Most Popular Entries
Posted by: Adam Knoff, Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Posted by: JJ Justman, Geoff Schellens
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,200'
On The Map
We’re all fine at home. We’re pulling for you Jim and Todd. Love you, mother
Posted by: Amy on 1/13/2013 at 9:46 am
On The Map
Rich, thinking of you every moment. Go get ‘em. XO
Posted by: Christina Doren on 5/21/2012 at 4:30 pm
Hi Mike M!! Still rooting for you….and all your team!! Following your trek on the blog! Kick butt and take names!! Can’t wait to see the view from the top!
Posted by: Annette on 5/21/2012 at 2:12 pm
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Hi Seth:
Johnny and I were close to Kotapaxi a few years ago—have fun.
Love, Brigid
Posted by: Brigid on 1/30/2011 at 1:56 pm
What a beautiful picture. Great job to the team. Love to my brother, Bob. See you soon!
Posted by: K Deeds on 1/28/2011 at 12:29 pm
Wednesday, February 26, 2025 - 6:04 am PT
RMI Guide Jess Wedel checked in at 6:04 am PT today to let us know the whole team was on the summit of Ixtaccihuatl at 17,340'. They will send a blog later today once they descend to the trailhead and make their way to Puebla.
Way to go team! Congrats!
New Post Alerts:
Mexico's Volcanoes February 22, 2025
A painless 1 1/2 hr drive has brought us to the start of our climb, the Machame Gate. Registration with the Park Service is dealt with before we venture into the rain forest. The lush farms and vegetation here is a result of the clouds of moisture that hang at this elevation. We'll get above this climate zone at our first camp, the Machame Camp, at 10,000'.
We have met some of the mountain staff that will help us get to the top as pleasantly as possible. Many of them are friends from past trips, including Naimen, the head of our local guides staff. Our wait staff - yes, we have waiters - will keep the food chef Benson creates coming our way to keep our energy levels up. Alfred leads this team, and has been with me on every trip I've done.
We've devoured part of the sack lunches our outfitter had provided us and are now ready to rock.
Catch up with you at the next camp!
RMI Guide Brent Okita
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Posted by:
Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
In a busy world of managing work schedules, family, and training, sleep is often the first thing to suffer. As we pack more and more into our day, we try to get away with less and less sleep. While it’s difficult to manage schedules and sometimes a last minute crunch demands heading to bed late for a few nights, athletic gains from your training are a sum of your training load and your recovery from that load. This means that simply putting in the training hours and effort are not enough; you need to give your body the time and ability to recover from those efforts as well. Additionally, studies of sleep and performance have shown a significant cognitive effect from continual sleep “debt” or sleep restriction. This all leads to the conclusion that you need to hold your sleep time just as sacrosanct in your schedule as you do your training time. If you can stick to this, you will find yourself much more productive with your waking hours as well! To make sure that you are giving your body the recovery it needs from your training load, studies suggest you follow several principles:
Set a consistent sleep schedule: To get quality sleep and maximize your recovery, it’s important to stick to a consistent schedule. Try to head to bed at each night and wake up at the same time. Your body develops a rhythm to sleep, and when your schedule is altered it can make it more difficult to fall asleep, or the sleep you get to be more fitful. Similarly, try to match your sleep schedule to your circadian rhythm. If you are a night owl, embrace it. Heading to bed at 1 am, and trying to wake at 5 am for a pre-work workout is a recipe for sleep deprivation. Recognize your circadian tendencies and try to design your schedule around them to accommodate.
Create a constructive sleep environment: Light pollution and excess noise can prevent you from entering the deepest stages of sleep, in which the majority of recovery from your training load occurs. Consider using fans or white noise machines to drown out excess noise, and consider blackout curtains to create an environment for truly restorative sleep.
Disengage from your screens half an hour before bed: Try to put your screens down at least a half hour before you head to bed. That includes your phone, Ipads, kindles, and televisions. All of the electronics in our lives create stimulation that can make it difficult to fall asleep, keeping us up longer and upsetting our rhythm.
Get 8 hours of sleep: Studies show that while many of us may think that we can operate on less, 8 hours of sleep is the magic number to maximize recovery in athletes. This number creeps up a few hours for teenagers and younger children. While a single night of less sleep will probably not affect your training appreciably, consistently shorting yourself on sleep will reduce your recovery, and reduce the efficacy of your training.
Try a nap! In studies of elite athletes’ recovery, a half hour nap between 2 and 4 pm was shown to dramatically improve recovery. Furthermore, a cup of coffee consumed before that nap helped athletes to wake from it alert and ready to go. While it may not be practical for everyone’s schedule, see if you can sneak in a quick catnap; it may be the performance boost you’ve been looking for!
The Canadian Sport for Life organization has published a detailed explanation of sleep studies as they pertain to long-term athlete development. Find it here: http://canadiansportforlife.ca/sites/default/files/resources/Sleep_Recovery_Jan2013_EN_web.pdf
_____
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
Posted by: Brent Okita, Leah Fisher, Nick Hunt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,200'
On The Map
God Speed and Good Luck to Brady O’Mara and his fellow adventurers. The Cheltenham Farrell’s
Posted by: Farrell Family on 6/4/2014 at 10:03 am
Good stuff! Hoping you awoke to a beautiful, windless, snowless day and are making your way (carefully)to the summit right now. Lots of prayers and good karma are with each and every one of you. I want you all safely delivered to Talkeetna and several icy cold pitchers of beer…after you shower. Good luck! We love you, Brady…and your tent pal, Bruce.
Posted by: Jane O'Mara on 6/4/2014 at 7:51 am
We are all watching your precarious adventures biting our nails from the coffee shop in Los Angeles. Worried sick that Clark will get a blister or lose his beauty sleep (he can’t afford to!). He said he was tired of walking the dog everyday but don’t you think this is a bit extreme, Clark?
Wishing you all safe passage home!
XO, from all of us here at sea level
Posted by: Ted Craig CJ on 1/16/2013 at 3:29 pm
Sorry to hear about the hardships but I had to go back to work today and that’s no fun either…haha I hope everyone feels better and you can all end the trip on a high note.
Posted by: Albert on 1/15/2013 at 3:33 pm
View All Comments