Steve,
Thanks for the report and sorry the weather wasn’t ideal. Its been one of the best climbing seasons in memory this spring in Alaska and Himalaya for weather but definitely not on Rainer! We were just discussing in the coaches meeting the other day how much of a factor that is in summit success/failure. It does sound like you made it quite high though and came away with some lessons/food for thought.

For the Coaches:
1. Should I focus more on heavy carries to improve this?
I think a lot of failed Rainier type climbs are “lost” on the heavy approach days. You do need to address this in training of course but you need to be thoughtful about it so you can recover well in training. You can attack this a few ways
– Adding a moderate pack weight to more of the zone 1/2 volume days (20-25 pounds)
-Getting in a really solid 8-12 week block of heavy Z3 weighted ME work before the climb.
-Doing a couple of hard back to back weekend days with climbing goal pack weights and vertical. You can do a heavier Saturday then a long hilly Sunday to simulate the goal and demands on the body.
– Use any possible lessons from previous trips to lighten up your pack!

2. Is the (lack) of acclimatization impacting ability to recover en route / at altitude?
-100% it affects you (and everyone else) I think a big part of it is a reduced ability to recovery at night between big days. Suboptimal sleep, nutrition etc adds up fast even on a 4 day trip. This is really common on things like Rainier where pretty much everyone is coming from sea level and immediately sleeping at 10-11K’. A really solid consistent training history of low intensity base to maximize your aerobic capacity will always be your #1 weapon to fight altitude. I.e. Show up fit as possible. Your CTL score in TP is a decent place to start thinking about this. A CTL of 80+ for a Rainier is where I start to get warm and fuzzy about an athlete being ready for something like a Rainier. If possible you may want to consider a bit of time sleeping at more moderate altitudes of 6-8k’ before jumping up to 10-11 but that’s logistically harder for big volcano climbs in PNW than things in the Rockies or Sierra. Lastly if you do happen to sleep poorly at altitude initially you may consider a low dose of diamox to even things out.

3. Does this just point to needing to improve base strength?
I think the most important kind of strength is the sport specific strength like the heavy weighted pack carries. This however is built a bit upon general strength in the “off season”. Chamfit, box steps, lunges, Bulgarian splits squats may be helpful here. That said it is very easy to struggle a bit at altitude with a pack and see the solution as needing to get “stronger” when you may just need to have a more developed aerobic capacity. The primary issue isn’t the pack weight its the lack of oxygen. If you were down at sea level that pack would no doubt feel way lighter.

Separate but related – I would love to hear ideas on how to fuel properly during this. The freeze dried backpacker meals were not my favorite! I did bring up about 3000 calories per day – didn’t quite consume it all but tried to force it once we were above 10k.

-Yup freeze dried is easy to work with but is expensive, calorically lousy, and can be hard on your guts. Especially for a 4 day trip its hard to get enough calories down. Commonly with the limitations of the environment and reduced appetite at altitude you’ll be running a deficit no matter what. I tend to eat freeze dried only for dinner and bring a small jar of olive oil or butter to add some quick calories to every meal. You can also add things like cheeses, salami, smoked salmon etc. You can also branch out from strictly freeze dried into things like Ramen noodle dishes and instant mashed potatoes. While you’re at it make sure your stove/pot/fuel/utensil system is getting the job done but isn’t overkill. Experiment at home and dial in a couple of meals that are super easy and work for you. If it does taste OK at home it definitely won’t at 11k’!

The easiest way I think for folks to wrap their head around the CTL score is that to have a CTL of say 80 then your daily TSS score needs to average 80 for 6 weeks. This obviously is a weekly TSS total of 560. Assuming your consolidation/rest weeks are lower (which they should be) then you need to be doing 600+ TSS for the big weeks. Again don’t let the cart drive the horse but I do think all thing being equal you’ll see more success with CTL closer to 80 than 60.

I think you’re plenty “strong” enough for these goals but I do use the heavy weighted ME pack carry with good success with folks that have goals that don’t have a heavy pack component. It just makes your more fatigue resistant and durable. Keep them down to 1 hour of total “up” time maximum and hit it hard.

With few exceptions I don’t program the 25# weighted aerobic work as a jog, pretty much only hiking. The abuse generally isn’t worth the benefit IMO. Youll likely still have a couple days a week with unweighted jog/runs which is totally fine

Steve,

I don’t see my post anymore either so I’m reposting it. Did not have comments on the training but had some ideas for the food!

Victor

Repost:
Steve,

Thanks for the report, good luck on Chimbo. About the food, I can’t stand freeze dried anymore so have had to find other solutions. Here are a few of my alternatives.

1) Ramen noodle that I just add boiling water to and then also add in chicken (see attachment) and spices. You can get bags you can add boiling water to at Pack It Gourmet.
2) I also do the instant mash potatoes and just add boiling water using the same bag in 1) above.
3) Indian meals by Tasty Bites (see attachment), I really like these, you just add these bags to boiling water and then pour into bowl. I also add rice that you just boil the bag. Little bit more effort with this and the Tasty Bite bags are a little heavy.
4) Bagels with cheese. I also add beef jurkey, the bacon kind so it is a little softer. Bagels keep are light abut a little bulky.
5) Bring some fruit, apple, banana, orange.
6) bring tortillas, cheese and smoked meats/salmon.
7) Have hot chocolate after dinner to get in more calories. Add electrolytes to your water, some will add 100-200 calories to your drink.

I try and bring as much normal food as opposed to freeze dried but every now and then you need the convenience of freeze dried so for freeze dried I use Pack I Gourmet, I find their food way more palatable but it is more expensive.

As Mark said, experiment at home to see what you like before trying it out on the mountain!

Victor