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We’ve begun!! After so much anticipation and travel and preparation, today we finally started walking. Getting from Rivertrees to the Machame Gate of the National Park all went smoothly, as did the final steps of getting permitted for the climb. We began walking at 11 AM, following Freddy, one of our local guides, through cloud and light mist. The day was spent winding through big trees, at first in a rain forest. Over the course of six hours the trees got smaller and things got drier as we eventually climbed through the clouds into sunshine. At 10,000 ft we strolled into a perfectly constructed camp and moved right in. We even got a brief view of Kibo, Kilimanjaro’s central peak, just before the sun went down and the full moon rose. Our team was excited to sit down to a great dinner and then just as excited to hit the sleeping bags--folks are still feeling the jet lag of shifting all those time zones in short order. But somehow it is better to be feeling it in a camp under the stars, partway up a beautiful mountain. 

Best,

Dave Hahn

As your next climb approaches, it’s a great idea to revisit your training plan with a critical eye and make a plan for how you are going to tune-up for the big event. Within four to six weeks of your climb, assess what is going well in your training and what could use a boost. This might mean entering a race or checking back in on a set of benchmarks that you’ve been using. It’s difficult to make an effective difference in your endurance base at this point—there simply isn’t time. Cramming in all of the hours that you wish you had done earlier is more likely to lead to injury or showing up to the climb already fatigued. Have confidence that you’ve done the job of setting yourself up with a good base and look to these other areas of your fitness for the final tune-up:

Core strength: Your core is comprised of all of the muscles that surround your spine, the side muscles, pelvic muscles, the glutes, as well as (but not just!) the abs. These muscles provide the link in the kinetic chain between your upper and lower body, and thus, nearly any movement you make ripples through the core. In climbing, a strong core helps to link the movements that we make rest stepping uphill with the stabilization of the upper body, including a heavy pack. Add an extra workout or two per week of core strength—focusing on the whole core not just the abs—in the weeks leading up to your climb. The extra strength that you build will help you to climb more efficiently, for longer!

Anaerobic threshold: Your final weeks of training should include some tune-up interval workouts. Try to find a mix of slightly longer level 4 interval workouts to increase your anaerobic threshold, and shorter, speed oriented workouts to tune-up your fast-twitch muscles. Emphasizing some harder intervals and speeds during your final weeks can give you a greater ability to recover from hard efforts during your climb and give you a few more gears should you need them.

Flexibility: A focus on strength training often comes at the expense of flexibility. As the muscles are broken down by training and recover again to build strength, they tend to tighten. If you haven’t dedicated much time to stretching and flexibility, use this opportunity to build it. Building flexibility will help your muscles work more efficiently during the climb and can help to prevent injuries or discomfort that may arise from the effort.

In your final tune-up don’t leave out your long workouts completely, but you can reduce your training volume or hours, and in doing so free up some workout time to focus on these areas. Though mountaineering is an endurance sport, strength, flexibility, and your capacity for high output activity are all important and the effect of your training can be greater in these areas over this last period of preparation. Pick out the elements that could use a tune-up, and take this opportunity to maximize your gains and head into your climb feeling ready and prepared.

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Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!

Today we descended back down the valley all the way to Namche where we passed hundreds of trekkers, climbers, and endless yaks trains! We paused occasionally to take in the amazing views and to see where we had been. It only took about 4 hours to reach Namche where we arrived just before a few groups and took advantage of the much needed hot showers. The team spent the rest of the afternoon doing a little gift shopping and just relaxing in the warmer temperatures. Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to our last day on the trail. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

On The Map

There I was, putting one foot in front of the other, over and over and over again. I knew what everyone was thinking. Who's going to the Super Bowl!! And thanks to one of our team members little go go gadgets, his wife texted the final scores. Go Seahawks! Go Broncos! Who cares, Green Bay isn't in it. The team packed up base camp and moved outta base camp. On move days the packs are always heavier loaded with tents and kitchen gear. Everyone did fantastic and we are now settled into our new home at 16,600 feet on Aconcagua. We just finished with some hot soup. It's like I always say, you have to put money in the bank. We used up some good energy getting here and you have to replenish and put energy back in to keep the bank account at a million bucks. Speaking of a million bucks, anyone want to place some bets on the Super Bowl!? RMI Guide JJ Justman

On The Map

The Four Day Summit Climb August 24 - 27 led by RMI Guide Mike Walter was unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning due to poor weather on the mountain. Mike Walter reported wind, snow and rain at Camp Muir over night. This morning the teams will begin their descent to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier Base Camp this afternoon.

