Climbing Mt. Rainier: Our Friends Tell You How To Train
Have you ever considered climbing a 14,410 ft. mountain? Me either. But every year, almost 9,000 people attempt to do just that – at Mount Rainier National Park. Of those that attempt to make it to the summit of the mountain, only 4600 actually do. Our softball buddies Adam and Andrea were two of those people.
A and A were pretty humble about the entire experience – but of course we just HAD to understand how you get your body in shape for something as grueling as a mountain climb. (And we ain’t talking doing “mountain climbers” on the gym floor ladies and gentlemen.)
Here’s a glimpse at their experience of a lifetime – from workouts (from a guy’s and girl’s perspective), nutrition while training, the gear necessary for the climb, and more.
So exactly how much training was involved??
A & A: We started training for the hike about 6 months out, but didn’t get too serious about maintaining a regimen until about 3 months out. When we first started we were really just trying to get back into cardiovascular shape, then add in intensity and weight training. Typically we put in 5-6 workouts a week, 1-1.5 hrs at a time, combining both cardio with weight training.
It was important that we were able to work out at a high intensity for as long as we could when doing cardio because the actual climb could be as long as 15 hrs at a high altitude (10,000+ft), which is hard to train for in Chicago. It was essential that we could build endurance while maximizing intensity because on the actual climb we had 35-65lbs of extra weight on our back.
What did a typical workout look like?
Adam: A good cardio workout on the treadmill consisted of speed and hill intervals for about 45 min. We also spent a lot of time on the Stairmaster (the kind with the revolving steps) doing a speed interval program. We worked our way from 20 min up to 1 hour, usually with our backpacks on loaded with weight plates (15-35lbs). We also used the treadmill for walking at the max incline, also with our loaded packs for an hour or more at a time. The important part is working up to the max incline gradually or risk severely injuring your Achilles/calves.
Andrea: Adam and I trained differently with our weight-training regimen because we had different areas to focus on. I wanted to work on strengthening my legs, hips and core where Adam did more total body moves. Beneficial moves included the clean and press, pushups on a bosu ball, squats, single leg squats, front squats, shoulder press, and a lot of core. We did almost every exercise in an ‘unbalanced’ position (on one foot, using bosu balls, etc). I did pilates 2x a week, which I found helpful. We did super-sets to maximize each muscle group and keep our heart rate up between sets.
Once it was warm enough, we loaded our backpacking packs up with 35-65lbs and went hiking at the Indiana Dunes (steep sand dunes) or Devils Lake (natural rock stairs) on the weekends. It was really helpful to get outside and hike because it was easier to go for 2-4 hours and was the closest thing we could get to the real mountain, minus the altitude and snow. It helped build balance, get comfortable with the weighted backpack and practice going downhill. We wanted to get the downhill exercise in as well because we had heard how difficult it was and how little people work on those muscle groups.
After all of the intense training, were you well-prepared?
A & A: Physically, we were very much prepared, maybe even over-trained if there can be such a thing in mountain climbing. Never did we feel that we were physically unprepared. Its also very mental- 4 days on a glacier is a long time, especially if you’ve never done anything like this before. The mental aspects of the climb, in our opinion, were much more important because you have to be in the frame of mind that you are on a mountain, climbing continuously for 4 full days. We would come over a crest and think we had made camp but would actually still have a few more hours to climb!
Did you change your diet and eating habits while training?
A & A: We tried to eat healthy while we were training and added in protein supplements after weight training, but didn’t eliminate too much. We didn’t cut things out as much as we watched the quantities. Cutting back on alcohol helped maximize gains (found we lost weight a lot faster after we stopped drinking).
What kind of gear and equipment was needed to complete the climb?
Andrea: The only gear we bought was a backpack, base layers, shell pants, shell jacket, climbing harness, carabineers and head lamp. We rented everything else, including all the technical gear – mountaineering boots, ice axe, avalanche transceiver, glacier glasses, crampons, gortex shell, sleeping bag and tent. We used All this with one exception – Adam, of course, bought an ice axe!
What did you eat during the climb?
A & A: During the climb, we ate a lot of high calorie, high energy snacks like trail mix, cliff bars, dried fruit, PB&J sandwiches, and cold pizza. We took a 10 min break about every 2 hours of hiking and had a handful of trail mix or ½ a sandwich, with a lot of water at each break. We tried to drink half a Nalgene each break to help keep hydrated and fight altitude sickness. Water was never an issue; we used the glacier snow/ice in our Nalgene bottles. By the next stop, the snow you put in was almost entirely melted.
How long did it take to complete the summit?
A & A: The first day we ascended about 5,000 ft, which took about 6 hours. We set up camp at our “base” camp at an altitude of 10,000 ft. The next day we did a day climb for 4 hours and spent the afternoon acclimating and gearing up at “base” for the summit. We tried to get to bed early and after a few hours of sleep, we started our summit climb at 1:37am, when it was still pitch black and very cold (roughly -5 degrees). The upper portion of the mountain was MUCH steeper and icier than the lower portion, so this is where all the technical gear came in. We were roped together with our harnesses and crampons were a must. We traversed terrain that was as steep as 80 degrees and averaged roughly 60+ degrees. We hiked for about 2 hours at a time, broken up by 10 minute breaks, until we reached the summit at 7:27am. After resting at the summit, we began our descent all the way back to the true base – which was another 6 hours past base camp.
Physically, it was more exhausting than difficult. It was a true test of endurance as the length of the trip eventually wore on our bodies. The next day we weren’t too sore, but definitely felt the effects of an intense workout.
If you are interested in tackling Mt. Rainier, click here to get going!
