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Mountaineering Training | Core Strength Training

Posted by: | October 29, 2012
Categories: *Mountaineering Fitness & Training

The question of how to build strength for mountaineering can be answered in many ways. First, consider what kind of strength is needed when climbing. We need strength in our legs to carry ourselves up and down the mountain; we need strength in our back and shoulders to carry our backpack over uneven and variable surfaces; we need general body strength to tackle the everyday tasks such as setting up camp, digging tent platforms, or even to use an ice axe to arrest a fall. This strength can best be described as overall core strength.
 
One way to think of core strength is to consider our body’s ability to move functionally through a wide range of motion in a variety of directions with and without resistance. Many activities will develop this, ranging from certain gym classes and circuit training, to activities like dance, yoga, and weight training. These are all activities that can be done for a few minutes a day or for an hour or two several times a week. If you have an activity that meets all of these goals, I encourage you to continue to use it.  
 
If you are looking for an all-around core strength activity that you can do anywhere, then look no further than the Daily Dozen. This workout can be done anywhere and with no equipment; you can even do it in your pj’s in the kitchen while you’re waiting for the coffee to brew! The Daily Dozen is a key workout of my book Fit By Nature and I use it routinely in my training sessions around Seattle. As a special resource for the readers of RMI’s Weekly Mountaineering Training Series, you can download an excerpt from Fit By Nature that gives a detailed description of the Daily Dozen with accompanying photographs:  
 
Download the Daily Dozen Description here.
 
Often, the question comes up: “Is twelve minutes of training sufficient?”  In reality, if you do 12 minutes each day, it adds up to almost an hour and a half per week of core strength training. However, if you prefer to make it a longer workout, you can simply run through the Daily Dozen two or three times. You can even combine it with other exercises to make it an all-around workout. For instance, in between each exercise, you can walk a set of stairs or do a short run.  
 
What is important is to make your core strength training work for you. Remember the key concepts of moderation and consistency; this means that it’s better to train more often at a moderate intensity than it is to try and do all of your strength training in one big session once a week.
 
- John Colver
 
                      
John Colver is a longtime climber, former mountain guide, and certified personal trainer with the American Council of Exercise. Colver introduced outdoor fitness classes to athletic clubs throughout the greater Puget Sound region before creating his adventX brand. Currently, adventX leads training programs in Seattle and Colver presents clinics on outdoor fitness at companies such as Microsoft, Boeing, the American Lung Association, and REI. Colver lives in Seattle.

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Kilimanjaro: Team Members Set New Personal Altitude Records

Posted by: Seth Waterfall | September 15, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Kilimanjaro
Elevation: 15,000'

Hi this is Seth, checking in from 15,000’ on Kilimanjaro. 

We have enjoyed another great day on the mountain.  As we left our Shira Plateau Camp we ascended to 15,000’ and everyone on the team reached a new high altitude record today.  This is a great mountain to push your personal altitude records as our packs are light and we are ascending without crampons, ice axes and other alpine climbing gear.  We’re about to drop back down about 2,500’ to our camp for tonight.  Tonight’s camp is set at the base of the great Barranco Wall, a steep canyon emerging from Kilimanjaro’s southern side. 

We will check in again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

On The Map

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Mountaineering Training | Rest & Recovery

Posted by: | November 12, 2012
Categories: *Mountaineering Fitness & Training

Rest and recovery is an important part of the training process and there are many techniques, both active and passive, that can help. Recovery from your training efforts can be looked at from physiological and psychological perspectives. Here are some tips: 

1. Plan Your Training: The first step in getting adequate recovery is crafting a solid training plan allowing for phases of training to build progressively and allowing time for active rest.

2. Keep Track: Keeping a training log is a good way of reviewing your progress. I suggest recording not only the volume, intensity, and type of each workout completed, but also your own notes about how you felt in each workout. Self-monitoring how you feel mentally (strong, weak, interested, un-interested) will allow you to see how you are progressing in an overall sense.

3. Get Psychological Rest: Psychological strategies are important factors in reducing and managing stress. Relaxation, meditation, reading, visualization, and using a coach as a sounding board are all valuable tools in helping to maintain focus and a positive attitude throughout your training. Relaxation is also helpful in ensuring quality sleep, which is essential for recovery.

4. Take Social Time: Too much of a good thing can be bad for us. Taking a complete break from climbing and hiking to participate in alternative activities can be a good way to decompress. Mix your hard training up with a different sport; play soccer, frisbee - anything really. At RMI there is a penchant for beach volleyball, ping pong, and horseshoes - it’s a nice mental break from the mountain and those downtime matches are intense but a lot of fun. 

