Nutrition planning for a high-altitude expedition is different from planning for training at home. Above 3,000 to 4,000 meters, appetite declines. Above 5,000 meters, hypoxic-induced anorexia is nearly universal. At the same time, metabolic rate and daily energy expenditure increase. The result is a caloric deficit that most climbers do not adequately offset, leading to significant muscle mass loss over the course of the expedition. This article covers what to expect nutritionally at altitude, how to estimate your energy needs, what to pack, and practical strategies for eating when your appetite is working against you. Why Do Climbers Lose Muscle…
Author: Steve House
Alpinist Vince Anderson explains his thought process for locating and building a belay while ice climbing. The process is much the same when determining where to belay on a multipitch alpine route. Among the factors he considers are how protected the stance is, how comfortable it is, and how solid the ice is for building an anchor. Once Vince decides where he want to set up his belay, he immediately gets himself secured: he gets his first ice screw in, which involves pinpointing a prime placement and choosing an appropriate-length screw. Watch the following for his full explanation and demonstration.…
When I was young I discovered climbing, through my parents. I was fascinated by the big world of mountains from day one. I can’t say I ever made a conscious decision to become a climber; I followed a path of fascination that developed into a love. Thirty years on and I’m still climbing and I still love it and I still create new, interesting adventures. Thankfully, I’ve also become a coach via the platform of Uphill Athlete. Besides the balance and strategy of creating workouts to mold an athlete to be her best, what most fascinates me about coaching are…
#Alpineprinciples This video could save your life. Why? Because most mountain accidents happen on the descent. In "Fail Well," the third installment of the Alpine Principles video series, we discuss why failure is important and detail how to descend well. Topics covered include how to err on the right side of survival; what kills descending climbers; and how to think in terms of islands of safety. Success as an alpinist is dying of old age, in bed, surrounded by loved ones. Success on a climb is going up, making good decisions, and coming back down safely. -by Steve House
Climbing mountains is incredibly dangerous. I believe long-term success as an alpinist should be defined as survival to old age. Alpinism and all its component sports—rock, ice, and mixed climbing; ski touring; and ski mountaineering—are a continuous series of life-and-death decisions that begin with planning and end when you finally step off the mountain. Technical skills (rope work, belaying, etc.) and movement (climbing or skiing) skills are easily focused on. But when you look at what kills people, it’s usually not a bad belay or an inability to climb well. This is especially true when you look at accidents among…
The spring ski-touring season is close at hand. And as we’ve seen a surge of interest from our athletes, both coached and those following plans, in prepping for long ski tours across the globe, many have asked me for my hut-to-hut ski touring gear list. I developed this list over the past decade spent guiding hut-to-hut ski trips in Europe, such as the incredible HochTirol (High-Tyrol) Traverse through Austria’s wildest mountains and the much more famous (and much more crowded) Chamonix-to-Zermatt Haute Route. This gear list, like any such list, can be modified for your needs. I suggest fine-tuning it…
Before we talk about 2018 and what a new year means to each of us personally and athletically, I want to be clear about one thing: Anything I accomplished, any success I achieved as a climber, and indeed my very survival, was enabled by the training I did. I have no special athletic talent. In all likelihood, neither do you. And that’s okay. We’ve just completed our first year pursuing our mission to provide proven training knowledge to mountain athletes: coaching plans, training plans, phone consultations, numerous articles—144 and counting—and a rich intellectual framework based on 100-plus years of training…
In this video, Uphill Athlete co-founder Steve House demonstrates how to get off an ice climb with a naked A-thread rappel anchor. By "A-thread," he means the rappel will be oriented vertically, not horizontally. And by "naked," he means he will not leave any sling material behind. The advantage of the horizontal orientation is that if it’s snowing, the snow will slough out the bottom hole. He and Vince Anderson hit upon this solution after descending a lot of routes in storms with their V-threads filling up with snow. Steve begins by creating the bottom hole. After finding a flat…
The Figure 4 is a core-intensive ice climbing move you can practice in the gym and then apply to mixed routes outside. These exercises will get you started.
Steve House shares a workout for training lock-off strength for ice climbing. The lock-off is a critical skill, and this routine will help you improve it.