"Minneapolis climber plans to tweet from Mt. Everest." That was the headline last fall when a local paper, the Minneapolis City Pages, profiled my pending trek to the world's highest peak. The article, by blogger Hart Van Denburg, noted that I had climbed "the tallest peaks in the United States. . . but in April will be journeying to the tallest mountain in the world." It continued: "[Regenold] will be tweeting about his experience from a tent at 17,700 feet."

Photo: gearjunkie.com
City Pages headline.

As such, on my trip to Mount Everest this past month, I felt inclined to live up to the article's promises of real-time communication from remote Nepal. The leaders of Expedition Hanesbrands, the climbing crew I was hired to document for three weeks, also had technological expectations of me for keeping a blog updated at www.climbwithus.com; loading photos to an FTP site in North Carolina; and documenting the trip with short videos that needed to be sent from remote Internet cafes along the trekking route.

As the founder of www.gearjunkie.com -- and a longtime true "junkie" of equipment for the outdoors -- I am adept in boots, ice axes, tents, and all manner of adventure-oriented hard goods. HD cameras and satellite modems? I can handle 'em with some instruction. In Nepal, where I arrived in late March with a satellite phone and a solid-state Dell notebook in tow, I felt ready for the technological challenges ahead. Spare camera batteries, lenses, flash storage cards, power adapters, and USB drives would accompany me on the trail.

In the end, I learned that an equipped trekker or climber can stay surprisingly connected even up near the top of the world. It takes the right gear -- and some extra rupees for services along the trail -- but even in the outback of Nepal, indeed even from 17,000+ feet, Facebook, Twitter, blogs (and all those things some people go to the wilderness to get away from!) can be accessible and close at hand. After eight days of trekking, and a stint at Everest Base Camp, here are a few things I learned.

Power. Be sure to bring adapters for the country in which you're travelling. The two-prong power plug used in the United States is often incompatible with faraway destinations. Fortunately, it's an easy fix. You can purchase international power adapter kits at electronics stores or online for $10 or less.

Photo: Stephen Regenold
Inside the Comm Tent

USB drives. For transferring files, photos, and other digital data from a laptop, bring along a high-capacity USB "thumb" drive or two. In Nepal, I would often write and manage photos on my laptop in a lodge, restaurant or a tent. To upload at an Internet cafe, I would save data to a USB drive and plug it in for moving files onto a cafe computer. This eliminates the hassle of trying to log-in wirelessly to a network with your laptop (not always easy) or configuring IP addresses and LAN cords when you'd rather be outdoors soaking in the Himalayan sun.

Computer considerations. I used a "ruggedized" Dell laptop on my trip. The computer has a reinforced case and drop-resistant features. It is more tolerable to moisture than a regular laptop, but by no means waterproof. An important feature: The Dell came with a solid-state hard drive -- not a traditional spinning disk drive. Solid-state drives have no moving parts and work better in harsh environments like extreme cold and high attitude.

Camera cases. Hard-side cases by the likes of Pelican Products Inc. and Otter Products LLC are de rigueur on the Everest trail. Your gear is toted many days on the backs of porters or strapped to yaks. A protective hard case that's waterproof and drop resistant is necessary for keeping equipment safe.

Internet Cafes. The small, dusty "cafes" found in villages along the Everest trail provide connection to the outside world. Generally, the higher you get in the mountains, the slower the connection. Expense increases dramatically with altitude as well. I paid about $20 for a half-hour session online at one cafe at about 16,000 feet. But the price is an aside when you realize you're staying in contact from one of the most remote places imaginable.

Photo: Stephen Regenold
Everest Base Camp "comm tent"

Paste and copy. To save time and money, I would often type up notes and emails offline on my laptop. I would save them to a USB drive and paste and copy from a file in an Internet cafe. Authoring long missives to a missed loved one back home -- or articles for a blog -- can be a costly ordeal if you're not a speedy writer as the clock ticks in a cafe.

Base Camp. Mount Everest Base Camp, a tent city above 17,000 feet, is one teched-out place! You can't stray far without tripping over a solar array, power cords, generators, satellite dishes, and other accessories that keep climbers connected -- and entertained -- as they hang out, acclimate, and prepare to ascend the tallest mountain in the world. Expeditions Hanesbrands was no exception. We had large solar arrays, satellite modems, a radio system, and a "comm" tent dedicated to technology and communication from the glacial field at Everest's base.

Photo: Stephen Regenold
Everest Base Camp

Each night, our small team would flick on the propane heater in the comm tent and boot computers to write or edit video. The Himalayan sun beat all day on our solar array. Stored power could then charge devices and run multiple computers at once. From my desk, dressed in a parka and mountaineering boots, I would write and upload articles via a satellite modem device. I edited photos and saved them to an FTP site, a folder icon on my screen denoting a server somewhere on the other side of the planet. As it got late, my work done, I'd write a few tweets. Twitter at 17,000 feet. A connection to the world from a small tent somewhere in a sea of ice, high in a valley below a big mountain, stars overhead in a sliver of Nepalese sky.

--Stephen Regenold is founder of GearJunkie.com.