5. Get Therapeutic Rest: Sports massage, some forms of yoga, hot baths, and hydro-massage are just some examples of the many techniques available to help relax muscles after training and prepare for subsequent training sessions. 

6. Pay Attention to Nutrition: Proper nutrition is essential for complete recovery. Quality food that is rich in nutrients is a key requirement for re-supplying energy stores and maintaining our body, it’s muscles, bones, organs, and systems (see the previous post Nutrition for Mountaineering Training for more information on nutrition).

Mountain climbing is tough on the mind and body - and so is training for it. When we climb we steal every opportunity to recover from the hard work so that we can get up the next day and do it again. Training demands the same attention to rest and recovery. This is a work-hard, rest-hard activity and often times your success will be as much dependent on how well you rest as how hard you train. 

- John Colver
 
                      
John Colver is a longtime climber, former mountain guide, and certified personal trainer with the American Council of Exercise. Colver introduced outdoor fitness classes to athletic clubs throughout the greater Puget Sound region before creating his adventX brand. Currently, adventX leads training programs in Seattle and Colver presents clinics on outdoor fitness at companies such as Microsoft, Boeing, the American Lung Association, and REI. Colver lives in Seattle.

Questions? Comments? Leave a comment to share your thoughts with John and other readers!

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Mt. Everest Expedition: First Summits

Posted by: Dave Hahn | May 18, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 17,575'

Another day of waiting and hiking for those of us at Mt. Everest Base Camp, but an important day none-the-less.  The “fixing team” made it to the summit today, taking advantage of stable weather in the morning.  We heard that things weren’t quite so stable in the afternoon, with wind and snow working over the upper mountain, but climbers pushed on to the mountaintop anyway and then descended safely.  The word was that several hundred climbers moved up the Lhotse Face today to be in position for summit bids tomorrow.  We wish them all fine conditions for those bids, but we are keeping focused on our own window, which the forecasts still predict to be a good one, several days out.

Best regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Guide Shack: Elias de Andres Martos

Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos | December 15, 2011
Categories: *Guide News

RMI Guide Elías de Andrés Martos organized a team of RMI Guides to climb Tibet’s Shishapangma (26, 289’), the world’s 14th highest mountain. The team reached the summit on October 11th & 12th. We sat down with Elías after the expedition to chat with him about the climb.

RMI: What first inspired you to climb Shishapangma?

Elías: I had been hoping to go climb an 8,000 meter peak for awhile. When you have that in your head and you have never been to the Himalayas, at first it looks like any peak - if the opportunity arose - would suffice. For the last couple of years, the objective was looking closer and closer, and the deeper research started. Initially I wanted to climb Dhaulagiri, as it was the dream of one of my mentors who never could do it. But I was determined to go this past fall and it turns out that Dhaulagiri is not the best for the post monsoon season, so I started to look at other mountains. Shishapangma seemed beautiful, rising alone on the Tibetan plateau. Easy access played a key role, as it also diminished the cost. And of course, it offered a relatively “easy” and “safe” line for this, our first, 8000 meter peak.

RMI: Organizing an expedition to an 8000 meter Himalayan peak is a major undertaking, what were some of the biggest challenges you faced in simply getting the expedition off of the ground?

Elías: Of course the budget is the main undertaking. It is fairly expensive, particularly when one does it pretty much out of pocket. (We have to thank RMI’s indispensable Guide Grant and First Ascent‘s gear support.) This challenge leads to the difficulty of building a team as well; initially, along with my wife Bridget, I had this trip planned with my two good climbing friends from Spain, but getting 2 months off of work in addition to the funding, made it impossible for them to participate, so I had to start with 0 climbers just 6 months prior to the trip, when everything was logistically planned. Luckily, working for RMI made it easy to “collect” good friends for the expedition. Jake Beren, Geoff Schellens, Eric Frank, and Leon Davis were memorable companions. Ironically, the logistics were fairly easy, thanks to the internet and to Nima, our great contact in the Himalayas.

RMI: How did your previous climbing and guiding experience prepare you for the climbing and organizational challenges of the expedition?

Elías: That experience was probably a good 50% of the success of the trip. Having been on expeditions in other parts of the world is a great help that teaches you how to quickly act when facing problems or difficult situations, whether logistics or interactions with the local people. You come up with solutions or new plans on the go and deal with it.

The climbing and guiding experience among all of us on the team was definitely another great plus. Without much talking, we know what you have to do in different situations and the flow of the climb is as smooth as it can be as a result. Being a professional in the field, that usually works towards helping others achieve this goals, makes you have a greater temper on decision making too.

RMI: What was your impression of the Himalayas?

