Cool and Interesting

I train for a bit, then nothing for weeks. Then full-on tough days, then traveling and afterwards just relaxing. It’s difficult to improve my fitness like this.

But on September 6th I’ll be standing at the start line with 1.5 km of swimming, 40 k cycling and 10 k running ahead of me thinking “Shit, I should have trained more so that the next 4 hours would be less painful and more satisfying!’

What to do? More sports, of course. But without injuring myself. What are my weak points? My right knee twinges when I run for too long. My left hip is uncomfortable when I lie down. My right shoulder still feels a bit of that rotator cuff issue I had last year.

Regarding the three activities:

• I can swim crawl half the time for a k but do not yet have the stamina or form to swim crawl for a kilometer non-stop, let alone a kilometer and a half.
• I can cycle 40 k no problem. I’d like to be able to do it a little faster.
• A 5k run is doable but slow again at the moment due to lack of training. 8k too. I think I’d currently be exhausted at the end of a 10k run, especially if I swam and cycled beforehand.

So I can probably complete the Olympic triathlon. I’d just like to be able to do it a bit more elegantly and faster than “just surviving”.

What to do? My calendar is full of activities and the weather is hot. I have to make it a priority to run or cycle in the morning, and to swim in the evening.

So what did I prioritize?

20260712 Sunday: 5k run in the morning – dragged myself out of bed

20260712 Sunday: 1k swim in the afternoon in rough water. Pushed to do this before our friends came over for dinner

20260713 Monday: my arms ache from swimming. Putting on cycling gear before going downstairs instead of cleaning up my clothing mess. Managed 30k in 1:30! And broke the 100 base fitness level!

100! Wow!

The highest ever! A year ago it was 38.

20260715: 5k run in 38 mins in Winterthur. Didn’t want my base fitness to go down too much while travelling

20260717: 1k swim in 35 mins. I did freestyle 1/2 of the time

20260718: 1k swim in 38 mins. I did freestyle 2/3 of the time. No rotator cuff twinges!

20260719: 8k run in 1:09. Same time as the last time I did one in January. No knee twinges! I had help dragging myself out of bed as my left hip was complaining. 🥴)

Assuming I can keep up the same pace doing all these activities back to back for the olympic distance, my expected times are:

• 1.5k swim in 38+19= 57 minutes
• 40k bike in 1.5+0.5= 2 hours
• 10k run in 38*2= 1:16 minutes (or 1:09+17=1:26 minutes 😬)
• Total: 4 hours 13 minutes

So my goal is to be able to do the Olympic triathlon in less than 4.5 hours. The closer I get to 4 hours, the better, but the main goal is to finish without injuries.

Note that there’s a 1-hour cut-off after swimming so I better work on that. Intervals?

I should probably do those rotator cuff and hip exercises from Dr. Kristie Ennes that helped my shoulder and hip become pain free. And lift some weights.

These were the slowest women doing the olympic triathlon in Locarno last year:

Gulp. I’ll have to get a bit faster and aim for a sub-4-hour time. I think only 7 women competed in my age group  so I’ll aim for 8th place 😋

Three men took longer than 4 hours. Especially the run took a long time.

1253m hiking up, even with just light 7 kg packs, requires a bit of training. Tendons need to be strengthened beforehand. We all managed to get up there, but only one of us was trained enough to happily continue with a similar pace (800m up, 1700m down) the next day. Just hiking back down to the car caused sore legs and knees for the following days.

It was a beautiful trip though!

Continuing as a road trip was a nice plan B.

No one got blisters or anything else. There were a couple of items that could be optimized.

To Do Afterwards:

Put in first aid kit:

– monuril3

– Water disinfection tablets

Fill up mini lip balm

Fill up deo

Find second pee rag

Find green waterproof bags

Buy face cream with SPF  Ultrasun to use every dsy

Fix chest strap of 40l exped backpack

Insert shoelaces that don’t come undone

Beanie that doesn’t slide off head during the night

Gloves, even if it’s hot at the bottom of the valley

Superduper warm down jacket is just wonderful when it’s coolish.

The hut was not heated so it got quite cold inside in the evening while having dinner and sitting around afterwards.

Hat cord so it doesn’t blow away in strong wind

Download swisstopo map before going offline

Set phone so I hear when family&friends call

Close the gas of barbq before leaving

A huge history of cross-country and downhill skiing in Riale

The only use of first aid was to repair a rip in Aldo’s pants.

Finally used my sewing kit!

