RMI Expeditions Blog
Posted by:
Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
Fit to Climb: Week 14 Schedule
BRIEFING
Week 14 may well be harder than the climb itself. This is intentional: in an ideal situation, you want to make the training more difficult than the climb so that you can arrive feeling more than prepared! Self care, organization, and a positive attitude play a critical role in the success of this week’s training. Good luck!
The only easy day this week was yesterday! During the first part of the week, you complete the interval training you are used to from the last few weeks. On Day 4, you have a choice between stair interval training or a fartlek training hike. Heading into the weekend, over three days you’ll complete up to 13 hours on the trail. After this effort, the next big push you’ll do will be on the climb! With the appropriate planning, you could make Days 5 through 7 a three-day backpacking trip. If you are able to, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take a day off from work so that you can focus on a pretty tough series of workouts.
The goal of these hikes is to prepare you fully for the terrain and efforts you will encounter in the mountains, hence the emphasis on elevations throughout the hikes - nothing beats training for uphill climbing like climbing uphill! Carry whatever amount of weight is necessary to pack all of the gear you will need for the hikes on Days 5 and 6, but aim to carry about 45 pounds on the final hike on Day 7. If you are unable to find steep enough terrain consider finding a series of smaller hills and repeating them until you achieve the needed amount of elevation gain. An altimeter watch is a great tool for this. You can also consider adding a bit of weight to your pack if that sort of elevation gain is out of the question for the terrain you have available but be careful not to injure yourself in the process.
DESCRIPTIONS OF WORKOUTS
Day 1: Rainier Dozen + Easy Hiking (30 Minutes)
Today’s hike is a recovery workout and you can always substitute it with a different activity, such as running, biking or swimming. The important thing is to move at a moderate pace for 30 to 45 minutes. The pace can be conversational and you do not need to be dripping with sweat at the end of the workout.
Day 2: Stair Interval Training: The 1-2-3 Workout
Warm up with some moderate paced stair climbing. Then, make three efforts: one moderately hard, one very hard, and one close to maximal effort, with rest periods in between. This may look like:
• 2 minutes at 50-65% intensity, followed by 3 minutes of rest (1 minute standing, 2 minutes descending)
• 2 minutes at 65-80% intensity, followed by 3 minutes of rest
• 2 minutes at 85-90% intensity, followed by 3 minutes of rest
Repeat this sequence five times.
Day 3: Rainier Dozen / Rest
Begin your day with the Rainier Dozen. Feel free to take another 30 to 60 minutes of light exercise if you feel like it (a brisk walk is a great option). If you feel tired, today is a good opportunity be good to take a complete rest day instead. Listen to your body.
Day 4: Rainier Dozen / Fartlek Training Hike or Stair Interval Training (2 hrs)
This week, you have a choice between a two hour fartlek training hike or your consistent pace stair training workout. Either way, warm up with the Rainier Dozen first.
Day 5: Hike (2 Hours, 1,500 feet of elevation gain)
After a warm up, hike for two hours and aim to cover 1,500’ of elevation change. If you are absolutely not able to take some time off from work or otherwise fit in three consecutive days of hiking, you might opt to skip this hike and do two long days instead by changing the hike on Day 6 to a 6 hour hike.
Day 6: Hike (4 Hours, 2,500 feet of elevation gain)
This is the second day of your three consecutive days of hiking this week. Find a hike that allows for 2,500’ of elevation change and takes about 4 hours. Warm up with the Rainier Dozen, and then hike at a consistent pace. Carry a light pack with you with just the bare essentials of food and water to keep you comfortable and adequately equipped for the hike.
Day 7: Hike (7 Hours, 4,500 feet of elevation gain, 45 pounds of pack weight)
This hike is shorter in distance than last week but bumps your pack weight up to 45 pounds. This is more akin to the weight of your pack on the actual climb. Pick a location that allows you to cover 4,500’ in elevation change.
This will be your longest hike or workout of any kind until your actual summit bid and it’s a great opportunity to practice packing well, exercising the right safety-related steps, and take in the right nutrition. On the hike itself, keep moving at a consistent pace and try out any gear that you’ve recently purchased to make sure it works well for you. Pay close attention to how you feel during the hike because it is a great opportunity to learn from you experience and make any adjustments to your gear or nutrition before the climb itself.
SUMMARY
Hearty congratulations! You not only completed the toughest week of training, but have completed the entire peak phase of the Fit to Climb Program! As you think forward to the final couple of weeks, one thing you should feel confident about is that you have prepared yourself well and are set up for success on your climb.
Next week’s training will be significantly different in that you’ll be resting instead of loading up your body. It’s also true that from this point forward, you really can’t build any more fitness. The best part of this news is that you don’t need to; you are ready!