Elías: What can I say? It is the biggest mountain range in the World!!! Shishapangma sits alone in Tibet and unfortunately we drove to the trailhead from Kathmandu with clouds [covering the mountains], so we could not see much at first. When we all saw the mountain for the first time at Chinese Base Camp at sunrise, we were like little kids on Christmas day in front of Santa’s gifts - so excited. But at the same time you acknowledge the magnitude of the mountain and get those butterflies in your stomach.

I was lucky to have some time afterwards to explore the Annapurna-Dhaulagiri and the Solu Khumbu regions of Nepal, where the concentration of mountains is greater and the steepness of their walls grows exponentially…I have no words to describe what I felt there.

RMI: Give us a glimpse into your daily routine on a long expedition like this…

Elías: Wake up, breathe. Eat breakfast and come up with a plan, breath. Climb or rest, breathe. Try to have a hearty dinner, breathe…sleep. Start over.

RMI: Do you have a favorite memory or moment from the trip you can share?

Elías: Of course the summit. We made it to the Central Summit of Shishapangma at 8013 meters. I cried. I am very sentimental at points and being able to give a hug to my wife and two good friends up there after pursuing such a long dream is indescribable.

RMI: Any advice for climbers that have aspire to climb in the Himalayas one day?

Elías: Go for it. I think that such an undertaking requires determination. If there is a will there is a way and money and time to do it will materialize. Train for it and learn the skills that are necessary to do it. Be determined with your dream and with what it requires. And if you do not climb on your own, climb with a good guide, like the ones of RMI!!!

RMI: What is next for you?

Elías: As far as guiding goes, anything where I can help RMI clients. As I am shifting towards being more of a full time guide, I am very thankful for the opportunities RMI is giving me. I’m headed to Aconcagua (*Elías is currently on Aconcagua) and I am looking forward to the remainder of the winter with the ice climbing programs.

Personally, I have big ice and mixed climbing projects for this winter-spring locally here in Colorado and in the Canadian Rockies. Since the Himalayan bug has bitten me, I have to admit that plans for Dhaulagiri are “in the oven”.

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June Training Tips

Posted by: | June 17, 2012
Categories: *Guide News

It’s June already. Do you have a Mount Rainier climb planned this summer? If so, you are probably at the peak of your training efforts and devoting a good amount of energy and time to preparing your body for the big climb. Many people ask, “What’s the most important thing for training right now?”

If you are less than a week away from your climb, you’ll want to rest. By all means, do some activity — but just enough to keep you moving — not so much that you arrive fatigued. You’ll want to maximize your sleep and relaxation this week. Also, be sure that you’re eating plenty of carbohydrates to ensure you start the climb with a full tank.

If your climb is still a few weeks or even months away, then you have a great opportunity to add to your endurance.

I like to keep things simple. My recommendation to people training for mountaineering is to include at least one long hike each week. How long? Well, your summit day will start in the middle of the night and you may well be climbing and descending for upwards of 14 hours. So, it’s important to condition yourself to be on your feet for that long.

Practically, if you live near Mt. Rainier you can train on any number of long steep hikes in the area, or even hike up to Camp Muir for practice. One big weekly hike is my minimum, but if you can you’ll benefit from back-to-back days of hiking, or maybe even sneak in a midweek hike as well. A man I know was out of shape with only two months to go before his Mt. Rainier climb. He realized he was behind on his training, took vacation time, and hiked Mt. Si, near Seattle, eighteen times in one month! I thought it was a bit extreme and advised him to pay attention to his knees and joints, but he did it — and he made it all the way to the summit and back.

If you live in a flat city you can still get in good training. I’ve done urban hikes before to get in condition for a climb. Once, when I was getting ready for a big climb while I lived in London, UK, I would put a metal weight and some water-bottles in a pack and walk all day, stopping at restaurants to eat and visiting the occasional museum. It’s fun and a great way to see a city. This winter in Seattle I set a goal of walking three miles each day. It’s great for the feet, legs, and back and it’s easy to plan to walk places instead of driving. Arrive at work or a friend’s house and tell them you walked — you’ll inspire them too! It might be tough to get elevation in flatter regions, but don’t let that stop you from building endurance.

If you can’t hike or walk anywhere then bicycling is about as close as you can get to hiking as an alternative. It works the same energy-systems and many of the same muscle groups. If you do a lot of cycling, also do jumping exercises, perhaps even get a jump-rope and use it for a few minutes every day. That will help with the coming-down part of the climb. Cycling builds strength and endurance but doesn’t replicate the impact of stepping down. The combination of both is very effective. 

