I live at sea level… I’ve prepped for baker, Shasta and now Rainier by jogging, and doing stairs for 2-3 hours (25 floors) with a 45 lbs pack and mountaineering boots. Creativity is everything
I've done eleven 14ers, nine in the past four years. I'm age 66 now. I think I have a decent training program of hiking 5-6 miles twice every week or two, but you've added a LOT of good advice. I also have a physical job that adds to my training, but I am going to incorporate as much as I can of what you advise. Thanks for the tips - there are way more than just 5 !
I just stumbled across your video. I'm 63 and just finished a hike up twin sisters in Colorado, only 11,400 but everything you say is spot on. I'm in relatively decent shape and patiently slogged my way up the hill. I "trained" for a few months prior by doing a lot of walking and incorporating as many hills locally as I could. My friends in Colorado have talked me into coming back to do a 14er with them. Your video is very helpful. All the physical is obviously very important, I felt the last section from 18:20 to the end may have been the most important.
Enjoyed the video. At age 74, I completed my first Colorado14er, Mt Elbert, this August 2022. I had done adequate aerobic training (distance and elevation gain) and reached the top in good condition. What helped was all the encouragement I received from other hikers on the trail and seeing the people on top when I got close. Going downhill things got worse. I had extreme leg muscle fatigue (rubber legs) and needed some assistance coming down. In preparing for another attempt on Elbert in August, 2023 at age 75, I am adding more core and leg strength and muscle endurance training to my aerobic training program which seemed adequate.
Excellent in its basic information. I’m attempting to summit ISLAND PEAK via EBC Oct 2021 and have already started a weekly 12-15 mile walk with approx 5kg backpack. My legs are recovering quicker each week and feet are adjusting to wearing trek shoes or boots. Next Saturday we’re doing SNOWDONIA as our first actual ascent walk (3000 ft). Thanks for your interesting and honest videos, keep them coming pal.....
That's awesome! Congrats on your progress. I specialize in this type of fitness programming utilizing minimal equipment. Would you be interested in a FREE training plan to help you in your preparation?
Great advice. And it is so important to take diet, weight, and composition as seriously as training. Losing nonproductive, deadweight fat - and any useless muscle mass - which you no longer have to haul up the hill - is free mountaineering fitness. Leaner is faster - and faster is safer. Not to mention more fun. This is a point driven home well in House and Johnston's more recent book, Training for the Uphill Athlete.
Body fat is calories though, personally I will be stacking on a bit of fat for my next trip for energy security. It's VERY hard to eat enough when you're on a mountain burning through 5000-8000 calories a day.
Preparing now for my 4th 14er and only have 2 months, got a late start and lots to do in less than 2 months, this helps hearing! Thanks for making this, it is helpful
That's awesome, man! I hope you have a solid trip. I specialize in this type of fitness programming utilizing minimal equipment. Would you be interested in a FREE training plan to help you in your preparation?
Hike long and high (not on drugs). Don't let altitude be an unpleasant surprise. Also train for the downhill. If you are not conditioned for the hike down, your knees will suffer and you will cry. I generally only hiked during the summer, and it took me 3 years of conditioning until my knees did not hurt on the hike down from a long hike.
Very useful advice. In addition to getting your hiking legs, invest in a good pair of socks (I use Darn Tough) and get a roll of leukotape for any hot spots on your feet that might come up. Better to wrap your toes if they're starting to rub than put up with blisters. I wrap the tape just below the grips of my trekking poles so I have it with me without having to carry the roll around in my pack.
FYI if you get blisters between your toes, try adding a pair of injinji toe liner socks under your normal hiking socks. They are a game changer for me (I was prone to blisters between my toes).
Great video! We got smoked out of doing Whitney for the first time this fall. I think we were ready for it. I’ll put this info to use while training for next time!
That's awesome, man! Have a good trip. I climbed the mountaineer's route years ago and it was brutal. Are you interested in my FREE training plan to help you in your preparation?
You are spot on when you say the way to train is just to hike. I hiked Longs Peak by just going a little further each time. By the time I did it it was so familiar with the trail that it didn't seem that far (understatement LOL). I find it a little sad that some people are paying $50 for training programs to hike Fourteeners. I've done 15 of them so far, and it's just about experience, and upping your game. Thanks for the common sense video, making these peaks attainable for most of those who would like to climb them.