- John Colver
Have a question? See the Fit To Climb FAQ for explanations of specific exercises and general pointers to help you through the Fit To Climb Program.
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, and is working on his second book, Fit to Climb - a 16 week Mount Rainier Fitness Program.
| DAY | WORKOUT | TOTAL TIME | DIFFICULTY |
| 1 | Rainier Dozen / Easy Hiking ( 30 min) | 42 min. | Medium |
| 2 | 1-2-3 Stair Workout x 5 | 90 min. | Very Hard |
| 3 | Rainier Dozen / Rest | 12 min. | Recovery |
| 4 | Rainier Dozen / Fartlek Training Hike or Stair Interval Training (2 hrs) | 120 min. | Very Hard |
| 5 | Rainier Dozen / Hike (2 hrs, 1,500' of elevation gain) | 120 min. | Medium |
| 6 | Rainier Dozen / Hike (4 hrs, 2,500' of elevation gain) | 420 min. | Medium |
| 7 | Rainier Dozen / Hike (7 hrs, 4,500' of elevation gain, 45 pounds of pack weight) | 420 min. | Medium |
| Total | 17 hrs 24 mins. |
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall, Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest
Elevation: 17,575'
Cinco de Mayo and we are here with some nachos. No Margaritas, that will be later. Perfect weather, another beautiful day. Lots of prep work for the upcoming rotation. We took out the oxygen masks and regulators. They may use them if a night at Camp 3 becomes available. So important to double check the equipment before sending it up the hill. Our whole Sherpa team will start out early in the AM for Camp 2 and stay up there until Camp 3 is built and loads are in place at Camp 4. The Sherpa team is such a great group of men, we cannot thank them enough for all their help.
The climbing team will rest one more day, then head up for the final rotation before the summit push. Dave and Seth have been doing fine work of all the details, what a couple of super guides we have leading this Expedition.
A big shout out to Karla, Happy B-Day!
Mt. Everest Basecamp Manager Mark Tucker
On The Map
Today we woke up with a blue skies and great temperatures, way different than what the weather was predicting.
Quickly we got ready and went for a hike to the Southeast Fork. Learning about glacier travel and the different terrain features with these incredible views is spectacular. What an environment to learn in! While at the glacier we checked our approach for Radio Tower, which we are hoping to climb tomorrow.
All and all one more great day in a beautiful place.
Everybody in the group sends a big hello, hugs and kisses to friends and family.
All the best,
RMI Guide Andres Marin and the Alaska Alpine Seminar
On The Map
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall, Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest
Elevation: 17,575'
It's a beautiful day here at Everest Bascamp (EBC)! By that I mean its not snowing or windy, yet. We're taking full advantage by eating our fill, relaxing and doing some laundry. It's all part of the prep for our next rotation up on the mountain.
The past week at Advanced Basecamp (ABC) was a great foundation for our acclimatization and the best part was getting on the Lhotse Face. After all these weeks of prep it was great to feel like we were on a mountain as opposed to being down amongst the mountains. Our next trip up will be more of a test to see how our conditioning is holding up. But for now we're resting.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
On The Map
Posted by: Kel Rossiter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Our trip just keeps getting better and better.
Today we woke up with a crispy couple of new inches of snow in one of the most beautiful places in Earth, Alaska. We enjoyed breakfast with our teammates and got ready to learn about snow anchors, belay systems and other technical systems. The weather is little stormy so we decided to stay around camp to train today.
After lunch we helped pack the bush plane runway and got to move our legs and exercise for a bit. The group is doing great and enjoy each other's company. Tomorrow we are hoping for a good window of weather to go climb.
All best from RMI Guide Andres Marin &the Alaska Alpine seminar
On The Map
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall, Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest
Elevation: 17,575'
It is tough to realize just how hard Everest is on the human body until one comes back down to "normal" altitudes like 17,500 ft Basecamp. The first night of deep sleep convinces you that whatever you thought you were doing for twelve hours a night at 21,300 ft was not actually sleep. A plate of breakfast that you actually want seconds on makes you think of how easy the mountain would be to climb if you could have had your normal appetite up at ABC.
Life is easy for us today at Basecamp. Chairs with backs to lean against. Oxygen and air pressure in abundance. Cellphone connectivity. Showers and mostly clean clothes. And very little risk for a change... Unlike looking forward to a day on the Lhotse Face or a morning in the Khumbu Icefall. Not so much can fall on us on our rest day and we aren't likely to step on anything that collapses without warning.
