This values list is meant to help readers align their personal and athletic values with their goals, as Steve House discusses in "Know Thyself," his New Year’s piece for 2018. "Identify your values," he writes. "And identify your goals. Then reconcile those two things; the goal must be the round peg that fits the round hole of your values. Square goals don’t fit round values no matter how hard you try. And your values, when you look deeply inside yourself, are immovable, for this moment in time." What Are Your Values for Your Sport? Authenticity Achievement Adventure Authority Autonomy Balance…
Author: Steve House
In late Spring of 2015, I was up high on Ama Dablam, shivering and staring up at a vertical couloir. I struggled to find my voice to ask for what I needed. “I need to go down,” I whispered to myself. “I need to go down.” With tears on my face, I finally said it loud enough for Pemba—my friend and Sherpa—to hear me. I told him the truth: “I want to go up, but I need to go down.” Making the right decision doesn’t always feel good. There were a number of things that contributed to my failure on…
I am not a climber. In fact, until recently I had never climbed a single mountain. So when I made the very ambitious decision to leave my job, my beautiful fiancée, and all the securities I have known to spend a year following my dreams to climb the highest mountain on each continent, I knew it would be a monumental endeavor, not to be taken lightly. My training and preparation led me to the very thin air of Manaslu—the eighth-highest mountain in the world. My fascination for climbing high mountains began during a trip to Nepal in 2002, when I…
To some people, climbing Kilimanjaro wouldn’t be a big deal. But to me, a 55-year-old lady from Oklahoma, it means a lot. Especially since the first time I tried it, I didn’t succeed. My attempt on Kilimanjaro in 2016 wasn’t my first brush with climbing. I was pretty lucky to have a dad that was before his time in wanting his family to be outdoor oriented, and I fell in love with mountains as a child. But for one reason or another, my life kept taking these paths and deviations away from climbing. There was college, then medical school, then…
-by Kilian Jornet In spring 2017 Emelie Forsberg and I traveled to Tibet to attempt to climb Cho Oyu and Everest. I want to share how we approached our Cho Oyu and Everest preparations and acclimatization programs. Most of what I did was what many alpinists have been doing for years, and I have been trying and adjusting the last five years in the Himalaya. We placed a strong emphasis on traveling light, not spending nights sleeping above base camp, and returning to lower elevations as soon as possible. Also I used a hypoxic tent one month before departure; I…
Many climbers write off the Figure 4 as an advanced ice climbing move reserved for the most advanced mixed climbers. Take the the Figure 4 into the gym, however, and it becomes a great core exercise that addresses the entire upper body—hip flexors, abdominals, lats, shoulder girdle, and grip—in a very ice-climbing-specific way. It is also advantageous to learn this movement in the safety of the gym, so if and when you do need to try a Figure 4 outdoors, you know how. The Three Figure 4 Positions First a few tips on the move. Many people do not realize…
To climb vertical and near-vertical ice you have to be able to hold a lock-off position with each arm. The lock-off position is the one where you’ve pulled up and stepped up to where the tops of the tools are near your face. You loosen one of the tools (I try to make it the tool that is the most suspect/least solid), hold yourself with the opposite locked-off arm, and reach and swing the leading tool. This movement is also critical in mixed climbing and drytooling, where you have to hold a lock-off position, often for quite a while, while…
The dreaded pump. Every climber has been there: You. Can’t. Hold. On. Any. Longer! Rock climbers’ best training weapon for training grip strength is the hangboard. And for ice climbers, it is weighted hangs. Here is a tried-and-true way to increase your ice-climbing-specific grip strength. You will need a place to hang from both ice tools. Training Grip Strength for Ice Climbing: Warm-up and Workout Grip Strength Warm-up Start by hanging with only your body weight for 10–12 seconds out of every 60 seconds for 5 minutes. If you have a bouldering wall, do 5 minutes of easy bouldering, followed…
In this video, alpinist and Uphill Athlete coach Steve House shares his packing methodology for a one-night overnight alpine climbing objective. Beginning with nutrition and hydration, he runs through energy food (waffles, gels, and chews); water and tips for keeping it from freezing; recovery snacks and drinks; and suggestions for dinner and breakfast. Gear-wise he covers his preferred stove; essentials like sun protection, headlamp, and navigation; and his reasoning behind opting for a down sleeping bag and his strategy for packing it. When it comes to clothing, he brings three to four pairs of gloves and mittens; a hardshell; a…
Mixing power and endurance training in the same workout can be a mistake if it not done correctly. Why? A workout which places the strength and/or power training after what is already an exhaustive endurance session, is not going to give the best gains in strength or power. If all you want to do is get tired, then sure mixing training modalities will drive you deep into neurologic and metabolic fatigue. At certain times in your training cycle, and for certain climbers, this can be appropriate. But doing this on a regular basis is probably unwise for 90 percent of…