Kilian Jornet recently released a book with training plans, history, and science behind training for trail running and mountaineering. I found it to have many good tips and many interesting stories.

https://www.amazon.com/Training-Uphill-Athlete-Mountain-Mountaineers/dp/1938340841

And if you're not familiar with ultra distance training, the book will change your world

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alpinism

Here's the well established definition that can be found with an easy search. Not sure when or why alpinism, climbing, and mountaineering started all being treated like they are different disciplines, because aside from a few unique techniques or pieces of equipment, they all achieve the same thing.

Again, the definition you want is one that says somehow alpinism suggests a great degree of difficulty. No where in any definitions is that suggested or discussed. It's only in climbing communities in recent history that those definitions have changed for the egos of those doing it.

We simply don't agree here. The writing on the wall is black and white, and unrefutable in my opinion. I'm moving on.

The AAC has a directory with some search features to help find climbing partners, and there are lots of events (like the Craggin' Classics, etc). My local LA chapter was only just started, but there is a monthly Belay & Beers thing for meeting & climbing with AAC members at the gym (with optional brews afterward).

​

At least in California I've also found that meetup.com is a great way to find climbing partners, especially if you're new to the area. Get Your Climb On was great while I was living in SF, and now I host Startup Rock Climbing Los Angeles at my local gym in LA. No club stuff or membership fees. Lots of newbies and first-time climbers, but I've also made some good friends and found reliable climbing partners over time through meetup.

Be sure to check the new book, which tells elements of the story that escaped the official narrative of the first one:

https://www.amazon.com/Annapurna-affaire-cord%C3%A9e-David-Roberts/dp/2911755227

I don't know if there's an english edition.

Another useful guide might be Selected Climbs In The Cascades by Jim Nelson and Peter Potterfield. $1.54 used on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Selected-Climbs-Cascades-Jim-Nelson/dp/0898863686

CAG has everything under the sun, Selected Climbs is more of a greatest hits compilation. It also has a lot more route detail than CAG so you have more of the info you need for success.

If you don't know crevasse rescue already, take a course and do some volcano climbing here. The volcanos aren't necessarily the most interesting routes here but they are one of the best places in the lower 48 to do glacier stuff.

I love my Marmot Precips with a lightweight pair of thermal underwear underneath if it's cold. Not super warm, but cheap and layerable and ive done -20c without complaint.

Btw I find the best thing to patch rips in your weather layer is Jeep softtop repair kit.

https://www.amazon.com/Gear-Aid-Aquaseal-Repair-Convertible/dp/B00TJVCPGI

I am 25, male, and moved to Seattle in July '13 to get after it! I studied chemical engineering and worked for Dow Chemical for a few years before being laid off. I like making videos of my adventures! https://vimeo.com/lukasbercy

Maybe it's time to invest in a couple super stubbies. They can be made as small at 5cm. good luck

hey, cool video. if i had to give feedback i'd say that i prefer not to put pics in my videos - it is a video after all. also, i don't really like the transitions at the beginning with the film strips, but that's just my opinion. i'm pretty new to filming my trips, here's one i made this week: https://vimeo.com/83660804

We broke it up into two days... up to Lawn Lake to camp and then up Fairchild Mountain the nxt morning. I accidentally switched off my GPS for part of the hike, but my guess is that it was 18'ish miles in total. GPS info here. A storm rolled in when we were @ 12,5k so we didn't summit Fairchild.

Didn't need snowshoes at all, but above 10,750 there were more snowdrifts than expected (especially given the light conditions I've run into nearby at higher elevations). I had microspikes, but didn't use 'em. And- I don't mind the ??'s one bit... it's always nice to know what current conditions are if you're planning a trip. Have fun up there!

Most descriptions on this website are in German, however it might give you an idea about feasable climbs: https://www.outdooractive.com/en/tours/#area=*&cat=Alpine%20Tour&wt=Wilder%20Kaiser%20(6655%20Kaisers%20Austria)&zc=7,11.8927,48.04871

Los Angeles Safer At Home order still in effect...