Parents leaning way out …

Over the spectacular waterfall: la Cascata del Toce

View from the bottom. The Toce River flows down to Gravellona T., the oft-cited endpoint of the north Italian highway. It’s just a small town where the Fiume Toce flows into the Lago Maggiore.

Very refreshing when you get close

Spectacular Val Formazza

An interesting way to rope off a path

Interesting architecture

A much-desired delicious ice cream

And a traditional crodino made in Crodo!

Abra …

… Cadabra! We need one of these magnetic mosquito net doors!

We round a corner in the … Valley and our jaws drop

A beautiful cathedral pops up out of nowhere

Gorgeous granite blocks

Just stunning

Beautiful contrasting stained-glass windows

We enter Switzerland and Aldo takes over the wheel, starting immediately with vertiginous drops and many many curves.

Plus the Domodossola train suddenly cutting off the road

Back down to 39°

Enjoying the delicious blueberries we bought at the top of the River Toce.

A spectacular trip!

Sunrise over Val Torta. We’ll walk back down this valley to the car as the original hiking plan to walk 800m up and 1700m down to our next shelter is too ambitious for 6 of the 8 legs.

Lenticular clouds over the Basodino

The “new” hut sleeping bag stayed in place!

Lots of ski touring possibilities here

Starting the walk down

Fulfilling a longtime dream of staying in the new Capanna Cristallina after the old hut 200m lower down got swept away in an avalance in 1999. I had stayed in that hut on a ski tour in 1995.

Flowers and views on the way down

The solar panel getting more input while walking in this direction

Exped baggies super useful to keep gear sorted

Cooler

A variety of Exped and home-made dyneema baggies keeping stuff organized

The Osprey backpack is not waterproof, as my pyjamas found out on a previous city trip, so an extra waterproof clothes bag is needed

The new style of Meru micro towels keeping me dry

Another crushed hut

Even bulls have bells

Just keep walking …

This was a lovely, but ice-cold place to bathe my feet the day before.

The last remnants of winter snow

Down the farmer’s road

Well-engineered corners

Delicious but still slightly sour blueberries

… with a view!

Made it back down to 1313m. Starting our road trip right away to make it in time for our hot tub appointment before dinner.

Sonia getting us there, expertly navigating the many hairpin bends up and down the Nufenen Pass

Glaciers in the distance

Enormous wind turbines feeding the net

The bridge after the Simplon Pass

Made it to Riale, with a wide open view

Staying at Aaltsdorf

Packs, hats and boots ready

Starting at Ossasco at 1313m

Clouds of butterflies keeping us company

Going up 200 vertical meters at a time

Through the shady woods at first

Views of the surrounding mountains becoming visible

Flowers, blueberries and strawberries!

400m up the vista opens up

Val Torta

Wonderfully refreshing stream to bathe my feet in and dry with my Meru super lightweight towel. No blisters until this point.

Passo del Naret 2437m on the left, as seen from about 2100m

First view of the cantilevered hut from 1000m

Keeping the electricity flowing around Europe

At the pass, a breathtaking view of the Basodino glacier

The Val Torta valley we hiked up

View from my seat at the dining table in the hut on the Cristallina Pass at 2566m (starting from 1313m meant we did 1253m vertical hiking!)

Clouds in the sunset above the Basodino

Here it is, the Final First Aid Kit:

• Pain management (1 per person per day):
  • Joint inflammation, toothache: Ibuprofen/Brufen
  • General pain, fever: Paracetamol/Dafalgan
  • My headaches: Aspirin
  • Contusion: Diclofenac Voltaren/Olfen
• Medication
  • Allergies: antihistamine, nose spray
  • Sleeping problems: melatonin
  • Digestive troubles: imodium/loperamid
  • Bladder infection: Monuril 3
  • Yeast infection: Candida antifungal cream
  • Sea&Altitude Sickness: Motilium or Itinerol
• Flesh, Tendons and Bone Wounds
  • Itch: Oma cream – Nestosyl
  • Blisters: Compeed – 2 per person per day
  • Tissue paper/package of Tempos
  • Wound treatment: Disinfectant Fluid
  • Stop minor bleeding: Bandaids large and small
  • Stop medium bleeding: Wound dressing, Elastoplast tape/medical tape
  • Stop major blood loss: Israeli bandage
  • Stabilize twisted knee or ankle: compression bandage
• Hardware
  • Cutting bandages: Ceramic knife
  • Removing ticks: Tweezers
  • Signalling for help: Whistle
  • Being seen by helicopter: Recco tag
  • Staying dry and warm: Survival bivvy bag
• Special situation
  • Nora had dental work done: extra ibuprofen just in case
  • Knees may hurt walking up the initial 1200m wall

At the end of the previous blog I started philosophizing about the nature of a first-aid kit. This leads me to think about what it is we’re treating.