Great video. I enjoyed it. I'd add one more topic of concern and that would be altitude. I can tell you are from Colorado but some of us live in the lower altitude states and coming out West to do a 14ner is a big adjustment. Personally I'm usually pretty good at 10 thousand ft. but when I get to 12 thousand it's like someone sucked all the energy from me. I know that spending more time at altitude is really the only way to adapt.
Great video! I've been contemplating buying the book you mentioned, Training for the new Alpinism. Some book reviews mention that much of the training involves going to the gym, discouraging me from buying it. Your training approach seems great. I just need to get baseline endurance to hike in the Cascades. I wonder how things are for you two years after this video? Did you go on any 14ers? I need to check out more videos on your channel for sure. I'm just now thinking about doing some easier alpine routes and need to get started with training, but it needs to be in a way that I enjoy at least somewhat, like going on hikes. :) Thanks again.
I liked your tip on visualization. I appreciate your openness and can feel your sincerity. Funny how some ppl I've hiked 14'ers with almost put off the air of not wanting to help/guide/advise as if they were guarding the world of hiking. 😂 Thanks for this! 💖💖💖
Great video! I just downloaded the audiobook of Training For New Alpinism, I'm excited to give that a listen. Thanks for talking about heart rate zones. I have an understanding of this from running, but haven't really applied it to hiking. Also I dig your outlook on the importance of elevation gains, I only have ever really looked at that as a metric of how difficult it will be, and not as something to keep track of.
I wish we had some fourteeners here in Australia.. or 4000m would do. I've solo hiked up to 5000m in India, love the unique challenges of high altitude. Keen to get to something like Mera peak in Nepal one day, not keen on the health passports & experimental vacs though 💉
@@cemcizem9860 Yeah, that's an option. But the highest mountain in New Zealand, Mt Cook, is 3700m and it is quite technical- beyond my skill level. I also really like the cultural experience of staying with the nomads in Ladakh/Tibet.
One thing I might add to the vertical gain aspect is that the vertical gain you are training at, starts at a higher elevation. Because you can do 4000 feet of gain but if you’re doing it starting down at 5000 feet it’s not the same as starting that 4000 vertical gain at 10,000 feet. Just my two cents.
Good question. A Personal Locater Beacon. Specifically the ResQLink. If I get hurt or in trouble and need rescue, I pull the antenna out and click one button that transmits a distress signal to satellites.
Hey - I'd suggest going on 14ers.com and looking at recommended packing lists. 1st week of October should be snow free but with an early winter you could experience that which can change things. September is considered the last summer conditions month.
Good deal! Sounds like an awesome time to be up there. I would advise on any lightweight/ durable pack that enables you to place the weight higher up across your shoulder blades. Osprey makes solid packs. I specialize in this type of fitness programming utilizing minimal equipment. Would you be interested in a FREE training plan to help you in your preparation?
The most valuable "training" for 14ers is, unfortunately, acclimatization. If you're wiling to plod along and put in the time, you can make it up most 14ers. I grew up in 5000-foot hills, but now live at only a few hundred feet. In the last few years I've gone out to summit Mount Whitney and Pike's Peak (don't waste your time on the latter until about the mid 2020s, the summit views are wrecked by construction). At 50 and carrying a lot of muscle for my height (5'9", 235#), I still have the legs to make it up, but the damn altitude has me pounding once I hit around 10000 feet. It's the main thing that has kept me from heading up to Alaska or even to try Kilimanjaro. I just wouldn't be able to take the altitude, and you really can't train around that. I'll have to "settle" for maybe something like the Half Dome in the future. So, I've switched gears and am moving toward lower but more technical climbs now. I'll be putting on the crampons and grabbing an ice axe for the first time in a few months for 11000-plus Mount Hood. I'm sure it will be fun hauling my heavy ass up that mountain. :)
This is awesome. I've summited the mountaineer's route years ago and it was brutal, ha! I also hiked Old Baldy w/ a 40lb pack years ago round trip in under 8 hours. That was kind of a suck festival, ha. I specialize in this type of fitness programming utilizing minimal equipment. Would you be interested in a FREE training plan to help you in your preparation?
Great tips! Question about your PLB attachment. I have a similar (maybe the same) model PLB by ACR, but it did not come with any way to attach it to my pack like that. Is that attachment something you bought separate, or did it come with your PLB?
tell people go into the mountains... I love the enthusiasm...but people PLEASE SEE A DOCTOR first AND JOIN A CLASS.... Do not try 14er if your a newbie into hiking. Also don't go into the wilderness without proper gear and knowledge.
