Calves burning, hips locked in hard against the ice, one arm locked off low as I swing an ice tool high overhead. I have trained for ice climbing since the first season I discovered it way back in 1988—training that has taken me to some of the wildest places on our planet. Ice and mixed climbing are core skills to alpine climbing, and fun in their own right. Before jumping into ice climbing training (and mixed climbing training), it helps to know what is involved physically. The quintessential ice climbing movement taxes the calf muscles, the shoulder girdle muscles, the triceps,…
Author: Steve House
Heart Rate Drift Test This test has become our go-to test for all our coached athletes. We like it so much that we include it as the first workout in every aerobically based training plan we offer. This article provides a full description of the test, so we won’t repeat the instructions here. We have found it to be well correlated (95+ percent) with Metabolic Efficiency Tests (the gold standard) Our full discussion of all the self-assessment options is found in this article: Aerobic Self-Assessment for Mountain Athletes Simple in concept, the Heart Rate Drift test uses the principle that when…
Who are you becoming? And have you considered asking yourself, why? Are you the result of a decision or an accident? How good is your relationship with yourself? In the mountains we are all asked to try new things, to learn. Learning is agency distilled into its purest form. Perhaps this is why education has often served as the great equalizer in a meritocracy. Could mountains be the purest form of meritocracy in existence? In the mountains we are learning how we can choose to control one aspect of our life and ourselves. As you deepen your practice in the…
Learn about how mitochondrial adaptations influence lactate metabolism and how endurance athletes can apply these insights to their training.
Read all about the role of mitochondria in aerobic training. By tailoring training and recovery, readers can enhance these biological processes to improve endurance and resilience.
This guide breaks down how to train effectively for hiking and trekking goals—from building aerobic endurance and strength to managing pack weight, planning your schedule, and preparing mentally.
The New Year often brings big resolutions—grand ambitions and lofty goals. But here’s the truth: big dreams aren’t built in big gestures. They’re built in the quiet moments of showing up, day after day, whether you feel like it or not. For those of us drawn to the mountains, whether we’re running trails, climbing peaks, or training in silence, we know that the real work is rarely glamorous. It’s not the summit photo or the race finish. It’s lacing up your shoes in the dark of winter. It’s getting in the miles when no one’s watching. It’s fighting the little…
The point of climbing a mountain like Everest is to become the person that can climb Everest. Training for a Mount Everest expedition demands a meticulous blend of physical, mental, and technical preparation. There is no simple answer to the question “How do you train for Everest?” because preparing for the highest peak on Earth is an extremely complex and individualized process. What we can tell you, from decades of coaching mountain athletes at every level, is that the training is the most controllable aspect of your preparation—and it is the single biggest determinant of whether you succeed safely. This…
Switching between seasonal sports can be tricky. Read Uphill Athlete’s recommendations for mountain athletes to ensure an enjoyable, injury-free transition from winter skiing to spring trail running.
No mountain has ever been climbed. Those steps, those handholds, those ice axes are the foundations upon which we lift ourselves—and one another—up. Not above others, not even above our past selves. We go to meet ourselves. Our true selves. The mountain truly is an analogue to ourselves. “Within alpinism’s narrow framework we seek transcendence and relentlessly pursue what remains hidden from us on flat ground: Our true selves.” -Beyond the Mountain (2009) Why do we go to the mountains? Taking risks and doing tough things isn’t particularly hard, or brave; your actions are a manifestation of who you are…