• Discomfort but bearable
• Debilitating but survivable
• Life-threatening and urgent

We all want our excursions to be enjoyable, otherwise what’s the point? In some cases, though, weight reduction is so important that discomfort is taken in stride.

Hut-to-hut walking is the most comfortable way to enjoy the mountains, ensured of a solid roof at the end of the day and having to carry only a light pack. Unless you end up in an uncomfortable situation by getting lost, or held up due to an accident, and have to spend the night outside. Is an emergency blanket enough then? Accidents happen more frequently when it’s raining and/or getting dark – so is a minimal viable rainproof shelter needed? As you don’t need to carry a tent, sleeping kit or cooking gear, a bit more weight in return for comfort is not an issue. A tarp is not enough, though, as the wind blows the warmth away and horizontal rain will make everything underneath it wet. We need a new tent-tarp shelter! For emergency situations while day hiking!

Bivouacking far away from a solid roof requires more gear. But it also means that you could set the tent up anywhere and be sheltered. The incredible reduction in the weight of backpacking gear over the last few decades means that the weight of the first-aid kit is not a huge issue, and a few extra pills could make the difference between enjoying the sunset vs. just surviving.

Mountaineering requires that a lot more heavy gear needs to be carried, so the weight-comfort trade-off shifts more to the absolute minimum side. As long as the discomfort doesn’t lead to making bad decisions.

Does the weather play a role? If the forecast is for 4 days of pure sunshine, do we need to bring rainpants? Of course the temperature range is a factor for the clothing you bring. Does it have an impact on the first-aid kit contents?

This is a multidimensional situation:

• Weather
• Altitude
• Trail difficulty
• Temperature
• Hours of sunshine

Ugh, this requires too much thinking. Or maybe I’m just overthinking it. I better eat something so my brain works again. Publishing and then continuing with this train of thought. Stay tuned!

What are actually the major causes of death and need for evacuation?

Italian Mountain Rescues Summer 2025

• Most of the incidents were due to hikers falling and injuring ankles and knees 43%
• Ill equipped and inexperienced 27%
  • Unstable and deteriorating weather
  • Getting off track
  • Health issues: heat and cold, nausea, high altitude sickness, fatigue
• Most often middle-aged men falling or unprepared while hiking in the summer
• 12’000 people rescued in 2024, 500 died

Prediction for 2026 is that the high temperatures cause glaciers to melt and rocks to become more unstable. Therefore it is even more important to

• Do a realistic assessment of personal limits
• Thoroughly research your route
• Stay warm/cool even in changing temperatures
• Keep up energy levels by taking breaks and eating&drinking enough
• In case of an incident check: Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure
• Protect injured person from rain, cold and wind
• Rationally decide when to call for help
• Carry a Recco so a rescue helicopter can detect you from up to 80m away

So, what, exactly, do we need to do before going hiking for 4 days tomorrow?

• Print out the appropriate first-aid kit list
• Compare list with contents
• Find/buy what’s missing
• Put in Dyneema envelope baggies with slots indicating what the contents should be

Trial run:

Oh, that’s a lot of missing stuff. The hardcore anti-inflammation drugs require a prescription.

We also don’t have any hard-core antibiotics, which we would add for a multi-week trip.

All of this stuff is expensive and expires, so we need an efficient way to keep things stocked.

It’s time to be organized about first aid. There is no “one kit fits all”. It depends on the length of time it may be needed, the distance to pharmacies that are open, ease of making it to a hospital with/without calling the Rega, the type of risk inherent in the activity and the number of people. This is a first try at being systematic and to create something that will make it easier next time.

A first-aid kit needs to be reviewed every time before you set out, preferably a couple of days before the stress of last-minute final packing sets in. It also gives time to buy missing items and to let your subconscious review your decisions. This is a good overview page: mountainmedicine .

Why is it so difficult? I guess because planning for unhappy events and balancing impact&probability against weight&size takes a lot of brain power. It gets overwhelming.

There are very nice first-aid containers to be had:

They don’t come with a list because of liability issues. It is also important to indicate the use and dosage of the medicine. What if we used icons to describe the issue that is being treated and made little pockets for the medicine to treat it? Let’s give it a try.