Last week

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 1 hr 53 mins 56 secs

Strength: zilch while working on backyard woody

This week

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 2h

Strength: 2h

Goals

STG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

Backyard woody is coming along ...

MTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

LTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

Sorry for the delayed post! I put enough quarters in the machine to keep it running through Feb 3.

Announcement: new free training log tool

I spent a few hours over the holiday break learning how to use Coda (for work). Of course I decided to learn Coda by replacing my crusty Google Sheet training log with a fancier version. It's publicly available here: https://coda.io/d/turqeees-Training-Log-2020_doa8WF_cBhX

Coda is free. Feel free to duplicate my log in your own Workspace and use it for yourself. I even included a handy "Delete all of Turqeee's workouts" button to make it easy for you to get started.

Last week

Su: 54min cycling with kid in trailer

I was at CES last week in Vegas, so I walked a ton but otherwise did no structured training during the work week

This week

Th: 1h gym climb

Su: 5-6h baldy summit

Goals

STG: get back into a regular schedule after the holidays. Read TFTUH

For something a bit more specific, you might check out Training for the New Aplinism - Steve House is always a good read. Sold all over the UK.

The one thing that works for me is toe separators, they’re seriously awesome (and dare I say more effective than the insoles my foot doctor sold me). I work on my feet a lot and plantar fasciitis made it almost impossible, until I started wearing toe separators to bed every night. I had to work up to it by doing a few minutes, then a few hours, and now overnight. I’m able to work 8 hour shifts on my feet again almost painlessly!

here’s a link to the amazon toe separators (I specifically like the feel of the white/clear ones, the colored ones hurt my toes for some reason)

You could solo the Tour du Mont Blanc pretty easily with your own schedule/logistics. Here's what you can use to plan out your trek:

http://www.autourdumontblanc.com/en/

You will save a lot of money this way. There will be tons of people on the trail and it's really easy to make friends at various stops. You'll likely see the same set of folks throughout your journey.

Also would recommend this book: The Tour of Mont Blanc: Complete two-way trekking guide (Cicerone Trekking Guides) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1786310627/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_61C0G0M32P9ESQ5XT2G8

Feel free to DM me if you have any questions. I solo'd it and do not regret that choice at all.

I have the 4000 of alps that includes pretty much every 4000 in the alps. I have the Italian one, but I don't know if exists also in english. (https://www.amazon.it/grande-libro-4000-normali-classiche/dp/8885468527/ref=asc_df_8885468527/?tag=googshopit-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=279805259468&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14028049494801605462&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1009008&hvtargid=pla-738116402584&psc=1 the italian one is this one)

For anyone interested, I found the movie for free in German here: https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEVv6T6GRWRnQAl0UnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTEwNzJpNmJwBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNyZWwtYm90?p=werner+herzog+the+dark+glow+of+the+mountains&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=mozilla&ei=UTF-8&fr2=rs-bottom%...

Google autotranslate to English does a decent job

Here's one possibility in Austria on the Dachstein Glacier.

Hilaree and her partner Tim had a solid interview on the Totally Deep Podcast. https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cDovL3RvdGFsbHlkZWVwLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz&episode=YmNiNzEzZDljNWJkNDVlYmI1MjMxMDJkMDg5ODY1NmM&hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwjE7Lym9KDlAhVBCKwKHWH0CDMQjrkEegQICRAG&ep=6&at=1571233384871 or look them up on wherever you listen to podcasts.

Los Angeles Safer At Home order still in effect...

Last week

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 1 hr 1 min 56 secs

Strength: 0

Shoulder getting better after hangboard incident. I've started rolling it with a Mobility WOD and that SUCKS. Fell short of my aerobic goals but that's just because I'm lazy.

