How about this for a week’s worth of mountain fun?Days 1–2: Approach several hours on foot from Chamonix, France, to the north face of the Grand Jorasses. Climb the Colton-MacIntyre route (ED, VI, 1,200m) and then descend a long, difficult route into Italy for a total time of 27 hours while consuming only two gels and a half liter of water.Day 3: Pace a friend in a 50K trail race.Day 4: Win the Chamonix Vertical K race.Days 5–6: Travel to Alaska.Day 7: Win the Mountain Marathon in Seward, Alaska, setting a new course record.Sounds unlikely if not downright impossible, right?…
Author: Uphill Athlete
Okay, you’ve taken your Metabolic Efficiency Test (MET) or Gas Exchange Test (GET) and gotten your grade. But what does it mean? And where do we go from here?One advantage to paying professionals to test your blood lactate or metabolic efficiency is that they should explain what the results mean in terms of your training. But for the DIYers out there, or for anyone who felt a little fuzzy on their lab technicians’ explanation of the results, here is a basic look at what your results in these tests might mean. Hopefully by covering some of the basics, along with…
At a coaching conference a while back, I listened to some very experienced triathlon coaches speak about Ironman training. According to these coaches, the TSS (Training Stress Score) numbers that TrainingPeaks can calculate are solid enough for them to say with some conviction that to complete the world championship race in Kona in under 9 hours, a triathlete needs a CTL (Chronic Training Load) of 150. They also had enough data to produce similar benchmarks for other races and marathon times. This got me thinking: Would it be possible to establish a CTL yardstick in TrainingPeaks for the mountain athletes we coach?What follows is a deep dive into how we came up with…
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Steve and I continue to beat the drum of low-intensity training for building endurance. Why are we so focused on it? Early in our careers, we connected some previously unconnected dots and had the proverbial aha moment that shaped our training philosophy. Over the past 15 years of ascents and achievements, both personally and with our clients, that philosophy has proven itself to work very well.Yet we still run into alpine climbers and trainers on a daily basis who continue to use training methods more suited to sport climbers and 5,000-meter runners…
Is the hardest part of training finding time for your workouts? Do you need to prioritize family and work ahead of training? Is life too busy to think about increasing your strength and fitness?If you have read Training for the New Alpinism or any of the writing here on the Uphill Athlete website, you know that we are not big on compromise approaches to training. We have a great deal of experience working with elite endurance athletes and we know what works and why it works. We know that it takes a large volume of training, applied systematically for years,…
TRAINING PLANS RPE-Based Elevate your skimo season with our Advanced 16-week Skimo training program for experienced athletes targeting peak race performance. Train to race your fastest Skimo efforts. This plan has proven successful for Skimo racers who used it properly to compete at the regional level.Recommended for those who have already had a season or two of structured endurance training and want to boost their performance in Skimo races. It is demanding in terms of time and energy. It will require considerable effort to complete. It is not for a novice as it starts off with over 7 hours of…
TRAINING PLANS RPE-Based Build the endurance, strength, and aerobic base needed for multi-day ski traverses. Train to ski your best multi-day effort. In this plan, you’ll find the minimal training we recommend for skiers bound for a moderate multi-day hut trip and or ski traverse like the Wapta traverse in Canada or the Oertler in Italy.This plan is ideal for ski tourers who have never engaged in an organized training program or who have not done so for a long time. It is also meant for those without access to snow on a daily or even weekly basis. It starts…
A structured 16-week preseason training plan designed for beginner to intermediate Skimo racers aiming for sub 4 hour races, focusing on endurance, ski-specific strength, and progressive intensity to prepare for race season.
TRAINING PLANS RPE-Based For experienced ski mountaineers seeking steep, technical lines and peak uphill performance. Push the edges of your ski mountaineering. This advanced level plan is intended primarily for skiers who will skin or climb to the top of their objectives. It will also serve well for heli or lift-assisted skiers looking to improve their all mountain skiing. The plan is not for novices and assumes you have solid physical conditioning, no current injuries and have been very active over the summer but are looking to put the final touches on your fitness during the fall.The backbone of the…
This is how David Roeske became the fourth person ever to successfully climb Everest and another 8,000-meter peak, in his case Cho Oyu, without oxygen in the same season.Part One: Braving Hypoxia on Cho OyuDuring the long flight from New York to Doha, Qatar, I had time to reflect on the seriousness and uncertainty of the journey I was about to undertake. We were cruising along comfortably above 30,000 feet, just a bit higher than the summit of Everest. I shivered a little, not knowing what the next weeks might bring, what condition my body would be in on the…