A first First Aid Kit for four people hiking hut to hut between 1800 and 2400m for 3 nights. There will probably be some medical support at the huts, in contrast to when we camp at this altitude. Parts will be steep with loose rocks.

• First Aid Kit:
  • Pain management:
    • Joint inflammation, toothache: Ibuprofen
    • General pain, fever: Paracetamol
    • My headaches: Aspirin
    • Contusion: Diclofenac Voltaren
  • Medication
    • Allergies: antihistamine, nose spray
    • Sleeping problems: melatonin
    • Digestive troubles: immodium
    • Bladder infection: Monuril 3
    • Yeast infection: Candida antifungal cream
    • Nausea: Motilium or Itinerol
  • Flesh, Tendons and Bone Wounds
    • Itch: Oma cream – Nestosyl
    • Blisters: Compeed – how many?
    • Wound: Disinfectant cream/fluid
    • Stop minor cut: Bandaids large and small
    • Stop minor bleeding: Wound dressing, Elastoplast tape/medical tape
    • Stop medium blood loss: coagulant bandage
    • Stop major blood loss: tourniquet, Israeli bandage
    • Treat burns:
    • Stabilize twisted knee or ankle: compression bandage
  • Hardware
    • Cutting bandages: Scissors
    • Removing ticks: Tweezers
    • Seeing in the dark: Flashlight with full batteries
    • Signalling for help: Whistle
    • Survival bag?
    • Knife: it’s a cute, very sharp ceramic one

I put together three kits: small, medium and large:

Let’s see if it fits. A couple of items (antihistamine!) are still missing – I’ll get them tomorrow.

This is the reverse approach: have container, fill it to the max. (So much for being systematic.)

They weigh 500, 200 and 50 grams, without the emergency bivvy/blanket. This would do, keeping the contents waterproof. But it’s all jumbled together. Tomorrow I’ll think about how to keep it organized with bespoke dyneema baggies.

Early morning philosophizing: are emergency bivvys/blankets part of the first aid kit, or part of the “shelter” kit? What about nail clippers? Part of the “personal hygiene” kit? What if you’re on a daytrip and break a nail? And sunscreen? That’s normal procedure. It should be applied repeatedly during the day and thus be within easy reach. So not a “fix something to reduce discomfort” thing. Whistles? That’s an emergency thing. Good thing I bought a couple. If only I could find them.

I can feel it happening again: the kit is more or less prepared. Finding or buying the last couple of things will drown in the last-minute packing and that will be the thing we need.

We’ll be walking for 4 days on steep, uneven terrain. The chance of blisters is high, and two each won’t be enough. Better bring more of those too.

In order to use our hut sleepingbag sheets, we first need to walk 1000m up to get to the first hut.

What will we need? The temperature will range between 30° celsius on the way to and from the starting point, 15° at 2400m during the day and 5° at night. It probably won’t rain but we should be prepared for a thunderstorm at altitude.

Walking during the day:

• Wearing:
  • Hiking boots
  • Hiking socks
  • Hiking pants and shorts
  • Long and short-sleeved hiking shirts
  • Underwear
  • Sun hat
  • Buff
  • Sunglasses
  • Sunscreen
• Backpack:
  • Drink
  • Food
  • First Aid Kit
  • Electronics
  • Hut Things
  • Rain Protection
  • Solar panel to recharge batteries

Contents of Backpack:

• Waterproof bags for the following objects:
• Hut Things:
  • Normal/reading glasses
  • Socks
  • Underwear
  • Shorts
  • Tank top
  • Long pants (or wear pyjama pants)
  • Long and short-sleeved hiking shirts  (or wear tank and pyjama top)
  • Fluffy down jacket
  • Warm hat?
  • Gloves?
  • Bathing suit for the hot tub!
  • Towel
  • Slippers
• Fun and Electronics
  • Phones
  • Charging cables
  • Battery
  • Earphones
  • Poker cards
  • Compass
  • Watch
  • Heartrate band
• Sleeping:
  • Toothbrush, toothpaste, floss
  • Comb, deodorant, soap
  • Personal medicine
  • Washcloth/face towel
  • Pyjamas (that can be worn to dinner)
  • Ear plugs
  • Sleepingbag sheet
  • Pillowcase (to fill with fluffy down jacket)
• Rain protection:
  • Rain coat
  • Rain pants
  • Waterproof socks? (only if rain is expected)
• Drink and Food:
  • Electrolyte tablets, maltodextrine
  • Water bottles
  • GORP/nuts and berries
  • Sandwiches/crackers and cheese
  • Cash/cards to pay dinner in the hut
• First Aid Kit:
  • Pain management:
    • Aspirin against headaches
    • Ibuprofen against inflammation
    • Paracetamol against general pain, fever
  • Allergies: antihistamine, nose spray
  • Sleeping problems: melatonin
  • Stomach troubles: immodium
  • Bladder infection: Monuril 3
  • Blisters: second skin/Compeed
  • Ticks: tweezers
  • Twisted ankle: compression bandage
  • Scraping/cutting skin:
    • Disinfectant
    • Oma cream – Nestosyl
    • Bandaids large and small

