Developing core strength is important for all mountain athletes. A strong core will guard you against injury and will enable you to more effectively use your arms and legs in your chosen sport. Watch the following video demonstration of Scott’s Killer Core Routine to learn the proper form for each exercise. All athletic movements originate from the core; do not neglect this foundational form of strength. For a deeper dive into the exercises, consult Chapter Seven in Training for the New Alpinism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqpbU1Y3bU&feature=youtu.be Scott’s Killer Core Routine: Notes on the Exercises Strict Sit-ups: Straight back. All the way up and…

One question we often get is: How fit do I need to be to climb/run/ski Everest or Denali or Rainier…or…? Our collective 100-plus-year history of endurance training and mountaineering clearly points to the conclusion that you can never have too much aerobic fitness. And when I prepare for an expedition to an 8,000-meter peak, I know my training is going to require a lot of the following three things: duration, consistency, and elevation. Beyond the training for my own (many) expeditions, Uphill Athlete has now coached dozens of successful 8,000-meter-peak climbers. We feel that we can confidently predict an athlete’s…

Over the last decade the sport of ski mountaineering racing, or skimo, has seen a dramatic increase in participants, most notably in North America where it captures legions of trail and mountain runners seeking winter challenges in the mountains. Thanks to rapidly improving equipment, moving fast on skimo race gear has started to look more and more like the cross-country ski racing of yesteryear. It’s no surprise that skimo racers can reap huge efficiency gains by adapting a number of Nordic ski training methods. One of the most valuable of those methods is training on roller skis. By closely mimicking…

Professional alpinist David Goettler, coached by Scott Johnston, uses a special muscular endurance workout in preparation for an alpine-style ascent of Shishapangma in 2017. The day’s session involves sets of weighted climbs of a long staircase. Specific training like this should be layered on top of hundreds of hours of aerobic base building. It is not recommended for those who are suffering from a lower-limb injury. You May Also Be Interested In: Mount Everest without Oxygen: Reaching the Highest Point of My Life Shishapangma 2017 Running in the Khumbu to Acclimatize

The following article was written by professional alpinist David Goettler about his return to the south face of Shishapangma in May 2017 to again attempt a new route that he and Ueli Steck had tried in 2016. Below, David reflects on where his personal journey to these mountains has taken him and makes some interesting observations about how a second year of structured training has brought him to a new level of fitness. Progress and Success This year I returned to the south face of Shishapangma. For me to want to return to the same mountain two years in a…

Let’s get one thing straight right away. I may be new to trail and mountain running (less than one year) but I’m certainly not new to running or racing. I ran my first cross-country race as a gangly nine-year-old, and my love for the sport blossomed into a college scholarship, All-American track honors, and a stint on the prestigious Mammoth Track Club. Outside of running as a competitive sport my passion has always been in exploring the outdoors, which naturally led to a progression into trail/mountain running last year, when I took on two major trail running adventures: running across…

Lucky. That’s how I would describe my success thus far on all six of the Seven Summits I’ve attempted (only Carstenz in Australia remains). To a certain degree, my experience as a triathlete and Ironman participant carried me through. But with any big mountain, there are conditions outside of yourself that you cannot control (weather, route, team, fitness, etc.), which need to align just right if the climb is going to be a success. As a mountain climber, it is imperative to train as well as possible, to put your body in the best shape possible to handle whatever the…

The worlds of trail and ultrarunning are growing incredibly fast. Athletes from all types of mountain sports, as well as track and road runners, are signing up for these races to test their bodies and minds against the difficulties associated with running in the mountains. It also seems that the more technical and demanding these mountain races are, the more popular they become. As it turns out, however, making the transition from running roads or climbing peaks to running an ultra-distance race or route in the mountains comes with a relatively steep learning curve. Here are six mountain running tips…

In the lexicon of our times, cardio has come to define any exercise that raises the heart rate. Walking, running, elliptical trainers, and rowing machines are all considered “cardio.” While there are health benefits from any exercise, coaches and exercise scientists know that low-intensity exercise has no significant cardiac muscle training effect for anyone except those with low fitness levels. A study by Jan Helgerud, PhD, found that the best way to strengthen the weakened hearts of cardiac patients was to engage in high-intensity interval training. But the term cardio is misapplied when referring to the way endurance athletes spend…

When John Giraldo and I watched the plane float away above the Yentna Glacier a few weeks ago, I was a little bit surprised, to say the least. For the past year, John and I had been anticipating a trip to the Revelations, for which we had won a McNeil-Nott award through the American Alpine Club. But with low clouds sitting between us and the Revelations for almost a week, our pilot suggested we fly into the seldom-visited area on the southwest side of Mount Foraker. One of the primary qualifications for the McNeil-Nott Award is “the remoteness and exploratory…