This week

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 1h 30m

Strength: 1h

Goals

STG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

MTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

LTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

Los Angeles Safer At Home order still in effect...

Last week

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 0

Strength: 10 mins

I re-injured my shoulder doing a harder hangboard workout, which is stupid of me and entirely avoidable. There was also a horrible heat wave last week. Combined with my painful neck & shoulder, this shut down my will to get out and run :-(

This week

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 2h

Strength: ??? Waiting on shoulder to feel better ???

Goals

STG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

MTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

LTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

Los Angeles Safer At Home order still in effect...

Last week

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 1 hr 24 mins 59 secs

Strength: 1 hr 30 mins

This week

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 1h 30m

Strength: 2h

Goals

STG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

MTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

LTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

Los Angeles Safer At Home order still in effect...

Last week

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 1 hr 31 mins 2 secs (met my goal!)

Strength: 0 (literally no STR training because ... I'm spending that time building a woody! Will post to r/climbing when done)

This week

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 2h

Strength: 1h 30m

Goals

STG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19. Also finish dat woody

MTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

LTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

Los Angeles Safer At Home order still in effect...

Last week

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 27 mins 24 secs

Strength: 2 hrs 27 mins 31 secs

I finally set up a good general strength training routine in my backyard. I should have realized that this would be more fun than Z1 jogging ... since I only did one short run last week and doubled my planned strength volume ;-)

Kept my aerobic base goal the same for this week but upped my strength volume based on this :-D

This week

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 1h 30m

Strength: 2h

Goals

STG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

Also, trying to learn how to ski by watching youtube videos. Any advice?

MTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

LTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

Los Angeles Safer At Home order still in effect...

...btw this comment was autogenerated by my training log, since I'm so lazy that I don't want to write these by hand ;-)

Last week

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 1 hr 13 mins 9 secs

Strength: 20 mins

This week

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 1h 30m

Strength: 30m

Goals

STG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

MTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

LTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

Los Angeles Safer At Home order still in effect...

Last week

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 1 hr 30 mins 15 secs

Yoga: 10 mins

This week

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 1h 30m

Yoga: 30m

Goals

STG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

MTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

LTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

Last week

Los Angeles has gone into shutdown mode to help slow the spread of COVID-19. This has limited my training schedule to Z1/Z2 neighborhood runs and yoga in my living room.

I'm just aggregating that data here since there are lots and lots of short sessions throughout the week. My daughter or dog always manages to interrupt these sessions, but I'm feeling pretty zen about the whole thing.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to WFH during this mandatory Stay Home order, and I'm just counting my blessings for that. A lot of people have it much worse off right now...

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 1h 30m

Yoga: 20m

This week

I'm finding that volume-based goal setting is taking on a whole new meaning for me. This week:

Z1/Z2 aerobic base: 1h 30m

Yoga: 30m

Goals

STG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

MTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

LTG: Stay safe. Keep family healthy. Do my part to not spread SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19

Last week (link)

Th: 2h gym climb

Su: 30m hill climb (super short, after dark, kiddo was a champ)

This week

Mo: Yoga

Tu: 1h Core & Legs STR

Th: 2h Gym climb

Sa: 1h Hill climb

Last week (link)

Mo: 1h50 gym climb

Su: 1h weighted hill climb

This week

Tu: 1h strength

Th: 2h gym climb

Sa: 1h weighted hill climb

Goals are boring

Last week (link)

Th: 2h gym climb

This week

Mo: 1h bike w/ resistance

Tu: 1h strength

Th: 2h gym climb

Sa: Z1 pulling my kid around on a sled ;-)

Goals

STG: still trying to get a STR regimen going

MTG: push climbing grade before summer rock trip

LTG: long-term does not exist with a toddler

Last week (link)

Th: 1h30 gym climb - really great session. Progress feels good

This week

Mo: 1h bouldering

Th: 2h lead climbing

Sa: 1h bike ride w/ child trailer

Goals

STG: Praying for snow again before the season is over

Last week (click here for logs)

Th: 1h gym climb after 6 weeks off for shoulder recovery. Felt great

This week

Tu: 1h "weighted" hill climb

Th: 2h gym climb

Sa: 1h "weighted" bike ride

Goals

STG: enjoy socal alpine

MTG: start consistently chipping away at that 150h annual training volume goal

LTG: i'm a parent, so alpine LTG does not exist

No training logged during the holidays. Spent last week visiting family out of state.

