How we solved our rural-to-urban packing challenge; rah, Swiss Post!

Has the box arrived?

What did you need to carry in the way of emergency mountain climbing gear? Rope and ice axe? Carabiners or other hardware? Did you need to use them at any point?

See, now, this is someone thinking.

Someone else might say -- You spent $100 to mail stuff back to yourself??! But it looks like that $100 enabled you to do what you wanted on your trip and enjoy yourselves and marry the two halves of your trip. $100 well spent indeed!!

And I definitely agree, a wise decision to send from Switzerland as opposed to Italy (as much as I love Italians, I'm married to one, I can't say that their postal system is the most reliable).

I am surprised you could carry on the treking poles. What kind of climbing equipment is allowed in a carry on bag? I assume an ice axe is not allowed :-)

Our trekking poles are collapsible and foldable into a sack, so they were allowed on the plane. We also carried full bivouac gear, harnesses, and beaners, and picked up the sharp stuff (crampons, ice axe) after arriving in Chamonix. We ended up not needing most of it.

Why, thank you, Kim. :) It was definitely well worthwhile.

Why, thank you, Kim. :) It was definitely well worthwhile.

Were you with an organized group or on your own? I am curious because we are considering this walk and I have not seen advice to carry ice axe, crampons, and harness/biners for the walkers' Haute Route. (My son did the ski route and of course that is different). If the route requires that equipment I will reconsider, as we are fit and strong hikers but I do not care any more to venture where an ice axe is required.

As for the trekking poles you carried on to the plane---are they Black Diamond Z-poles? I have always checked mine and did not realize they would pass the security inspection. Good to know if they are OK.

I think you got lucky with the trekking poles. It's a grey area when it comes to airport security. Another screener may not have allowed it. When traveling with them I always check my bag. They're too expensive to risk;)

You don't need crampons and ice axes for the Haute Route unless it's winter. We were planning on a possible mountain ascent but didn't bother.

I too was a little concerned about my trekking poles, but hoped a sensible screener would observe the climbing gear, mountain guide book, etc. and figure it out.

Pardon the double posting.

Our stuff has arrived. Took less than three weeks by economy post from a country without a port. Not bad.

We organized this trip on our own and thus had to carry all of our own emergency gear. I packed in preparation for my worst-case scenario: you're the last one on the trail that day, get injured, and have to stay out all night until help arrives the next morning. This required a packable thermal blanket, first aid kit, and so on. I also carried my own towel and liner sheet for the hikers' huts. It all went home by mail.

There are guide services that plan the whole trip for you, make your reservations at village hotels, cook your food, and port your gear. They cost an arm and a leg, but if you just want to show up and hike, that's an option.