@@rawveganfoodforthought2333 lol... depends... is it a middle age person who has smoked whole life and sat behind computer for work and never worked out? the air is pretty thin at 14k :)
During the hiking and training part I would factor in a 4th point. 4. Conditions such as temperature, humidity, altitude etc. The psychological factors and mental conditioning is critical. Physical condition is not enough at the elite level. In many cases people will not know how they will respond under pressure, adversity and extreme conditions. That is part of the risk and journey of gaining experience. (Also, climbing alone and in a team are completely different monsters. I suspect that talking to a camera whilst walking can help with pain distraction and rhythm etc)
@@WannabeAlpinist I live in Australia, the world's flattest and oldest continent. I have climbed the massive Mount Kosciuszko at 2,228 meters in altitude. I think I am ready for K2
![Avoid these 5 Endurance Training Mistakes I've Made [Hikers, Trail Runners & Mountaineers]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/lW_w8h_CqYg/mqdefault.jpg)
![Avoid these 5 Endurance Training Mistakes I've Made [Hikers, Trail Runners & Mountaineers]](/img/tr.png)
I live at sea level… I’ve prepped for baker, Shasta and now Rainier by jogging, and doing stairs for 2-3 hours (25 floors) with a 45 lbs pack and mountaineering boots. Creativity is everything
How did you feel up there?
I've done eleven 14ers, nine in the past four years. I'm age 66 now. I think I have a decent training program of hiking 5-6 miles twice every week or two, but you've added a LOT of good advice. I also have a physical job that adds to my training, but I am going to incorporate as much as I can of what you advise. Thanks for the tips - there are way more than just 5 !
I just stumbled across your video. I'm 63 and just finished a hike up twin sisters in Colorado, only 11,400 but everything you say is spot on. I'm in relatively decent shape and patiently slogged my way up the hill. I "trained" for a few months prior by doing a lot of walking and incorporating as many hills locally as I could. My friends in Colorado have talked me into coming back to do a 14er with them. Your video is very helpful. All the physical is obviously very important, I felt the last section from 18:20 to the end may have been the most important.
Enjoyed the video. At age 74, I completed my first Colorado14er, Mt Elbert, this August 2022. I had done adequate aerobic training (distance and elevation gain) and reached the top in good condition. What helped was all the encouragement I received from other hikers on the trail and seeing the people on top when I got close.
Going downhill things got worse. I had extreme leg muscle fatigue (rubber legs) and needed some assistance coming down.
In preparing for another attempt on Elbert in August, 2023 at age 75, I am adding more core and leg strength and muscle endurance training to my aerobic training program which seemed adequate.
Well done, Tom. Downhill is the most difficult part. When legs and mind are most clumsy.
Good effort 👍
Make sure to keep those calories coming in.
Excellent in its basic information. I’m attempting to summit ISLAND PEAK via EBC Oct 2021 and have already started a weekly 12-15 mile walk with approx 5kg backpack. My legs are recovering quicker each week and feet are adjusting to wearing trek shoes or boots. Next Saturday we’re doing SNOWDONIA as our first actual ascent walk (3000 ft). Thanks for your interesting and honest videos, keep them coming pal.....
Thank you for the kind words and good luck on your summits! Sounds like you have a solid training plan.
Wannabe Alpinist thanks pal....
That's awesome! Congrats on your progress. I specialize in this type of fitness programming utilizing minimal equipment. Would you be interested in a FREE training plan to help you in your preparation?
Awesome information video, really appreciate the insight.
Great advice. And it is so important to take diet, weight, and composition as seriously as training. Losing nonproductive, deadweight fat - and any useless muscle mass - which you no longer have to haul up the hill - is free mountaineering fitness. Leaner is faster - and faster is safer. Not to mention more fun. This is a point driven home well in House and Johnston's more recent book, Training for the Uphill Athlete.
Body fat is calories though, personally I will be stacking on a bit of fat for my next trip for energy security. It's VERY hard to eat enough when you're on a mountain burning through 5000-8000 calories a day.
Preparing now for my 4th 14er and only have 2 months, got a late start and lots to do in less than 2 months, this helps hearing! Thanks for making this, it is helpful
I am glad it helped, enjoy the journey!
That's awesome, man! I hope you have a solid trip. I specialize in this type of fitness programming utilizing minimal equipment. Would you be interested in a FREE training plan to help you in your preparation?