Shoulder feeling much better! I haven't done any exercises as suggested by u/dalpinist, but I'm still feeling pretty good about it.

Only other things to report here are some news items:

1. I got a bike rack, a trailer for my kid, and a bike. I officially have zero excuse to not log some miles cycling in 2020

2. I will replace my Google Sheets "TFTNA Training Log" monstrosity with a really cool log built with Coda. I'm super proud of it and will post a link to it here and on the Uphill Athlete forum once it's finished (should be done before mid-Jan)

My recommendations based on what I have tried out:

1. B2 (very light yet warm, climbs and grip well): https://www.amazon.com/Mammut-Taiss-Light-Mountaineering-Boot/dp/B07L95H2NP/ref=sr\_1\_2?dchild=1&keywords=mammut+taiss+light+mid+gtx&qid=1634214588&sr=8-2
2. B2/B3 (went to Mont Blanc in Summer with them): https://www.amazon.com/Salewa-Pro-Guide-Insulated-Hiking/dp/B008YU347E

Some of the cheap gloves I'll use on ice that has a bit of water to it

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015WU52MI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Maybe not absolute max effort, but try hard. The important thing is to do the assessment in a way that's repeatable so you can track your progress later.

They sell pullup bars that fit your doorway and you don't have to mount or screw into your wall for $16 on Amazon. I'm not saying buy this exact one, but just as an example, look at this one:

Christian Veenstra describes a system he used on his traverse of Garibaldi Park in this interview. The whole article is good, but the specific section on self-rescue is about halfway down.

In other news, Rollnlock progress capture ratchets are going for $28USD on Amazon.

Look on Amazon for a diamond hone. You can find small ones, no bigger than a nail file, embedded in a lightweight plastic handle.
A medium or coarse one might do very well.

The best known would be Ham&Eggs on the Moose's Tooth.

But there is plenty out there at various levels of technical difficulty. The guidebook is stellar.

I don’t know about the season - late fall is usually one of the worst times for mountaineering - but this book is probably the best guide for easy to moderate routes in the MB massif: https://www.amazon.com/Mont-Blanc-Range-Classic-Climbs/dp/1594857318

He's not a climber but Tim Ferriss has some great info on keto. It's summarized in Tools of Titans, as well as more thorough info via his podcast guests and the 4 hour chef. Obviously altitude and climbing have different stressors than weightlifting/running but there's some fueling advice that shows how he increased his physical output and lung capacity while doing keto eating periods.

From personal experience, I don't need mitts until -12C. I have BD heavyweight liners and OR arete gloves. Get great dexterity with this setup. If I need to operate my camera or phone or something I take off the arete and I'm still warm for the short term in just below freezing.

To reiterate, I wouldn't recommend mitts unless you're consistently in low temps like -12C. And as far as the budgeting goes, set your eyes on a medium to high tier glove (for longevity/quality) and wait until they pop up as an Amazon warehouse deal. Cue camelcamelcamel.com. Also this glove is the best glove if you literally only have pennies to spend and need something waterproof and insulated. They are imported from Japan and are a crazy good value.

While I'm sure someone will jump in with their favorite, I've read through this one:

https://smile.amazon.com/Climbing-Self-Rescue-Improvising-Mountaineers/dp/089886772X?sa-no-redirect=1

Your library might even have a copy. Also, look for a copy of Freedom of the Hills. 8th is the latest, but 6th & 7th are not all that old.

