Everest Training
Training for Mount Everest is a long term commitment that can take years of preparation. To be successful on Mount Everest you need to not only to be in great physical condition you also need to develop technical skills and most importantly be mentally prepared for the challenges you will encounter during an attempt on Everest.
Physical Training
Climbing Everest is almost a 2 month commitment. On most days an Everest climber will be spending at least 5 hours hiking or climbing and on summit day a climber can spend around 16 hours or more climbing at high altitude. Experience on prior high altitude climbs can help a climber prepare but there is extensive cross training that mountaineers need to perform to get into physical shape to climb Everest. Mountaineering is an endurance sport so climbers need to focus on two key muscle groups to train for Everest – Legs and Lungs. Climbers can train and build up leg strength and lung capacity by running for a few hours daily, long bike rides, elliptical machine, long hikes and climbing, and working out with a loaded back pack. It is important to train your muscles for climbing so the best training is to climb mountains or hills not just to do cross training. On Everest you will also have your heart race up and down when you cross the ladders in the icefall, climb up short steep pitches, or climb the Hillary step, you can prepare your body for this by doing interval training so your legs, lungs, and heart get used to spikes in heart rate and physical exertion. Climbers should also train their core muscles – abs and back muscles are important because they help with balance and agility. Climbers also carry weigh in a back pack on the mountain so stronger core muscles make carrying weight in a backpack easier.
Some climbers begin taking Iron supplement pills a few months before climbing Everest to increase their Red Blood Cell count. Red Blood cells contain Hemoglobin which contain iron, increase Red Blood cells and hemoglobin help climbers because Red blood cells store and carry oxygen through the body to our tissue and muscles, so the more Red Blood cells a climber makes it easier to acclimatization to altitude and thinner air with less oxygen. Excessive amounts of Iron in the body can be poisonous so if you are a mountaineer and are considering taking an Iron supplement do not take an excessive amount of Iron and consult with your doctor for advice on the right dose for you.
Technical Training
In order to climb Mount Everest there are a combination of mountaineering skills that you need to develop before going to China or Nepal to climb Everest from either the North or South side. Some of the skills include Crampon Technique, Glacier Travel, Jumaring, Ice Ax self arrest, crevasse rescue, familiarity with knots and anchors, winter/cold weather camping, and High Altitude climbing experience.
These are skills that take time to build up and typically people build these up over time through mountaineering training courses and climbing other mountains. Many people use the “ 7 Summits” as a means for training and preparing for Everest. For example someone may climb Kilimanjaro in order to test how their body reacts at higher altitudes; climb Mt Elbrus to build skills in glacier travel and crampon technique; climb Vinson Massif to obtain more glacier travel skills and extreme winter/cold weather camping experience; climb Denali and build skills around high altitude climbing, glacier/roped travel, crampon technique, winter/cold weather camping, jumaring, crevasse rescue and ice ax self arrest; and climb Aconcagua to test how their body reacts at a much higher altitude (~23,000 ft) since Aconcagua is the tallest peak in the world outside Asia. Some of the other places that people can train include the Andes in South America, Alps in Europe, New Zealand, Himalaya in Asia, Alaska, Rockies in the US, Mount Rainier, and winter climbing in the White Mountains in the Northeast US. Rock and Ice Climbing are two fun ways to build up proficiency in working with ropes, anchors, climbing safety, Ice Ax technique, and crampon technique. There are many professionally trained and certified mountain guides around the world and climber should seek their professional advice and training as part of the preparation for Everest. There are a lot of ways that someone could build up and develop the technical skills to climb Everest. Most guide services will require that you fill out an extensive application including your climbing history and experience to ensure that you are qualified for an expedition team and being added to a permit.
Mental Training
Mental preparation is just as important as technical and physical training. A climber travels through the Khumbu Icefall 6 times – crossing over crevasses that are sometimes so deep all you can see at the bottom is black, climbing next to blocks of ice bigger than a truck and sometimes as large as a house that are under constant pressure from the glacier above and these blocks of ice and the terrain are constantly shifting and moving. Climbing the Lhotse face a if a misses a clip on a rope and slips they could fall 2000 feet down to the Western CWM – mountains do not tolerate mental mistakes. On summit day a climber will spend somewhere around 16 hours climbing, climbers begin climbing in the dark and encounter very exposed and intimidating terrain like the Hillary Step and Cornice Traverse on the way to the summit. It is important that a climber have the right mental state with a positive and realistic attitude. To mentally prepare for Everest a climber should study the route to be climbed extensively, read many of the extensive number books out on Everest, and build up confidence climbing other mountains. An Everest climber also needs to have good mental judgment to avoid the risk of summit fever and pushing themselves beyond their limits and jeopardizing their own lives and the lives of others. No mountain summit is worth sacrificing your own life or the life or lives of other climbers on the mountain. There may be days where a climber needs to make the right decision to turn back or just realize that they are not having a good day – in cases like that climbers need to be mentally strong enough to balance their positive attitude and desire to get to the summit with most important goal in mountaineering – get back home safe.