To wear on the way there:

• Sandals, light clothes

To leave in the car:

– in case we get soaked by a thunderstorm: comfy change of clothes and shoes

To do before leaving:

• Cut finger and toenails
• Wash stuff you want to bring
• Charge phone, watch, heartrate band, earphones
• Water plants
• Reserve beds in huts
• Bus schedule
• Print mapsI
• Install Rega app
• Memorize Rega number: 1414

Next week we’re doing a multi-day hut-to-hut hike with the whole family and we each need to bring a hut sleeping bag: “Huttenschlafsack”. We have one blue silk/cotton (250g) and two white cotton ones (450g) and need a fourth but time is short, so I’ll just make one out of an old fitted sheet.

What’s important is that the top end of the mattress is firmly covered, so your head doesn’t touch the intensely used mattress. I can re-use one of the corners of the fitted sheet for the top part and I’ll have to invent a second one.

The feet and the body should have enough space inside the bag. The top sheet needs to be at least 100 cm wide to cover the body.

How to join the top sheet and the bag bottom …

We start with the bottom end:

Cutting off the elastic to make the serging easier. It’s tempting to sew it closed right away along the bottom and halfway up the side, but my experience with pillow cases tells me it’s easier to sew the other parts while the bottom is still open.

It was decided that the top sheet of this cotton sleeping bag should come to within 15 cm from the top end of the bed.

And it was decided to make the bottom part 70 cm wide so it would fit on mattresses from 60-80 cms.

With these two decisions the system is well-defined. The remaining degrees of freedom are very small.

Cutting line for the top sheet, 15 cm from the top edge of the mattress.

X marks the spot of the other corner of the bottom sheet, 70 cm from the other one.

If I cut the top sheet to size until the corner of the bottom sheet, then I can use the cut off part to make a nice corner that fits around the mattress.

How to finish off the corner where the top and the bottom sheet meet? I guess I’ll just serge around it in an 180° turn. It’s “only for three nights”.

Ad hoc, trying to make the most of the elastic part. Not really good sewing technique.

A proper corner. No elastic is needed for the 15 cm down the side.

The corner has been cut out.

I’ll start with sewing the corner seam and then serge the edge of the bottom sheet, making that 180° turn and continuing across the top sheet and down the side. At some point I’ll insert the other edge of the bottom sheet so the bottom makes a nice foot bag.

Publishing this now. Stay tuned for the post-sewing part! Will it be what I want it to be?

Intermediate check when the thread ran out. Looks good!

New spool of thread, creating the usual problems. Doesn’t look good.

Managed to sew it all with odds and ends of grey thread. The foot part is not symmetric, as expected.

So I’m sewing off the corner to make a foot box.

Tucking in the ends of the threads because this sheet can be used inside-out if you want to have the opening on the other side.

The finished hut sleeping bag!

With a spacious foot box at the end. It’s 185 long, 90 wide. Made of 50% cotton, 50% polyester and weighing 500g. Not the lightest but certainly the cheapest, and the most comfortable one!

What about the other sleep sheets?

This one (185 long, 73 wide) has a pocket at the top and a pocket at the bottom. You need to bring a separate pillowcase. This works. The foot pocket could be removed as I doubt it would stay put. The material could make the top part a bit wider.

In the end I just ripped out the two little side seams and made it 15 cm longer!

This one (175 long, 80 wide) has a zipper and a foot box  but the top part is never going to stay in place. I have some leftover material that I cut off the fitted sheet. Maybe that can be used to create a pocket at the top which can go around the head of the matress.

The top part has been extended and will now wrap properly around the head of the matress.

It’s now 185 long.

The blue one is 200 cm long and 90 wide. Just one pocket at the top, with extra material around the shoulder part. Being a silk/cotton mix, it is the lightest, and by far the most expensive, of the lot.

What a relief to finally have a whole set of proper sleeping sheet bags for hut-to-hut hiking!