Flatlander’s Post Mortem
Several years ago I traveled to Estes Park Colorado with eleven other hardy souls. The purpose. Take our fitness outside the confines of a gym environment (fitness practice) and summit Longs Peak a challenging 14'er in the Rocky Mountains.
Attempting to summit a 14'er is no walk in the park. One must deal with starting earlier than the crack of dawn, hydration and nutrition issues, steep inclines that become declines, loose rock trail conditions, various critters, and for someone living at 900 feet above sea level — altitude.
Nothing like bagging a 14'er to test your metal and get comfortable with uncomfortable.
While it was our objective from the outset to summit that day in August, the process and struggle (suck factor) were more important. Ultimately eight members of the climbing party made the summit.
With tears of joy still wet on their face several members of our party vowed to climb other 14'ers in the state in the years to come.
That was eight years ago and this annual pilgrimage continues with old and new adventurers. For a flatlander, I have learned a lot about quick turn altitude experiences.
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These tips are courtesy of the school of hard knocks and my brief history of marching up peaks in the Rocky Mountains.
- STOP READING INTERNET SITES. There are various websites that share climber stories, climber times, and more or less rank mountain treks and their peaks. I read these in the past but have given up on the accuracy. A summit push is hard work and potentially fatal! The class means little. One should plan on starting early, putting in a full day with more than an average amount of fatigue at the conclusion.
- 4-HOUR RUCK. My minimum RUCK duration is 4 hours or 14 miles. Something in the ballpark of a 20lbs RUCK at an average of 3.5 mph minimum. I would stay home if your current fitness would not tolerate this baseline as a flatlander.
- BUILD A LONGEVITY BODY. Relative strength is an asset but a 500-pound squat and 600-pound deadlift will get you nowhere fast on a mountain. Lift weights twice per week moving quickly between movements. Lean out in the kitchen.
- INCLINE NEEDED. I had mighty sore legs this year. Not enough incline and decline work. Gym step-ups, stepovers, split squats, single leg squats, and hilly RUCKS will be predominant in next year's preparation.
- SLED DRAGGING SPARES AN AGING BODY. Taking a page from the best powerlifters in the world I dragged a sled for long, medium, and short durations. This takes the load off my knees and hips and is a pain-free conditioning practice. Weekly intensity sessions with a heavy sled challenge breathing like the altitude that a flatlander will encounter.
- HYDRATION, HYDRATION, HYDRATION On day one I took one in the chops. Nobody performs well with altitude sickness and was textbook ill. I could blame the overcast cool conditions for slowing my fluid and electrolyte intake but it was straight up a fluid management error on climber RUT
- AVOID THE REDLINE I do believe that only you can determine a good climbing pace but I would suggest being more conservative and saving a little for the descent. The only prize is getting up and getting down safely.
On any given day I will be one of the oldest climbers moving towards a summit. I missed last year's peak bagging effort as I stayed home recovering from the Delta Variant.
As stated earlier doing hard stuff at least annually is critical to a successful aging journey. Seeking comfort is a slow death.
I am grateful to still be considered relevant for these outings. Until they vote me unworthy I will continue to look forward to this annual pilgrimage West.
