Hi Matt,
great video, great list. You have put quite some thought into it.
I’d add:
- know the time of the last downhill journey of the gondola, bus, …
- in autumn / winter, know when sunset begins
- nevertheless, take a small torchlight with you. This can help to get you home or serve as alarm.
- don’t expect always to be in mobile cell coverage. take paper or offline electronic maps with you. When using offline maps, make sure the phone / GPS receiver is fully charged (my torchlight from above can also charge mobile phones)
- if you follow the advice from SP6SUD and don’t let the weather deter you from doing SOTA, take a large plastic / IKEA bag as an improvised tent for radio and logging (I’m still using paper logging). This bag also serves as rope deposit when throwing an arborist’s weight (otherwise it is prone to tangle on anything)
- leave the summit at least as clean as you encountered it.
- After the activation, reflect on what was good, what was not so good. Your next activation will be better!
But the most important of all:
- Go out! Try it!
73 de Martin / HB9GVW