Mount Baker Climb and Ski Descent Training

Training for Backcountry Travel

Prioritize your training efforts in the following way, assuming that you are in good health and injury-free:

Backcountry skiing and snowboarding requires a higher degree of fitness.  Typical before a Mount Baker Climb and Ski Descent individuals should be comfortable touring are between 3,500 – 4,000 vertical feet of climbing up and skiing / riding down in variable snow conditions.  To prepare for your trip focus on the following:

• Strength training – for the lower and upper body
• Cardiovascular training – including both aerobic and anaerobic workouts
• Flexibility training

Skiing and Riding in the Backcountry

While it is important to have a high degree of fitness, it is vital that participants are familiar with downhill skiing or snowboarding skills.  Participants don’t need to be advanced riders, but the more experienced you are at skiing or snowboarding, the more fun you’ll have.   Participants should feel very comfortable on blue runs and be able to get down black diamond runs. Prior experience skiing off-piste (terrain that’s off groomed trails) will pay dividends in the backcountry where snow conditions can vary greatly.   You may encounter deep snow, bumps, steep slopes, chutes, and crud in a single run!   If you are still working on basic ski techniques, we recommend taking a lesson at a ski resort before venturing out in the backcountry.

If you are new to backcountry touring, please make sure you are familiar with your gear prior to coming to the course.  We strongly recommend practicing with your equipment at a ski area.

• Make sure your climbing skins fit your skis or splitboard and are properly trimmed.
• Orient yourself to the tip and tail hardware of the skins and ensure they are adjusted to the right length.
• Try putting on your climbing skins on your skis / splitboard and ripping them off several times to get the hang of it.
• Practice switching your bindings from ski mode to tour mode and back again.
• Unlock the walking hinge on your boots and practice skinning, aiming for a smooth and rhythmic slide.
• Try using your heel risers in every setting and practice adjusting them smoothly with your ski pole.

We are happy to help you learn the techniques and skills to be a competent backcountry traveler, but we want to make sure you get the most of your day and don’t get bogged down in the details of using your equipment.

Prerequisites

In the best interest of personal concerns, success, and team compatibility, adequate training and excellent physical condition are required. Backcountry travelers should feel very comfortable on black diamond or harder terrain in a variety of snow conditions and have experience skiing off-piste (ungroomed) terrain. Pack weight will be approximately 20 pounds.

Feel free to give us a call at 206-378-1927 if you are unsure about your skiing / riding ability.

Training for the Uphill Athlete by Kilian Jornet, Steve House and Scott Johnston

For female climbers, we recommend the following two books as supplementary reading:
ROAR and NEXT LEVEL by Stacy T. Sims, PhD

Personal trainers & sport specific training plans:  Working with a personal trainer that is familiar with the demands of mountaineering and climbing is highly recommended. They can create personal training plans utilizing both indoor and outdoor locations with long range objectives and criteria. Personal trainers and training programs can help build a program based on your location, recognizing your access to fitness gyms and outdoor training. Sport specific training programs provide structured training for individuals to follow at home, the gym, and outside.

For customized training plans and coaching, contact Steve House and the team at Uphill Athlete.  Alpine Ascents climbers are eligible for a discount on Uphill Athlete training and coaching services to help prepare for their next objective. Please email Alpine Ascents to receive the discount code.

A properly designed endurance training program is the key to being successful for long days in the mountains. For those not familiar with endurance training, it may be surprising that the vast majority of time spent is at a fairly low intensity. For better or worse, there is no shortcut to this process. To perform well over many hours climbing you need to teach your body to be efficient and comfortable burning fat and operating at a sustainable intensity. There is no way to do this except to spend the bulk of your time training at these levels. The good news is that most of the training isn’t brutally difficult at any one point, the hard news is that it can be time consuming and requires dedication and consistency to see the results. For most folks this will involve some early alarms during the week to fit in shorter training sessions then doing the more time-consuming longer sessions on the weekend. For advice on aerobic training, self assessment, and understanding training zones, read our blog post.

Aerobic Training for Mountaineering

Endurance training needs to be reasonably convenient to execute and as sport-specific as possible. Striking a balance between these two goals is the key and depends on your geographical location and time constraints. The following are examples of endurance training modalities that can be used in a mixture during your training phases.

• Steep outdoor hills with lots of vertical gain
• Steep outdoor hills that are short, requiring repeated laps
• Stairs with many flights (stadium or tall building)
• Incline treadmill (40% max incline)
• Normal treadmill (15% max incline)
• Stepmill type trainer with actual rotating steps
• Stairstepper/Stairmaster

Other training options like cycling, rowing, and swimming have their place at times for active recovery and/or injury rehab, but these activities are not sport-specific enough to adequately train you for climbing. Use the best training modes you have available. Make an effort to train outside and in varying weather conditions when you can. If you live in an area that has hilly terrain somewhat close, try and get out on the weekend to train in this terrain.

Consistent and thoughtfully progressed general strength work can be a great benefit to mountaineers. Being strong makes your movements more efficient and ultimately less taxing. It will also make you more durable and prevent injury. Strength training does not need to be complicated, equipment intensive, or time consuming. We do recommend having access to some basic dumbbells and a few height boxes at a minimum.  Progress the workouts slowly and always pay attention to good form before trying to increase weights too quickly.

General strength and core exercises are great in the early and middle phases of training plans. As the training progresses and the goal climb approaches, you may want to use some of the training time to do more sport-specific strength training such as heavy pack carries that simulate the stress of climbing.

A good warm up is important for strength work just like any other training. One way is to do 15-20 minutes of low intensity aerobic work first to get the blood moving and the muscles warm. This can be an easy jog outside, cycling, or using a gym machine like an elliptical. Once warmed up, you can dive into core work. Pick 6-8 core exercises and work up to doing 3 sets of 10 reps. The following link has some suggestions and demonstrations of exercises that are great for climbing.

Uphill Athlete: Scott’s Killer Core Routine

Following core exercises, you can move directly into a strength workout. A basic but effective way to structure this is to include a few upper body and a few lower body exercises. The upper body exercises ideally include a pushing and a pulling movement, while the lower body exercises are primarily single legged (bonus points if they require a bit of balance). Alternating between upper and lower body is a great way to be time-efficient in you training. For example:

10 reps of step ups onto a 16” box working up to a 24” box
10 Wall Pushups, Knee Pushups, or Traditional Pushups

Rest 3-4 minutes

10 reps of step ups onto a 16” box working up to a 24” box
10 Wall Pushups, Knee Pushups, or Traditional Pushups

Start with one round of this and work up to 4 rounds over a couple months. Use additional weight in the form of a barbell or weight vest to make 10 reps challenging. Progress the weight and number of rounds slowly over the training period. You may also consider other similar movements with resistance bands or TRX straps. Full body exercises like the deadlift and Turkish get-ups are also great for this kind of general strength training.

Be sure to include at least 5-10 minutes of targeted stretching following every workout, specifically for the hamstrings, glutes, hips, calves, lower back, and quadriceps. If you have any areas of concern early season, add emphasis to making sure you have normal range of motion about all your joints. This will become even more important as you add weight and distance to your conditioning.