For navigation, eventually you'll want to be able to pinpoint & track yourself along a bare hillside, no trail.

Simple comfort & awareness, especially, I have found consists of a lot of trial and error. Learning when to switch layers to stay warm but not sweaty. How to pack a heavy pack. Where to find water. Knowing when you're getting dehydrated. Plenty of this can be learned on ordinary hilly trails, no massive peaks required.

I know some of these skills will be quite difficult to work on living in the city, but they're a super important place to start, and you don't need to hire a fancy guide to teach you. Plus, if you do take a class like you linked, you'll get a lot more out of it if you've already learned a lot of the fundamentals yourself. Be the guy who already knows how to tie every knot, knows exactly where he is on the map, and is comfortable in the environment. Don't be that guy who is too busy learning how to tie munters and clove hitches to pay attention to crevasse rescue practice.

For less messy amazon links you can extract the part after "/dp/" in

https://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Die-Discover-Scientifically/dp/1250066115/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1484214545&sr=1-1&keywords=how+not+to+die

and make it:

https://amzn.com/1250066115

BEEP BOP

Plz send any recommendations via PM

Has anyone read Freedom Climbers: the Golden Age of Polish Climbing? It is supposed to be quite good and I'm thinking of picking it up.

(Caveat: alpinist, not BC'er)

You'll get some, but it is towards the end of the season and given the snowfall this year (low, generally) it might be on the shoddy end. I was on Tateyama/Tsurugi in early May last year and there were plenty of BC guys around there - it was baselayer weather, though, and pretty slushy by the end of the day.

Fuji would usually still be in, but again I'm just not sure this year - Jan was almost bare up there, and while there's been a decent dump in early Feb, it was getting warm again last week. Unless there's a decent fall again in March, I think May might be pretty barren.

Would recommend getting in touch with Damian at Hakuba Mountain Life for beta (https://www.facebook.com/mountainlifejp/?fref=ts on ) - tell him CJW put you his way :-)

If you fancy getting some routes in rather than skiing, then it's worth checking out Tony Grant's new ebook (http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Alpine-Climbs-Japan-Climb-ebook/dp/B01ARU5KR0) - a steal at only $5.99...

Alpine climbing is about self reliance and no text book will make you a competent climber. We must always strive to learn all we can and make our own judgment calls.

Freedom of the Hills is a particularly awful book published by an organizations who's teachings have always been out of date. A friend and I were discussing how learning from it almost got him killed in his early days rock climbing.

http://www.amazon.com/Ways-Sky-Historical-American-Mountaineering/dp/0930410831 is a fascinating read focusing on what people have done in the mountains of North America and how they did it. The section on the mountaineers (publishers of Freedom of the Hills) is particularly interesting... they were founded by en ex military preacher who used to take large groups of Seattleites up mount rainier with a bugle and a team of "experienced climbers" following behind ready to tackle anyone who slipped.

Twight's book is okay but only if you want to climb like Twight. I simply don't enjoy living off power gu and nutritional supplements.

I think Peter Croft's short instructional book is amongst the best i've run across. It won't teach you everything but it contains a straight forward description of the simple systems and equipment used by one of the worlds master climbers: http://www.amazon.com/Lightweight-Alpine-Climbing-Peter-Specialist/dp/0811728412/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269474063&sr=1-1

I know a couple of people who mount theirs on one of those caming pull up bars that sits on a door jam:

http://www.amazon.com/GoFit-Elevated-Chin-Up-Station/dp/B0027ICCTA/

My girlfriend has that one and it even has little steel eyelets you can hang rock rings from.

With a little ingenuity and some boards you can make a wooden mount that hooks over the bar (or into the eye bolts) and rest against the door jam so it is stable... see figure 2.1 in the beastmaker mounting instructions: http://www.beastmaker.co.uk/Mounting_fingerboards.pdf