Well my Gregory Inyo 35 has certainly been a working pack.  Never far from my back it has been by far the most comfortable ruck sack I have ever owned.  Deciding which pack to take on an expedition to Makalu the fifth highest mountain in the world was not easy but the Inyo won.

On the 14th May we left base camp for our summit push which was going to take at least five days. Most of our large items of equipment were on the mountain but those final decisions of what to take in your rucksack for the final push are always tricky.  As we moved up the mountain the contents of my pack were carefully organised so that on the night of 16th May at 9.30pm I was ready to leave for the summit.  At 11am on the 17th May there I was on my 4th 8000m peak.  It could only be described as amazing.  The summit is tiny and pictures were taken in a hurry as we were all anxious to return back to our camp 4 which we did 19 hrs after leaving.  Exhausted we all huddled into our tents where my Gregory Inyo 35 Pack became a pillow!

The pictures show the Gregory Pack doing its job on Summit day. (Pictures by Robert Anderson)

So what an earth does a mountaineer carry in their rucksack on the summit day of an 8000m peak

Here we go:

• 1x 4 litre bottle of Oxygen
• 1 small first aid Kit
• 1 very small group shelter
• 1x 500ml flask of hot sweet black tea
• 1x spare pair of gloves
• 5 x 10p packets of Haribo
• 1x She wee ( never used)
• 1x Teddy Bear
• 1x Compass

Not really what you would expect! 
As we descended the pack got fuller and fuller but managed to hold everything necessary for the descent including a 5 season sleeping bag.”