Today's Four Day Summit Climbs led by RMI Guides Brent Okita & Billy Nugent reached the summit crater of Mt. Rainier just before 7 am PT. Brent reported clear skies, a windless and gorgeous day. The smoke from the Eastern Washington fires seems to have cleared and the cloud deck is below Paradise at about 5,000’. The teams will return to Camp Muir in the late morning and then continue their descent to Paradise. We look forward to seeing the teams at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon. Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!

Yesterday we had a great acclimatization hike up to the climbers' hut on the Iliniza mountains. This hike brought us up to an altitude above 15,000' once again, and will help prepare us for moving higher on Cotopaxi. After the hike, we transferred to the wonderful Hacienda Chilcabamba for the night. Chilcabamba is a beautiful, tranquil hacienda located just outside of Cotopaxi National Park. With the quiet surroundings and the great food, it's a perfect place to relax before heading up to Cotopaxi. Today, we're off to the climbers' hut on Cotopaxi, where we'll spend two nights preparing for our summit attempt. Everyone is doing well, and we seem to be acclimatizing well to the high altitude. We'll keep you posted from Cotopaxi. Hast luego... RMI Guide Mike Walter

We woke today to a blend of blue and white swirls, but with more blue above and more white down low--And with our team still charging strong--we made the push to cache food and gear at 13,600'. This trek takes us onto a different aspect of the mountain, with views over to the "Father and Sons Wall" and the glaciers to the west, which feed north to the Bering Strait. Pushing upward to 13,000' we could see the tops of Foraker (17,000') and Crosson (12,000') poking out above a thick sea of clouds around 11k--we were happy to be above it all. After caching our gear we headed down (a much quicker trip!) and we're now back at camp just as the sun has begun burning through the clouds--perfect timing! RMI Guide Kel Rossiter

On The Map

Yesterday we made our first big jump to altitude, from sleeping at roughly 10,000' to 15,000' and everyone seemed to handle it quite well. It's a good sign that everyone is acclimatizing. Today we were greeted with moderate winds and blowing snow. Not what we were hoping for but we'll keep our spirits up regardless. We spent a little time outside today reviewing some basic climbing techniques to prepare us for tomorrow's summit attempt. We mostly enjoyed the comforts of the hut here on Cayambe. It's more of a house than a hut and sleeps about thirty climbers. It has two small kitchens and most importantly, indoor plumbing. Everyone is doing great and are anxiously awaiting tomorrow's summit attempt. If all goes well we will try to leave here early in the morning and hope to reach the summit just after sunrise. Keep your fingers crossed and wish us luck! RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

We awoke to a clear, cold morning, excited to get our climb up the fixed ropes and onto the West Butress started. With several other guided groups set to climb this morning, we coordinated our departures and ended up being the first big party up the hill, alllowing us to move unhindered by other traffic. This ended up working out great for us because our teamed proved to be up to the task of climbing the steep terrain of the route. Under perfect conditions, we negotiated the fixed lines that seem so dauntingly steep from camp, and made our way up the Butress to a cache spot at 16,600'. This is a spot higher than most folks cache, yet everyone made it there in good form. At this point the climbers who were still feeling great went on to carry all the way up to 17,200' camp, a feat that I had yet to be able to do with a group in 20 years! This is certainly a testament to how well our team is doing. So, after this great success (and incredibly hard work) we are really looking forward to our first rest day tomorrow. Given the amount of energy everyone has given to reach this point, it will be the rest we so deserve to charge back up the batteries in preparation for our last move towards the summit. I, for one, am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow. Good night, Brent