Lots of good things about life at Basecamp... once the morning flurry of helicopter flights is finished, there is peace and quiet and a billion dollar set of views out every tent door. Today the views included jet stream winds raking the upper Lhotse Face, driving snow a thousand feet higher than the mountain itself. We are catching up on the news and trying to beat Mark Tucker at a game or two, but he has all of the advantages while our brains are still fuzzy and our bodies are tired. Tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Hello from the RMI Alaska Mountaineering Seminar – Alpine Team! The weather cooperated yesterday and we had the opportunity to fly into Basecamp. Everybody was impressed by the great views. Flying into the Alaska Range is remarkable.
Once in Basecamp we got busy setting up our camp, making dinner, and finally crawling into our tents after a long day.
Today we will be staying relatively close to camp doing some technical training. Its going to be a fun day!!!!
RMI Guide Andres Marin
On The Map
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall, Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest
Elevation: 17,575'
Hello All,
This is Mark Tucker from Everest Basecamp! The boys are back in town. The team just returned from their rotation up high and their timing was perfect as usual. No sooner did they arrive here at Basecamp than it began snowing and blowing. The weather is not conducive to it being a shower day but tomorrow may provide suitable conditions. In other positive news the rope fixing team made it to the South Col so the flood gates, and the route to the upper mountain, are open. A bit of the Jet stream is in the neighborhood for the next few days but the push for rope fixing to the summit is in the works. The RMI climbing team is enjoying the thick air, seats with backs, and great food. Let the rest phase begin.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Thank you for super reports! Stay safe!!!
Wolf
Posted by: Wolf Schmidt on 5/2/2013 at 10:05 pm
Posted by: Kel Rossiter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
The Alaska season has begun!
We all met yesterday at the airport and drove through Wasilla to pick up some food items to take on our seminar. After a great night in Talkeetna, we ate breakfast, and began organizing our equipment in preparation of flying on the glacier.
I'm glad we were so prepared. After a pretty wintry day in Talkeetna, we received news that we are clear for takeoff! We are loading the plane now. There is always the possibility that the weather may turn and we'll be headed back to Talkeetna but for now, all systems are clear. Stay tuned...
All best,
RMI Guide Andres Marin and the Alaska Alpine Seminar.
On The Map
Dave Hahn here calling in from 21,300' on Mount Everest, Advanced Base Camp. A big day for us. We went as planned up on the Lhotse Face. We went to 23,500', very nearly to where our Camp 3 is gonna be, just short of that. A good day out on the Face. We broke Dan Johnson's altitude record. We didn't quite break Seth's or mine. But really nice to be climbing up on the Lhotse Face and a beautiful day. And from way up there, looking at Everest, the top of Everest and the plume blowing off, it was impossible not think of the day that Jim Whittaker and Nawang Gombu, two of our heroes, summitted the mountain 50 years ago in a big cloud and snow plume, in high winds. But pretty remarkable anniversary and neat to be around the mountain for that anniversary. We are definitely thinking of that incredible accomplishment 50 years ago, but also our own incredible accomplishment today. It felt really good getting up there and getting back down. And as well, a number of Sherpas, from various teams got together and fixed rope all the way to the South Col today. So rope is fixed to 8,000 meters and that is pretty much opening the door for summit bids. May is here and it's all gonna start happening. But we're pretty psyched with what we accomplished on this round. We're headed down in the morning and looking forward to the comforts of Base camp. Bye for now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn calls in from Advanced Basecamp.
On The Map
Way to GO Dan!! We are following your progress and send our prayers via west winds. Our best to all our Sherpa friends who helped us out at Base Camp Everest this year- we had a wonderful time. Mark- Khumbu Masters?
Posted by: Elsie Bemiss on 5/1/2013 at 6:38 pm
Congratulations Dan on your new milestone. More to come!
I’m trying to keep track of Base Camp trips up and back. What will be the roundtrip total? Five?
-Larry Seaton
Posted by: Larry Seaton on 5/1/2013 at 5:31 pm
Hello Dave : We meet at base camp about 3 wks ago. I was on a 3wk trekking & climbing trip. It was the adventure of a life time . I had many high lights of the trip , right at the top was getting to meet you and talk a little about mountaineering. I’m thankful for the time you spent with me . Good luck on the climb with your team , be safe & may God bless you and your team !!! Now go get #15. Grant
Posted by: Grant phelps on 5/8/2013 at 7:38 am
Collaborative efforts from all team members and Sherpas can only mean success!!!! The best of luck to all of you on the summit push. Looking forward to pictures of your successful ascent. Blessings your way.
ABQ Uptown #985 NM/CO/AZ
Posted by: Rachael C. Lujan on 5/6/2013 at 7:24 am
View All Comments