Do not bother bringing a water purifying filter. The sand and grit in the water clogs the filter and makes it useless in minutes. Use chemical purifying agents instead, worked fine for us.
Be prepared to find mice and rats in the base camps even as high as in Berlin Camp. Make sure you protect your food if leaving this in the camp while doing day trips and during the night.
Our ‘storm lighters’ stopped working above 3300 m.a.s.l. (Confluensia camp). Skip the lighter and invest in some good quality storm matches instead.
According to the rangers in Confluencia camp it is no longer permitted to camp in Ibanez Campsite (just below Plaza de Mulaz). The reason for this seems to be the lack of good drinking water and other facilities (toilets).
Be realistic about the amount of food you bring with you; you will most likely loose your appetite when you move beyond Camp Canada and we found it hard to even manage an intake of 2000 kcal/day.
Do not eat the yellow snow.
The little stream that runs just above Plaza de Mulaz (might freeze in colder weather?) is clear and fresh in the early morning. It becomes more polluted in the afternoon when the sun melts the ice in the glaciers above it releasing sand and grit particles. A lot of people also seem to see the stream as a good place to dump dish water and to wash their boots in - take your water as high above the camp as possible.
It is possible to collect clean water in the snow field approx. 80-100 meter above Camp Canada (on the normal route) during sunny and warm days.
The snow field to the right when entering Nido de Condores has the cleanest snow for melting and drinking. Do not drink the water from the little lakes located in Plaza de Mulas or Nido de Condores; we saw a lot of people (and a dog!) doing their private business near or even in them. At least two other parties had to abandon their summit attempt after drinking this water and getting the shits when we were there, a sad ending to your trip...
Camp Alaska can be very windy and is not considered a good place to camp in uncertain weather; we saw two tent that had been blown to pieces when we were up there.
Do not trust the altitudes on the official map, the difference with the actual altitude can be as much as 300 meters!
Do not rely on the park rangers for weather forecasts, they do not provide this service in Nido de Condores.
You have to pay 2 USD/kg to send your luggage down from Plaza de Mulaz with mules. make sure you have some extra money tucked away for this, in case of emergency.
The use of trekking/ski-poles is highly recommended. Any telescope model (3 pieces) is best since you can adjust it according to the terrain and are less likely to brake during transport.
As far as we know there is no coverage for GSM cell phones on the mountain. Someone had said you can get coverage in Camp Berlin but our neighbors in the camp tried hard without any success.
We strongly recommend a pair of walkie-talkies if you are a group of three or more. It is possible that you need to rest on different days depending on how each individual adapt to the altitude and a radio brings some comfort/security. However, please use them sparsely, it’s not nice to have people chatting with their mates like it is a mobile phone next to you in the camps.
Always do what you can to help other climbers on the mountain. It can be anything from water, food or gasoline and advice/tips. Remember, the one you help today can be the only person around if you get into trouble the next day. And no, the fact that you are x meters above sea level does not mean you have less obligations to help your fellow climber; no summit in the world is above that…
When you have summated and are on your way down again, do not hesitate to ask other climbers in the camps if they need any of your spare food, gasoline, water purification, etc.
If you are keeping in touch with friends and family via email it is cheaper to do this at Hotel Mulas than in the companies that offers this in Plaza de Mulas. Expect a queue of up to 2 hours in busy periods and the connection is very slow (should not complain really, you are 4200 m.a.sl!).
Be strict on minimizing all common equipment as much as possible. Some persons is religious about cutting down on every extra gram they are carrying, others prefer comfort. We found that the only real common equipment should be the tent, medical kit, medicine and radios.
Remember to drink loads and loads of water, but do not forget to add extra salt to maintain the ion concentration in your body. A tip can be to have a small bag with mixed sugar and salt to add to your water bottle.
We had some success in melting snow in a dark waterproof stuff sack in Camp Canada and Nido de Condores when the weather was good. Simply fill it with clean snow and leave it on a sheltered spot in the sun during the day and you might have a few liters of water in the afternoon. The sack is also useful for collecting clean snow far away from the camp.
