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Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
“Do you train?” A climber recently asked me as we descended the Disappointment Cleaver on Mt. Rainier. My answer: “Well, to be honest, training to most guides is a way of life.” We don’t HAVE TO go for a run, lift weights, and bike all day; we GET TO. Training and performing are both mentally demanding to do and to motivate for. My remedy is to remove the need to motivate and intentionally make training part of who I am. There are two ways to view the 5 A.M. wake up to go to the gym: The first - it’s a choice you make every day and the second - it’s what you do. Consciously removing the decision to get out the door and train makes the process easier. I was suffering from decision making fatigue just the other day as I tried to decide which Tillamook ice cream to buy, but had no problem walking out the door to get in a jog because it wasn’t a choice. On days when it seems harder to get moving, I tell myself; “Well, there is no decision to make. Here we go.”
What do many of us guides do for training? You name it and guides are doing it: road biking, mountain biking, rock climbing, yoga, HITT, sprinting, jogging, swimming, skiing, weight lifting, sit-ups, bouldering, and on and on. The guiding lifestyle lends itself well to activity and a solid foundation of endurance, and as a result our training may be less structured. We all make choices around what’s important to us. If I am building fitness for a specific climb however, I will be more organized about my approach, dividing my training into specific categories and foci to more efficiently reach the gains that I’m depending on. This is probably more applicable to many of the climbers I work with, for whom their next climb likely is one of the largest athletic feats they have taken on in their life.
Training takes time in what is often a busy schedule. What if we took 5 to 10 minutes from different ways we spend our time each day (time on our computers, socializing, food preparation, tv watching, house cleaning, shopping, sleeping, social media) and put that into fitness? There is no way I can navigate your personal time management, but it is all a compromise and we can do almost anything but not everything.
There are lots of good blogs here on types of workout and training preparation routines so I’m not going to outline specific workouts here but instead link to some of my favorite references:
https://www.uphillathlete.com/training-plans/
https://www.redbull.com/us-en/lindsey-vonns-training-regimen-will-wreck-you
https://www.rmiguides.com/resources/fitness-and-training
http://www.fitclimb.com/page/6-week-beginner-mountaineering
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Christina Dale has led climbing expeditions all over the world - from Everest Base Camp to the Mexican volcanoes to the summit of Denali. She’s skied from the top of Chilean volcanoes, peaks in Patagonia, and across Mount Cook. During the summer, she’s a regular on Rainier. She spends her winters ski patrolling at Crystal Mountain, with her avalanche search and rescue dog in tow.
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
The weather came around today, but not quite in time for us to make good use of it. The skies had cleared of cloud but at noon there was still wind whipping snow off the high ridges and peaks. We didn’t want to chance having to battle such a wind for the final hours into high camp and for the time needed to build that camp. So we got ready, but we waited for improvement. The winds did diminish but not convincingly enough for us to pull the trigger. The teams around us did go for it and seem to have done just fine, although now, at 9:45 PM there is still wind visible in the high camp area. We’re going to put our efforts into these next two days, Saturday and Sunday, for which the forecast is fine. We have the place to ourselves… not entirely by design, but the quiet is nice.
We’ll set alarms tonight for 4:44 AM… not for an alpine start to the climbing -which would be quite cold- but to catch the solar eclipse. At the time of totality, Mt Vinson will be squarely between us and a view of the sun, but perhaps we’ll see stars -a rarity in an Antarctic summer (like never).
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
Posted by: Ben Liken
Categories: Guide News Guide Grant
Over the next three days we practiced and perfected rescue and rope skills as the rain fell nonstop all around the pavilion we were under. It was fun to focus purely on the timed drills and creating one handed hitches as they were called out. Looking out we could see the rock getting wetter than it had been in months. The sandstone in Red Rocks is porous and thus absorbs water like a sponge. Even in the warmest months the rock needs 24-48 hours to dry after a soaking rain and we had a lot of soaking rain with cool temps and low sun. The issue with climbing on the damp rock was not going to be its slipperiness but rather the danger of holds breaking and a leader falling onto protection in that same type of rock that just broke. As the sun rose for the last three days of the course we had to turn down perfect climbing weather because of poor route conditions. I sympathized with the climbers I work with on Mount Rainier: they come from across the country after months of training, time, and money spent, only to be shut down by avalanche hazard or icy conditions on a beautiful, sunny day. All was not lost however; we were able to learn and practice new skills in the horizontal plane, on very sunny aspects, and in steep off trail terrain. We agreed that we learned just as much if not more in this manner than we would have high on the rock.
