Mount Vinson Training

Mountain climbing is a very sport-specific activity and having the proper fitness is fundamental. Fit individuals like marathon runners and triathletes often still struggle on climbs, lacking the conditioning specific for mountaineering demands. The training information here will help you arrive prepared for the mountain. Most people will need to train for at least 4-6 months.

An effective training program for Mount Vinson should be primarily composed of endurance training with significant strength components as well. Your training should progress slowly and be modulated, incorporating progressively harder weeks with planned rest weeks to consolidate the training loads into fitness gains. The following tabs will help you construct an endurance and strength training program for yourself. You may find the following resources helpful:

• Watch: “From Gym to Glacier: Train Smarter for the Mountains”
• Read:  “Is my Training Working?”

At the end of this training program:

• Travel in the mountains 5 to 8 hours per day while carrying approximately 45+ pounds between your pack and sled.
• Recover from a demanding day of climbing within eight to 12 hours and be ready for another day of sustained physical effort.
• Maintain the physical and mental resilience to continue beyond normal expectations when it is needed.
• Be prepared for a demanding 8 to 12 hour summit day while carrying a 25 to 30 pound pack.

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.

This is an extremely rigorous climb and being in strong physical condition is mandatory. Please note, the guide retains the right, at any point, to determine whether a climber is sufficiently fit to continue the climb.

During this expedition to the summit of Vinson Massif (16,067 ft.) you will be carrying a backpack and pulling a sled with approximately 10 days worth of gear and food. Be prepared to face very cold temperatures despite full-time daylight. The climb requires use of ascenders and fixed lines between Camp I and II over a 40-degree slope for 1,800 ft., and you can expect a long 12-hour summit day, during which you will gain 3,600 ft. of elevation to reach the summit.  In addition to solid alpine snow and ice climbing skills, you need strength, endurance, high-altitude tolerance, and strong cardiovascular conditioning. Looking at past success, the overwhelmingly majority of climbers who were strong and successful team members on Mount Vinson generally have:

• Completed a multi-day glaciated mountaineering course and 1–2 additional climbs before attempting Mount Vinson.
• Trained on glaciers with a heavy pack, practiced ascending and descending fixed lines, and gained confidence using crampons on firm snow and ice.
• Ability to manage personal care in cold and extreme weather conditions
• Increased an established training regimen at least six months before departure.

Most people will need to train specifically for their climb of Vinson for at least 4–5 months, building up from a solid baseline of fitness. During your training, you will need to progressively ramp up your hike time, distance, and elevation gain (at roughly 10% per week) to carefully and effectively build your climbing-specific conditioning. Trying to rush this will increase the risk of experiencing some sort of training injury and not being ready for your trip. Below are more details of how to incorporate these four priorities into your training program.

Vinson, at 16,067 ft., is an extreme, high-altitude climb. You should be comfortable climbing eight hours per day. Summit day is the most demanding portion of the climb, typically involving eight hours for the ascent and three to five hours for the descent. Generally you carry 35 pounds in a backpack and 25 pounds on a sled.

Alpine Ascents is one of the few outfitters allowed to cache at Vinson Base Camp, Low Camp, and High Camp, and thus we have a full set of cookware, stoves, tents, and climbing equipment. This greatly reduces the pack weight that climbers need to carry (now 45 lbs.). This substantially changes the climb, in that much less weight will need to be carried by Alpine Ascents groups.

Our expeditions require strength and endurance. The better your physical condition, the more likely you are to perform well and have an enjoyable experience. The most frequent comment we have heard over the years is that climbers have underestimated the fitness level needed to fully enjoy their trip. Inadequate fitness will affect the atmosphere, pace, and enjoyment of the climb for all participants. We recommend checking with your physician before undertaking any strenuous activity.

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.

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.