Mountaineering • Getting started • Your first mountain • Skills & techniques • Doing your TMC • Fitness • Food & nutrition • Equipment overview • Climb preparation • Gear check list • Joining an expedition • The effects of altitude • Navigation • Safety & first aid • Further reading • Trip research

Mountaineering
Fitness & training

Physical and mental preparation are by far the most important prerequisites for any kind of mountaineering activity. Failure to be adequately prepared will put not only yourself at risk but your entire team.

Most mountaineers begin physical training approximately 6-12 months prior to a major climb. Professional and/or regular climbers may require much less training as they maintain their fitness constantly.

For the novice climber, the more time spent training before your climb the better prepared you will be. Depending on your current level of fitness, you should consider dedicating 2 hours per day, three days per week to physical training to start with and increase it progressively. This should consist largely of trekking in a hilly environment with a pack loaded with a similar amount of weight to what you will be carrying on your expedition. The amount of weight that you will be carrying will vary depending on the type of expedition that you join. Your chosen adventure company will best advise you on this.

If you are located in an area where hilly terrain is not accessible, such as a city, then this can be supplemented by regularly climbing the stairs of a tall building. This is a favored method of training by a lot of mountaineers.

Another good way to help keep fit between outdoor training sessions is to buy yourself a good quality treadmill. A treadmill shouldn't be relied upon as a sole form of training as there is no substitute for the real thing and a treadmill alone cannot prepare you for a mountain or trek, but it will certainly be a great advantage to your training program in filling the gaps. Although a lot of purists frown upon the use of treadmills to train for mountaineering, it is far better than not training at all if time or weather are against you. Make sure that the treadmill you invest in has an incline function that will allow you to run on it at full incline as this will help to build your stamina and general fitness. In addition, because a treadmill runs at a constant speed, you will be able to train your body to walk at a constant pace. Speed is vital to safe glacier travel or when operating in avalanche prone areas. A treadmill should only ever be considered an additional tool.

Another area of physical fitness that is sometimes debated within mountaineering circles is the inclusion of weight training as a part of mountaineering and trekking fitness preparation. While some will argue that they have trekked and/or climbed for years without ever having picked up a dumbell, commonsense suggests that if the various muscle groups are worked regularly, then they will perform better during your adventure. See also Trekking Fitness.

Prior to starting any fitness program be sure to consult a fitness professional for the correct advice and guidance for your individual circumstances.

Mental preparation

As you begin to prepare for your first mountain you'll hear a lot of people talk about 'mental preparation' and how important it is. The only problem is that they don't usually explain what mental preparation actually is and how to mentally prepare.

To the first-time climber it's difficult to fully prepare yourself mentally for something that you have never done before. Without any prior experience it's hard to imaging the difficulties at altitude, negotiating difficult and sometimes dangerous terrain, days or weeks without the luxuries of home, missing your loved ones etc, etc.

To a large extent mental preparation for mountaineering comes with experience. However, there are a number of things that you can do to help mentally prepare yourself for your first climb. The following tips have helped me in the past and I'm happy to pass them on for the benefit of others. This approach may not necessarily be for everyone since we don't all share the same belief systems.

Before setting up a training schedule I generally set myself a few basic ground rules in regards to ‘mind management‘. Whether you choose to take these techniques onboard and use them yourself is entirely up to you but they work for me.

What you nurture within your own mind is directly related to what you get in life. Think negative thoughts and you’ll get negative results - Think positive thoughts and you’ll get positive results. It’s as simple as that. Those in the know refer to this phenomenon as ‘The Law of Attraction’.

Physical training and self motivation need to work together. It’s no good slugging it out in the gym or on the trail if your mind isn’t heavily focussed on your ultimate goal - stepping onto that summit.

When training for climbs in the past I would build a picture in my mind of the final few metres of the climb. I’d imagine vividly the emotions that I might be feeling as I climb the summit ridge; what the scenery might look like; the sound of the snow crunching under my crampons as I take the final steps; the pain and exhaustion; being photographed on the summit by a team mate; the overwhelming emotions of suddenly realising that I had done it - that I had actually reached the summit of the mountain which I had set out to climb. These are the kinds of thoughts that you'll need to burn into your mind and sole while actually training.

In addition, add in whatever other motivational processes work for you. It might be as simple as playing music while you train. Do whatever it takes. Do whatever works for you. Make it happen.

In addition, watch as many documentaries and read as many books as you can about mountaineering. I'm talking real life documentaries made by real mountaineers. Not Hollywood blockbusters like Vertical Limit. Those are OK for entertainment value but they are unrealistic and inaccurate in their portrayal of mountaineering in the real world.

Physical training - In the field

Simulating the kind of physical activities as close as possible to what you might encounter in a mountainous area is by far the best preparation of all. If possible try to find several suitable training grounds close to where you live that you can use on a regular basis.

I have several regular training grounds which I use when training for a mountain or big trek. The main one, Meryla Pass/Griffins Fire Trail is located about a 45 minute drive away. I find this one ideal because it is a 22km return walk - 40% steep uphill, 40% steep downhill and 20% flat/undulating. With a mid-weight pack this walk makes for a good 5-6 hour workout.

A favorite of my secondary training grounds is the Fitzroy Falls East Rim Track which is a good 1.5-2 hour workout that I use to fill in between visits to the main venue. It features a mix of terrain and is very close to home so when in training I get to use it most afternoons. I also have other tracks which are more suitable to trail running.

In addition to using regular training grounds it is important to do as much trekking as possible on the lead up to your mountaineering expedition. Make sure that any additional trekking that you do is as challenging as possible.

Physical training - In the gym

In my opinion gym training is also an important part of physically training for a mountain or trek and is broadly divided into two main groups; strength training and cardiovascular training. Strength training includes the use of free weights and/or resistance machines while cardiovascular training involves the use of a treadmill, elliptical trainer, stepping machine etc. This topic will be covered in detail in the very near future.

Fitness training schedule

We're currently in the process of putting together a typical training schedule suitable for mountaineering. The idea will be to use it as a base program to start with and then you can taylor it to yourself. Stay tuned !

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