Hello, this is Eric Frank, good afternoon. I'm calling from the summit of Malchin Peak, here in Mongolia 13,200'. It is a perfect day up here, our whole team is sitting on top, beautiful weather, light winds just enjoying the view of all the mountains surrounding us. So this is the first peak of the trip, hopefully not the last. Thank you so much for following along.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
RMI Guide Lindsay Mann recently sat down with the crew at MTNmeister, a five day-a-week podcast that that explores the training, stamina, strength, and psychology of outdoor mountain athletes. Below is an excerpt from Lindsay’s interview where she discusses some perspectives on training for Mt. Rainier:
MTNmeister: Talk a little bit about the types of preparation you should be doing with types of mountains like Mt. Rainier…obviously it can just get scaled up from there, there are a lot of people who do larger Himalayan peaks actually train on Mt. Rainier so that would be a good place to start. Where would that training start?
Lindsay Mann: I definitely recognize as [a] guide that my lifestyle revolves around being in the mountains and that’s not the reality for all of the people that we climb with. Though, I think it’s important for people that do have a more typical lifestyle is getting in some endurance training. Obviously running is great, [really] any type of endurance [training]. Also, training with a pack. I climbed with my dad and he had to be in New York City a couple of weeks before coming out to Rainier so he climbed as many stairs as he could carrying a 40 pound pack. He just filled a bunch of water jugs and put them in his pack.
I think that is an important part of that too, if that’s how you do end up training (doing some sort of stairs) is [remembering] to train for the way downhill. So, mentally think about getting to the top, but people forget that they also have to get off of the mountain. I think that for us as guides, the number one thing is getting back home safely. Remembering that training downhill, both mentally and physically, is an important part of the training.
I think that switching it up too, endurance stuff, having a strong core, being creative about your training is very important.
MM: The downhill part that you mentioned, how are you normally descending the mountains?
LM: We go down the same route typically that we go and I think it’s just [remembering to use] a lot of the efficiency techniques that we teach on the way up, like the rest step which I’m sure many people have heard of…
MM: Would you explain the rest step?
LM: The rest step is a stance where you have your lower leg straight and your upper leg is bent so all of your body weight is resting on your skeletal system instead of on your muscles. And then just a quick step to that next rest stance so that once again all of your weight is on that lower leg resting more on your skeletal system. It’s a nice small step so that you are saving as much energy as you can on the way up and getting a little bit of a rest with each step.
MM: So you are putting more pressure on your skeletal system and saving your muscles for the endurance basically?
LM: Yeah, essentially saving your muscles for the way down. On the way down you don’t want to lock out your leg - you just can’t do it. It’s a lot harder just to walk down.
MM: You mentioned that your father was training by climbing up and down stairs and he had his backpack full of water, how do climbers know that the training is going to be appropriate for the type of trip they are going to do because they probably have never been to that location, unless it’s you as a guide who has gone there fifty times so you know exactly what it’s like. Do you recommend a person that is going to go up a mountain like Rainier to work with a guiding company like you on the training aspect too? Or is it just looking on the internet, following some other sorts of guidelines?
LM: We actually have a specific training and fitness page and there, there are a lot of good training tips. There are a variety of training tips, for people that have a more “regular” lifestyle, like a nine-to-five job. Also, interspersed in there is some of the training that we guides do. That’s one of the best tools that our climbers can use. My dad actually, after he was training, wrote a blog piece on there about the training that he did. He spent a lot of time training in New Hampshire, so he [describes] some hikes that he did that he felt prepared him adequately for Mt. Rainier in his progression.
Listen to the entire podcast and see more of MTNMeister’s episodes at mtnmeister.com.
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Lindsay Mann is a lead guide with RMI Expeditions and has guided and climbed around the world, including a recent all women's ski mountaineering trip to Alaska's Wrangell St. Elias. Learn more about the trip by listening to the full interview.
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
The team reached the summit of Ixta at 0800 this morning with mostly clear and cold conditions and little to no wind. Recent snowfall from the night prior made for good travel and the route in overall good condition. Alas, we were met with more afternoon clouds and made a muddy dash back on the lower melted trails, beating the precip to our bus escape to Puebla. Will check in tomorrow!
Greetings from 16,000' on Cotopaxi! This is the Ecuador Cotopaxi Express climb calling to check in. We are up at the hut relaxing, drinking some tea, and acclimatizing. We're getting ready to do a little bit of training tomorrow but for right now we are just bumping ourselves up a little higher into the atmosphere and we'll hang out and acclimatize for a bit before doing some training tomorrow and get ready for our attempt at the top the day after. So all is well up here; it’s snowing lightly but we anticipate it clearing out just in time for us.
