Craig and Vicky -

There's lots of excellent advice here. I can't really add very much, because I have a whole stack of dietary intolerances which mean as a rule I have to rely on resupply parcels (wish I didn't; but that's the long and the short of it).

However, a couple of hints from my own experience:

1. Bear in mind that whilst dehydrated food is LIGHT, it is also only any use to you if you have a source of water and an ability to light a stove. I have had dry camps; and I have had camps where I didn't dare light the stove for fear I would set the mountain alight. Try to factor in something to eat on such occasions.

2. Also, sometimes, you end up pitching your tent in the howling wind and rain, and it never lets up all evening. No way would I ever take the risk of cooking in, or anywhere near my tent (not being too keen on having either carbon monoxide poisoning, or my tent burned to a frazzle half way across) so on such evenings, I can't cook my evening meal (unless I'm prepared to get wet). Having something that you can eat and enjoy without having to break out the stove is important. Back in 2004 (before my intolerances were discovered) I carried a couple of Wayfarer self-heating meal packs as an experiment. After a really hard day at high altitude, I just couldn't summon th eenergy to do anything more than collapse into my tent. Being able to set one of those meal packs to heat itself up, and have a nice hot meal ten minutes later, was absolute bliss!

3. Finally, do not underestimate the morale-boosting value of whatever your favourite gooey calorie-laden indulgence happens to be; and make sure you're carrying some of it. When the "path" on the map turns out to be a figment of the cartographer's imagination; your blistered feet are screaming at you with every step; the lactic acid build-up in your calf muscles makes every uphill step a pennance and you still have to lift yourself another 250 metres before you get to the downhill bit; the wind's in your face and the rain has found a way to drip down your neck; and you've just trodden on something which looked like land but turned out to be knee-deep water; you will REALLY need to just dump your pack, sit down for 5 minutes, and eat something really REALLY indulgent. On the Challenge, we call this "having fun" ...


Edited to add: do plan how you're going to pay for your purchases, too. People have been caught out in the past by thinking "I'll withdraw some money from the cash machine at Braemar", only to find that a whole load of other Challengers have beaten them to it and it has run out of cash to dispense ...

Spot on, Jeremy, specially the "having fun" bit. I think you could make that point 3 into a poem ....