You can bet dollars to doughnuts that in the early 1900’s that cats like Wheeler, Feuz, and Fay weren’t doing kettlebell swings and snatches to augment their training. Sure as shit they weren’t using Heart Rate Monitors or worrying misguidedly about their VO2max. In fact, I’m sure they didn’t really think about training at all; at least not in the same way that we do. And although it was probably close to a century before the S.A.I.D principal surfaced, I’m sure that they understood it very well. These guys just went out and climbed stuff. A lot of stuff. And that is the key…
While my 2022 summer alpine trip is still somewhat fresh in my mind I thought that I would briefly jot down what went well with my preparation, and what needs modifying for the future. My training this year, which I have already documented here, was actually pretty effective, but of course it could have been better.
I think that without a doubt, the times I spent on the trails was the biggest contributing factor. This of course only makes sense. S.A.I.D. raises its head again.
Trail running. Yes, top notch training. The rougher and steeper the terrain the better (within reason) but, also pretty susceptible to sustaining injury. Use with caution. I did a fair bit of this, and I did err on the side of caution, but I could have done more; especially longer efforts. I think that my longest run was only 8km or so. I should have been doing double, if not triple that.
Rucking. We used to call this hiking, until the Tacticool folks got a hold of it. This, especially if done on rugged and steep ground is probably the best training, or at least will most closely mimic alpine approaches and mountaineering. I did have a couple of good days of 24km and 1,200m elevation gain. This was pretty effective for me, but again, as with the trail running, I should have done a lot more of it. I have ample terrain to practice on, but I certainly did not take full advantage of it.
Box Steps. You bet. Good training in a pinch but a piss-poor substitute for spending 6 hours going uphill through rough topography. As I have stated many times, these are boring as hell and soul stealing. There is no way I could ever utilize these properly. But if you are gonna do them, make sure you are wearing boots and a pack.
Leg Day. Sure, but not a bodybuilder bro session; rather, a focused strength and muscular endurance routine. I used this later on in my training and I think it worked well, but I should have started earlier and moved on to weighted progressions. The basics are: Warm-up with some easy ’cardio’ for 20 minutes or so. Then… Six sets of ten: Squats | Split Jump Squats | Step-ups | Bench Split Squats | Squat Jumps | Cossack Squats | Calf Raises (sets of 20) Twice per week working up to weighted versions. Read TFTUA to get the details.
Speaking of Uphill Athlete. I came pretty close to signing up for their 12 week mountaineering training plan. At the end of the day however, I didn’t want to spend the bones, plus I knew that my travel plans would cause me to miss a bunch of stuff.
Climbing laps in the climbing gym wearing boots and a pack. You gotta be kidding me right? A. Not fun. B. Not effective. C. Would I do this again? Probably.
Cycling. Well, there is no getting around it. I like riding, and I do it a lot. I tried to cut back, but I didn’t. It does supply a decent amount of ’cardio’ and allows for pretty long efforts so that aspect is good. It just doesn’t provide the right adaptations required for alpine climbing. Mountain biking would be a bit better, but I only did a little of that.
The hardest thing to train for, is unroped climbing on steep and / or exposed class 4. Without question. There is no way to simulate this on dry land. This truly is only accomplished by doing it. Now being exceptionally fit and strong is going to help you get by in almost any situation, but strength and fitness are no substitutes for the mental aspects that are required for this type of climbing. So get out climbing more.
I don’t like to make excuses but here goes…
Excuse number one: I had some minor surgery in the spring that had me out of commission for about a month, and took close to that long to get back into form. Excuse number two: It’s just too damn hot here in the late spring and summer, so getting out for big days on the trails is challenging, if not downright dangerous. Excuse number three: We went on a month long vacation just prior to the climbing trip. That threw a spanner into my training, but only because I let it. I had every opportunity to train better and harder than I did.
So in a nutshell that’s about it. The moral…. get off your ass and get outside and climb more….