Great question Kazu. Each individual has to find the right answer to “too little or too many”. The answer depends on fitness, experience level, familiarity, and skills.
1. If developing your fitness will be your biggest point of leverage: focus more on the training plan
2. If developing your skills will be your biggest point of leverage: try to integrate specific training (not specific climbs) and maybe a Denali Prep Course
3. If developing your comfort in a snow/winter environment will be your biggest point of leverage: try to do a Denali Prep Course or set aside time for some winter backpacking to test some of your gear
4. If you feel like you are coming into this program with a good base and you can integrate a few climbs in the specific period (~4-8 weeks before the trip), then by all means try to schedule a few.
Those who have a very big resume with recent climbs of the same nature may not need to do any additional climbs in the lead up to a big climb. Those with only a handful of climbs with similar qualities should try to plan some additional skills and experiential training. It’s generally a good idea for most mountaineering athletes to have some intermediate climbs or skills training. Anyone intending to integrate a few climbs should do so after building a strong base. Ideally this is in the specific period, before a taper. Roughly 4-8 weeks before the trip would mesh well with training.
Each athlete needs to evaluate how strong their skills are. A big simulation climb doesn’t necessarily create time to fine-tune your crampon skills like a specific training day. Likewise, you might camp quite differently on a quick winter climb up Whitney versus a 5 day winter backpacking trip or ski traverse (more specific to Denali).
Early season Rainier can have a wide range of conditions, and occasionally high avalanche hazard / poor weather make it an unreliable pick if summiting is your goal. That could make it a poor pick to include in an organized schedule. On the other hand, most climbers benefit from the Denali Prep Courses on Rainier. Summits are not guaranteed, but the training and time on snow is helpful for most climbers.
If you are climbing with a guide service, they can often recommend an appropriate intermediate climb based on your resume. Doing a 14er could clearly be helpful, but keep in mind a late winter / early spring ascent is often more advanced than a summer climb. Snowpacks are *generally* becoming more stable at this time, and daylight is increasing.
Each athlete is coming with a different level of experience and training history, and they’ll need to choose their own balance between following the plan as close as possible, and integrating some specific winter skills and mountaineering training. Some athletes might be using most of their annual leave for a big trip, so it’s nice to know alternatives to a training climb.
Just like training, the steps towards your goal should *occasionally* be specific. It’s possible to do intermediate climbs and trips that check some – but not all – of the boxes for Denali training and still be effective.
*We often see many Denali climbers who have a challenge living on snow for three weeks. It’s psychologically challenging, so it’s nice to have a warm up trip to become more familiar with your Denali camping and sleeping kit. This can reduce anxiety on the trip.
*It’s important to be comfortable moving on snowshoes with a load on flat terrain, as well as moderate to steeper hills – mostly on packed snow. If this isn’t familiar, it’s easy to work harder at a much slower pace compared to your training hikes.
*It’s also important to be comfortable moving on your crampons. Keep in mind that crampons always have a potential tripping hazard – you don’t want to get hurt right before your Denali trip. Know your own skill level and train accordingly. If this isn’t familiar, it’s easy to overexert yourself when you are moving in crampons.
*Continue to do many of your workouts outdoors. Whenever it’s safe to do so, doing your workouts in inclement winter weather can be a great way to get used to exertion and moisture management in some of your Denali clothing. Always be mindful of avalanche terrain and the potential difficulty of travel in winter. A large number of winter search and rescue calls happen close to trailheads on popular summer routes. In western Colorado, for example, numerous summer trails cross through some of the biggest avalanche paths in the Rockies. Make sure to know your terrain.