Hike long and high (not on drugs). Don't let altitude be an unpleasant surprise. Also train for the downhill. If you are not conditioned for the hike down, your knees will suffer and you will cry. I generally only hiked during the summer, and it took me 3 years of conditioning until my knees did not hurt on the hike down from a long hike.
Thank you for sharing
Very useful advice.
In addition to getting your hiking legs, invest in a good pair of socks (I use Darn Tough) and get a roll of leukotape for any hot spots on your feet that might come up. Better to wrap your toes if they're starting to rub than put up with blisters. I wrap the tape just below the grips of my trekking poles so I have it with me without having to carry the roll around in my pack.
Darn Tough have never failed me! 2 pairs for 58 summits and they look new.
FYI if you get blisters between your toes, try adding a pair of injinji toe liner socks under your normal hiking socks. They are a game changer for me (I was prone to blisters between my toes).
Great advice, especially the daily mileage. A 14er is no joke
Yeah - I am finally taking my weekly mileage seriously, it has helped a ton with everything physically.
Great video! We got smoked out of doing Whitney for the first time this fall. I think we were ready for it. I’ll put this info to use while training for next time!
That's awesome, man! Have a good trip. I climbed the mountaineer's route years ago and it was brutal. Are you interested in my FREE training plan to help you in your preparation?
You are spot on when you say the way to train is just to hike. I hiked Longs Peak by just going a little further each time. By the time I did it it was so familiar with the trail that it didn't seem that far (understatement LOL). I find it a little sad that some people are paying $50 for training programs to hike Fourteeners. I've done 15 of them so far, and it's just about experience, and upping your game. Thanks for the common sense video, making these peaks attainable for most of those who would like to climb them.
I've been looking for a video exactly like this, Thanks for the great information
a tip : watch series at flixzone. I've been using them for watching a lot of movies during the lockdown.
Great video. I enjoyed it. I'd add one more topic of concern and that would be altitude. I can tell you are from Colorado but some of us live in the lower altitude states and coming out West to do a 14ner is a big adjustment. Personally I'm usually pretty good at 10 thousand ft. but when I get to 12 thousand it's like someone sucked all the energy from me. I know that spending more time at altitude is really the only way to adapt.
Nice to see someone working while talking about hiking!
Hah! It wasn't the best way to convey information, but at least a little scenery along the way!
Great video! I've been contemplating buying the book you mentioned, Training for the new Alpinism. Some book reviews mention that much of the training involves going to the gym, discouraging me from buying it. Your training approach seems great. I just need to get baseline endurance to hike in the Cascades. I wonder how things are for you two years after this video? Did you go on any 14ers? I need to check out more videos on your channel for sure. I'm just now thinking about doing some easier alpine routes and need to get started with training, but it needs to be in a way that I enjoy at least somewhat, like going on hikes. :) Thanks again.
P.s. You have a new sub. Keep creating great content like this :)
I appreciate the kind words.
Yes! Finished the 58 14ers in CO.
@@WannabeAlpinist Excellent! Congratulations. Would you change anything about your training routine now that you have finished these 14ers?
Nice job!!
Thank you Andrew.
Nice video, you are so brave to be doing this.
Thank you
I liked your tip on visualization. I appreciate your openness and can feel your sincerity. Funny how some ppl I've hiked 14'ers with almost put off the air of not wanting to help/guide/advise as if they were guarding the world of hiking. 😂 Thanks for this! 💖💖💖
FRANKIE NEEDS THIS!!! He's determined to conquer some of the 14ers next winter.
Ohh, winter 14ers are no joke. I’d rather do 5 summer 14ers physically back to back than 1 winter 14er. They are brutal!
Great video! I just downloaded the audiobook of Training For New Alpinism, I'm excited to give that a listen.
Thanks for talking about heart rate zones. I have an understanding of this from running, but haven't really applied it to hiking.
Also I dig your outlook on the importance of elevation gains, I only have ever really looked at that as a metric of how difficult it will be, and not as something to keep track of.
Thanks brother! You’re going to love listening to that book.
I wish we had some fourteeners here in Australia.. or 4000m would do. I've solo hiked up to 5000m in India, love the unique challenges of high altitude. Keen to get to something like Mera peak in Nepal one day, not keen on the health passports & experimental vacs though 💉
Go to NZ?
