2 – XL Band-aids, 7 ft. of Tape, 3 – BZK Wipes, 4 – Ibuprofen or similar, 2 – Benadryl (in case of bees), Personal Medications.
- Headlamp. Especially if you’re planning on taking it slow or get a late start. We had 20 or 30 people coming down South Mountain in the dark last year during the U-Rock Festival.
- Emergency Poncho (Optional) Yep. It’s rained and been windy before.
- Snack. (Optional) but sometimes it really is nice.
- Personal Gear. Keep it lightweight and take the things you’ll need.
Then…
- A Duffle and Cooler for in the car will do wonders. Extra Frozen Water, socks, snack, Shirt, Rain Jacket, etc. You need to resupply and changing your socks halfway through is awesome.
- Camel Up (drink your fill) in the car before each summit. This will help keep you going. You should be doing this during your training as well.
Hopefully this list gets you thinking about how to prepare for the Phoenix Summit Challenge. There are bound to be other personal things you may want to use during the Challenge, but this might give you some ideas.
Next Week it's the Top 10 List!