RMI Guide Jake Beren & Team
Still at 14,200', I'm afraid. There was a cloud cap sitting on Denali at 7:45 this morning when we started checking weather. The cap meant snow and wind were working over the camp at 17,200' and so we weren't anxious to head that way without some improvement. That cap dropped lower as we ate breakfast and eventually it mingled with some clouds from below to put us in the soup. By midday it was snowing and we had to write off our chances for going high on this day. On the bright side, our team members that were suffering from minor colds yesterday had kicked those ailments by today... Vitamin C and bedrest. The gang put on climbing gear and walked up the first hill over camp, despite the steadily falling snow, just to get some exercise and some time out of the tents. Our forecasts call for more snow, unfortunately, so we had to do a bit of contingency juggling of supplies today. As we mentioned a few days back, we can't afford to be separated from our cache at 16 by avalanche conditions as our food supply at 14 Camp dwindles. This afternoon three of the guides broke trail up to the fixed lines and then ascended to 16,200' to retrieve the cache. There was plenty of recent snow to plod through and there were scars and debris piles from a few avalanches, but today things were stable enough and the mission was a success. The entire team greeted the cache raiders enthusiastically upon their return at dinner-time. We'd certainly hoped to use the cached supplies for our summit bid... and we cling to that hope. But now we have that food and fuel safely within our grasp should we need to retreat instead. The team is upbeat and optimistic... and realistic. We know we need the weather to improve in the next few days, defying the forecasts.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Jeff Martin called from Mweka Camp (10,000') after the team's summit day.
The entire team reached the summit of Kilimanjaro today in great style. They left Barafu Camp after midnight with their headlamps lighting the way and reached the "Roof of Africa" as the day broke over Tanzania. After a quick celebration on top the team began their descent back to high camp where they were greeted with drinks and breakfast. They continued down to Mweka Camp and the thick air of 10,000' tired but in great spirits.
Congratulations to the team!
The Four Day Climb May 20- 23, 2021 was turned around at the top of Disappointment Cleaver today due to low visibility, blowing snow and cold temperatures. The teams, led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Taylor Bickford, returned to safely to Camp Muir and will be descending to Paradise later this morning.
Hello again from 14,200'. It's snowing right now, and it snowed all last night. There's only about 6" of accumulation so far, bur more is expected today and tomorrow. The good news is that there isn't any wind here at 14k, and we're all comfortable and cozy in our camp. We're still in a holding pattern, waiting for decent weather to move up to high camp and be in position for a summit bid when the current weather pushes out.
In the mean time, we're getting plenty of rest here at camp. Everyone is patiently awaiting better weather, although we're all a little antsy for some exercise and a chance to move higher. We'll keep you posted...
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Hi John, Talked with Dee - happy times - Paul and I are spending our time picturing all of us having dinner together!!! So glad to be able to feel in contact. Many Blessings to all of you - take care and God Bless. Jackie and Pal
Posted by: Jackie Winchell on 6/29/2012 at 8:38 am
Hope you don’t have too much snow removal to do from your camp and that the weather settles into perfect climbing weather very soon. The kids say HI to their Daddy, Lee!
Nobody missed a flight and all the bags arrived just fine. They came from Norway and New Zealand and a few places in between. Our team -8 climbers and four guides- got together as planned in the Anchorage airport. We talked gear and logistics briefly before relocating to the curb for our van shuttle to Talkeetna. It was a day of blazing sun and wide open blue sky in Alaska.
We broke up the three hour drive with a stop for groceries in Wasilla and then pushed on to Talkeetna, rolling in at about 6:30 PM. Along the way we had been granted a few breathtaking views of the Alaska Range. Our first stop was the K2 Aviation hangar to drop off the big bags of gear. Next we checked in at the Swiss Alaska Inn. The team then strolled ten minutes through the birch forest and over the railroad tracks to beautiful downtown Talkeetna. The town was bustling with tourists and the odd climbing team. We ate our fill at the brewery and then walked the 100 meter length of town to the banks of the mighty Susitna River. McKinley, Hunter and Foraker shot up into the sky across the river… impossibly high. Or maybe just possible. We’ll see. Tomorrow we get started… packing and prepping in earnest.
The Five Day Climb June 11 - 15 led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Dominic Cifelli was unable to make their summit attempt due to avalanche danger. The teams enjoyed two nights at Camp Muir with some good weather which allowed for training opportunities.
It’s exciting to follow your progress. Looking forward to the next post. Good Luck!!
Posted by: Anne Cygan on 2/5/2013 at 5:19 pm
Wishing the Nolans as well as the whole team good luck and best wishes for a safe climb!
Posted by: John Nolan on 2/4/2013 at 7:03 pm
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