Top three tips for June:

1. Make the main thing - the main thing: It’s a long endurance climb with a 35lb pack. Go long in training and wear a pack when possible.
2. Back up your long hikes with shorter sessions: 60 - 90 minute efforts at a higher intensity. Stairs, stair-master, elliptical machine, cycling or spin class are good options. 
3. Mix up your training: Some long and steady ‘conversational’ pace sessions; some hard and steady; some intervals of 1 minute of very hard effort followed by 1 minute of rest.

A parting thought: I used to get close to a climb and worry that I hadn’t done enough of this or of that. Right now you’ve done what you’ve done. Its best to take out a calendar, figure out how many long hikes you can fit in, block out those time and then use the other days for shorter sessions. Take a day or two of rest as well, you’ll benefit from doing so. As the guides will tell you on the mountain, don’t worry about tomorrow or next week, just focus on now. Focus on how you can complete — and enjoy — today’s workout. You’ve trained hard and what you do now will make a difference on the mountain.

Good luck.

John Colver
Author of Fit By Nature by Mountaineers Books.
www.adventx.com

For more information please see our resources for mountaineering fitness and training.

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Vinson: Season Beginning Soon!

Posted by: Billy Nugent, Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall | November 08, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif

Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall and Billy Nugent leave the US for Punta Arenas, Chile, in a few days!  Once in Punta Arenas, the team will meet for their orientation and final preparation before flying to the Union Glacier in Antarctica!

If you would like to follow along as the RMI team pushes their way to the highest point in Antarctica, please sign up for alerts below.

Sign Up For Vinson Massif 2011 Email Alerts

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Mt. Rainier: Ski Touring in December

Posted by: Tyler Jones | December 22, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,060'

The week of winter solstice was filled with sun, great attitudes and a wonderful time spent in the mountains. We started our Intro to Ski Mountaineering Seminar with a day of basic touring skills, equipment function and packing along with harness, rope, and avalanche transceiver drills. This was a great start to the trip with two young boys from New York and Ohio looking for adventure and building their mountaineering and ski touring skill sets. The mountain days were full of exciting new learning.  Our first day on the hill we parked at Paradise and ski toured toward Edith Creek drainage and found a nice, secluded and well snow-covered area to camp for the evening, allowing us to make a run down a great slope in the basin. We covered kick turns and transitions along with many other key maneuvers while traveling the mountains with skis on, whether it be up or on the way down. Our camp experience was good practical winter camping… Cold…ish but clear and star filled nights.

The second day we awoke to fog filled air. We leisurely packed camp and dropped some extra overnight equipment in the van. Around 10 a.m. we stepped in to our skis and started our ski to Camp Muir, 4,500’ above at 10,000’. On our way to Muir we encountered firm crust and rime ice requiring us to make use of the crampons a few times and used them a good amount on a section of the upper snow field when our skins would just not grip. In late afternoon we arrived at Muir feeling the days work. We brewed up some hot drinks, had dinner and settled in the bunkhouse for the evening. The third day we covered loads of skills in the region of Muir including ice axes, ropes, cramponing, rope rescue and then followed with many of my other teaching tangents. We had the best weather we could ask for on the true winter solstice day in the Northwest. In our evening lecture we went over frostbite, hypothermia, and altitude illnesses. Today, our fourth day, we made our decent from Muir . We traveled a section with crampons due to poor snow conditions but still managed to get 3,200’ of descent. In my eyes, any skiing is good skiing. We closed the week’s journey back in Ashford over a refreshing beverage and a burger. The week of ski touring has been one to remember and I look forward to teaching more ski-based mountaineering trips on one of the lower 48’s best and biggest ski hills, Mount Rainier.

RMI Guide Tyler Jones

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Mt. Rainier: July Climber Recounts His Experience

Posted by: Mike Walter | October 06, 2011
Categories: *Mount Rainier

With the summer climbing around here over and the leaves starting to change colors in Ashford we are taking a look back at this season’s climbs. Check out this newspaper article about climber David Cox’s 4 Day climb of Mt. Rainier. David reached the summit on July 27th with RMI Guides Mike Walter, Andy Bond, and Cody Doolan.

Congratulations David, nice climbing and thanks for sharing the article!

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Mt. Rainier: September 25th Update

Posted by: Casey Grom, Pete Van Deventer | September 25, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,060'

The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer and the Five Day Summit Climb led by Casey Grom checked in from Camp Muir this morning.  Due to high winds, blowing snow and poor visibility the climbers were unable to leave Camp Muir this morning to make their summit attempt.  The telemetry at Camp Muir and the guides state that wind speeds were consistently 70 - 80 mph with a high of 102 mph during the 1 am hour.  The teams are safe and warm in the hut enjoying breakfast and hot drinks at 10,000’.  They will be starting their descent from Camp Muir at 9 a.m. PT.

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