The process of discovering and climbing K7, in 2003-2004, is my most cherished mountain experience. In this presentation I share the first half of that journey, the 2003 expedition which includes a solo first ascent of Hajji Brakk (circa 6,000m) and three attempts on K7 main (6,942m). The 2004 expedition is covered in the April 9, 2020 Zoom Hangout. The full text of the quote Steve read at the start: Message from White Eagle of the Hopi Nation, 03/16/2020: “This moment humanity is going through can now be seen as a portal and as a hole. The decision to fall…
Author: Steve House
Masherbrum, possibly the most difficult summit in the world to reach, from the north-east. Marko Prezelj Photo
A successful high-altitude expedition depends on many factors. Fitness is the one factor completely under your control, and if you are reading this, you have likely invested significant time preparing for your climb. Congratulations. Now comes the part that training alone cannot teach you: how to manage yourself on the mountain so that all that preparation actually pays off. Among the Uphill Athlete coaching staff, we have over 45 successful Denali ascents, more than twenty expeditions to 8,000-meter peaks, and many more trips to peaks of 7,000 meters and below. That experience has taught us that expedition success comes down…
Our General Strength Training Routine for Mountaineers and Climbers relies on simple to learn, mostly body-weight exercises. The exercise list alternates between upper and lower body movements and is set up to do as a circuit. The need for minimal props means that this routine is highly portable and can be completed almost anywhere. For an in-depth explanation of the role strength training plays for mountain athletes we recommend Strength Training for the Mountain Athlete. Start with Core as your warm-up. Postpartum? Start here. Here is easier our Core Routine Video The more difficult Scott’s Killer Core Routine General Strength Routine…
A hundred years ago my great-grandfather walked out on my great-grandmother, leaving her with two young children to raise, Jack and Twila. Seventy-five years ago, Jack’s young wife died of cancer, leaving him alone with a 6-month-old son, Don. Don is my father. I was raised by two loving parents and I never thought about loss. Until recently. Loss, both tragic and routine, is something I left largely unexamined until a massive climbing fall in 2010. The resulting life-threatening injuries plunged me into a cold bath of self-examination and upheaval. Changes came rapidly: I stepped back from extreme alpinism, began…
Climbing onsight, meaning leading a pitch or route with no prior knowledge of the details about protection or movements, is de rigueur in alpinism, where you start at the bottom of the mountain and climb to the top and, typically, descend another way. So if you want to climb difficult alpine rock routes, you’d better be good at climbing onsight. Here I provide some onsight climbing tips that will help you hone this essential skill. Adding an intelligently built training plan that includes tools like ARCing, Climbing Marathons, and power and power-endurance training techniques is the best way to progress your onsight climbing…
#AlpinePrinciples Debriefing a complicated climbing day can be one of the best ways to learn and strengthen your climbing partnerships. This is something I adopted from the guide-training process I went through back in the 1990s. At Alpine Mentors, we debriefed every day of climbing, and all came away with a feeling that this process was the most valuable part of the Alpine Mentors experience—the place where the real learning happened. Here are two tools to help you, first a video and then a printable checklist so you and your partners can conduct your own debriefs. Here is the video,…
Bouldering 4×4 drills have been around for a long time. But what are they and when should you do them? I first heard about 4x4s one of the first times I ever entered a bouldering gym. It was the mid-1990s in Salt Lake City and I was with Kim Csizmazia and early sport climbing pioneer Chris Grover. I was in town to climb Wasatch ice and all I remember is sweating a lot and falling off most of the crimpy-feeling holds. Not a great start to my relationship with this valuable tool. 4x4s: A Tool for Power-Endurance Bouldering 4×4 drills,…
In the Alpine Principles video series, one of the most popular videos to date has been "Pay Attention." It covers a lot of important topics in a short time: speed, efficiency, random chances, situational awareness, partner communications, staying attached, and the risks of "easy" climbing. I’d like to take the opportunity here to flesh these out and dive deeper into the meaning of each concept. But first, the video: Speed and Efficiency Speed and efficiency are terms that are thrown around a lot in climbing. And it’s amazing how much variation there is in what people consider "fast." Let’s look…
The first video in the Alpine Principles video series is titled "Perfect Preparation." That this title is first about making judgments in alpine climbing, mountaineering, ski mountaineering, and mountain running is neither an accident nor a coincidence. In fact, a major subprinciple of this concept, which Uphill Athlete is dedicated to, is physical preparation. Since we have that pretty well covered I will dive into ideas of motivation, partners, patience, covering your bases, and knowing what you don’t know. Understand Your Motivations Understand why you’re there, why you want to go there. This is the first step and one of…