This was my first AMGA experience and it could not have been a better one. It solidified many skills that I can put to use in my current guiding and climbing. It was a great opportunity to develop myself in my profession and has opened the door for more courses and certifications. These courses and certifications are not required for guiding in the United States and many great guides are fully qualified through experience. This program and others offered by the AMGA however, get guides on the same page and forces us to be the best we can be, whether it be on Red Rocks sandstone, Mount Rainier Glaciers, or a remote peak in the Andes. Thanks to RMI, Eddie Bauer/First Ascent guide grant, and all the guides on the course for making this possible. Climb On!
Posted by: Eric Frank, Jenny Konway, Kiira Antenucci, James Bealer, Nathan Delmar, Lauren Macklin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,300'
The Five Day Mt. Rainier Climb teams, led by RMI Guides Eric Frank and Jenny Konway, turned at High Crack today due to hearing and seeing a significant amount of rock and icefall. They are back at Camp Muir and will be descending early this morning.
After a great night of sleep, we slowly made our way down the mountain. The team was motivated and made quick work of the descent. Motivated by the thought of hot showers, delicious meals, and communicating with loved ones. A nice evening at Aconcagua Basecamp was had rehashing memorable moments of the trip. We are all very fond of the experience Aconcagua has allowed us to share together.
Till next time,
Congratulations on what must have been a really challenging, yet incredibly rewarding journey. Can’t wait to see pictures and hear stories. Well done.
Posted by: Levert on 2/8/2022 at 5:34 am
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in from Everest Base Camp, May 17th.
On The Map
All the Best to all the Teams.
Posted by: Ajay Godbole on 5/18/2012 at 3:12 am
Wishing you all benevolence from the weather gods.
Thanks for the dispatches.
Stay safe, stay strong.
Posted by: Bill Horn on 5/17/2012 at 7:42 pm
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall checks in from the South Col - getting ready for summit bid.
On The Map
On The Map
I am a union structural ironworker from Detroit MI and admire you all as a team going for the Summit and living life on the edge. Good Luck and be Safe!
Posted by: Art Kazyak on 4/28/2012 at 5:50 pm
Posted by: Casey Grom, Abby Westling, JT Schmitt, Lily Emerson, Jenna Burkey, Cal Seeley
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
Continuous rain overnight at Camp Muir, kept the Five Day climb July 2 - 6 teams from making their summit attempt. RMI Guide Casey Grom reported a slight break in the weather but the rain was continuing. They plan to leave Camp Muir around 9:30 am for a hopefully dry walk down to Paradise. The teams should return to Rainier BaseCamp in the early afternoon.
Thank you Abby, Casey and all the guides for your leadership and hard work to help us all develop our mountaineering skills.
Posted by: Jeff Wrobel on 7/7/2022 at 7:24 am
Howdy everyone back home.
All is well in Tanzania. We’ve had great weather and the team is humming along really well.
We hit the trail just after 8am and hiked for an hour before taking our usual 15 minute break, then back on the trail for another hour and so on. All total today we hiked for just over six hours before reaching Barranco Camp. Our gracious Kilimanjaro porters have been working very hard and we arrive once again to a camp set up and ready for us.
Along the way we passed around the famous Lava Tower reaching just over 15,000' setting new altitude records for many. We also passed by many of the giant groundsels and towering Senecio trees that made us feel as if we were in some crazy Dr. Suess story.
The team is in good spirits and doing great.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew
Karl, Derek,
Congrats to the Summit!!!! What an achievement! Cheers! Jack & Mary
Posted by: Jack on 9/4/2022 at 6:48 am
To Eric: We all look forward to reading the updates each day and can’t wait to hear all about the trek! We miss you and love you. Stay safe.
Posted by: Vicki Sutton-Beattie on 9/2/2022 at 9:36 am
Visit & Discover Morocco
Posted by: brahim ait on 9/15/2017 at 3:20 am
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