14 mountains peak which high 8,000 meter more
@@cemcizem9860
Yeah, that's an option. But the highest mountain in New Zealand, Mt Cook, is 3700m and it is quite technical- beyond my skill level. I also really like the cultural experience of staying with the nomads in Ladakh/Tibet.
One thing I might add to the vertical gain aspect is that the vertical gain you are training at, starts at a higher elevation. Because you can do 4000 feet of gain but if you’re doing it starting down at 5000 feet it’s not the same as starting that 4000 vertical gain at 10,000 feet. Just my two cents.
What’s that on your right shoulder strap ?
Good question. A Personal Locater Beacon. Specifically the ResQLink. If I get hurt or in trouble and need rescue, I pull the antenna out and click one button that transmits a distress signal to satellites.
Good idea but no thanks. Thousands of peaks climbed behind me.
Hey there! I'm going to be in Colorado first week of October, any tips on what to pack for the hikes? What's the weather like?
Hey - I'd suggest going on 14ers.com and looking at recommended packing lists. 1st week of October should be snow free but with an early winter you could experience that which can change things. September is considered the last summer conditions month.
Good deal! Sounds like an awesome time to be up there. I would advise on any lightweight/ durable pack that enables you to place the weight higher up across your shoulder blades. Osprey makes solid packs. I specialize in this type of fitness programming utilizing minimal equipment. Would you be interested in a FREE training plan to help you in your preparation?
The most valuable "training" for 14ers is, unfortunately, acclimatization. If you're wiling to plod along and put in the time, you can make it up most 14ers. I grew up in 5000-foot hills, but now live at only a few hundred feet. In the last few years I've gone out to summit Mount Whitney and Pike's Peak (don't waste your time on the latter until about the mid 2020s, the summit views are wrecked by construction). At 50 and carrying a lot of muscle for my height (5'9", 235#), I still have the legs to make it up, but the damn altitude has me pounding once I hit around 10000 feet. It's the main thing that has kept me from heading up to Alaska or even to try Kilimanjaro. I just wouldn't be able to take the altitude, and you really can't train around that. I'll have to "settle" for maybe something like the Half Dome in the future.
So, I've switched gears and am moving toward lower but more technical climbs now. I'll be putting on the crampons and grabbing an ice axe for the first time in a few months for 11000-plus Mount Hood. I'm sure it will be fun hauling my heavy ass up that mountain. :)
This is awesome. I've summited the mountaineer's route years ago and it was brutal, ha! I also hiked Old Baldy w/ a 40lb pack years ago round trip in under 8 hours. That was kind of a suck festival, ha. I specialize in this type of fitness programming utilizing minimal equipment. Would you be interested in a FREE training plan to help you in your preparation?
I just trail run 4 to 10 miles at a time at low elevation
Great tips! Question about your PLB attachment. I have a similar (maybe the same) model PLB by ACR, but it did not come with any way to attach it to my pack like that. Is that attachment something you bought separate, or did it come with your PLB?
Hi Eric, thanks. Yes, mine came with a velcro strap attached to the back, which I loop through 2 loops on my pack for easy access.
What's a 14er?
It is a common term in Colorado referencing one its 58 mountains in the state that are greater than 14,000 feet in elevation.
tell people go into the mountains... I love the enthusiasm...but people PLEASE SEE A DOCTOR first AND JOIN A CLASS.... Do not try 14er if your a newbie into hiking. Also don't go into the wilderness without proper gear and knowledge.
You don’t really need to see a doctor to hike a fourteener 😉
@@rawveganfoodforthought2333 lol... depends... is it a middle age person who has smoked whole life and sat behind computer for work and never worked out?
the air is pretty thin at 14k :)
During the hiking and training part I would factor in a 4th point.
4. Conditions such as temperature, humidity, altitude etc.
The psychological factors and mental conditioning is critical. Physical condition is not enough at the elite level.
In many cases people will not know how they will respond under pressure, adversity and extreme conditions.
That is part of the risk and journey of gaining experience.
(Also, climbing alone and in a team are completely different monsters. I suspect that talking to a camera whilst walking can help with pain distraction and rhythm etc)
I can assure you, talking to a camera makes it no easier :)
@@WannabeAlpinist I live in Australia, the world's flattest and oldest continent.
I have climbed the massive Mount Kosciuszko at 2,228 meters in altitude.
I think I am ready for K2
Weight on your body
Bro 50lb packs in winter…. 16 mile moderate hikes…. What kind of hell are you living in 😂