I took the very long road, it was more of a journey. It took me over 25 years to reach the top of the world and come home. You can certain do it faster while remaining safe. Maybe you’re been climbing, bouldering, ice climbing, trekking, been on a multi day expedition, or just curious. Read along to see how I chart a course for a BigClimb of an 8000 m peak.
The long way
If you don’t have the patience to read the long way, jump to the “safe way” section or the “short cut” section.
I started off with climbing back in 1992. Rock climbing to bouldering to gully climb. It was fun. I taught others the safety and styles, from trad to sport. But then I became disinterested. It was no longer fulfilling. Climbing doesn’t pay, so had to focus on building a career.
My wife has been very supportive of my crazy life and ridiculous hobbies. In 1999, she suggested I try ice climbing, and I did. It was a Canadian winter; dead cold with high winds. I loved it. All kinds of ice and mixed routes and more gym climbing became my regular routine. This time, by the end of 2002, I was once again bored of the sport. It was just over a decade since I started, and it was time to grow up. I had a business to run, projects to plan, and clients to keep happy.
In early 2003, I was on a call with a friend in Seattle. He suggested I try mountaineering. He said I’d love it, and he was right. I love everything about mountaineering: the planning, logistics, execution, risk, issues, resource management, outdoor culture, all combined with the culmination of my climbing and ice climbing experience coupled with glacier travel and more!
Almost 26 years from when I started my journey, on May 23, 2018 at 5:30 AM (local time), I finally made it to the top of the world.
The safe way
With knowledge and experience on my side, I’m going to tell you how to get started.
- Get outside and enjoy the outdoor culture.
- Do some day-treks with likeminded friends to about 1000 to 2000 m;
- Build your fitness levels; do a massive abound of lunges; practice rest-stepping;
- Learn how to tie some key knots like figure 8s, alpine butterfly, fisherman’s,; learn about EARNEST anchors; learn to rappel off those anchors on glaciers; learn how to take in coils and tie them off without risking choking to death. Practice all that!!
- Try out some taller 2500-3500 m 1-3 day peaks with friends or even a guide; there are lots of these in the Canadian Rockies; learn to read the terrain, the weather, and build trust in your skills.
- Experience a few 4-5 day ascent like Mt Rainier; being the most glaciated mountain in the lower 48 states, it’s the perfect training ground for mountaineers; there are parts of this mountain I have never seen.
If your body has responded well to the higher altitudes and you have learned (1) key skills like self arrest, crevasse rescue, reading the terrain, etc. and (2) how your body feel above 3000 m (or roughly 10,000’), you have arrived at a cross road.
- You may be content and decide to exit the sport as you are now vividly aware of the risks to your life while mountaineering.
- You may decide to spend a significant amount of money and climb 6 out of the 7 tallest peaks of each continent (ex. Elbrus 5642 m, Kilimanjaro 5895 m, Denali/McKinley 6194 m, Aconcagua 6961 m, Vinson 4892 m, and Puncak Jaya 4884 m), then chase Everest 8848 m; possibly top it off with the grand slam and go to both the north and south poles.
- Or, just go to Nepal and climb a low cost 6000m or 7000 m peak to get an idea how your body will react to that altitude and how you must prepare for a +30 day expedition; then chase Everest.
If you prefer a shorter method, then read on.
The short cut
Technically, you could skip the “safe way,” go with nearly no mountaineering experience and:
- head out to Nepal and trek up to Everest base camp (BC); be a tourist, take pictures, and for a low cost, reach 5400 m; you experience a reasonable altitude and possibly walk up Kala Patthar 5643 m, or even Pumori ABC 5700 m to experience a little higher altitude and get a better view of Everest, Lhotse, and Nuptse because you can’t see them from Everest BC;
- go back to your home country and train hard, I mean train really hard;
- go back to Nepal during the spring season and this time focus on climbing Lhotse 8516 m with a goal to only reach 7000 m; it’s a low cost and 30 d commitment; learn how your body reacts to the very high altitude; if you have time and feel healthy, stick around and climb Lhotse, or ask your guide company to add you to the Everest permit (with additional costs + services) and go for it with supplemental O₂, because you’re acclimated; or
- come back home, train even harder, and go back the following year and climb Everest; you already have been to EBC twice, climbed the Lhotse face to 7000 m, and if you climbed the 4th highest peak in the world, you have passed the yellow band, know how to use an O₂ mask and cylinder, and experienced the steep climb up to the tiny postage stamp of a summit!
Whether the long or short way, if you’re considering the high altitude mountaineering, I strongly suggest leveraging hypoxic training. Among many training tools and techniques, I have been using hypoxic training since 2008 and it has proven to shorten my acclimation time and help me focus on my mountaineering goals. Reach out to the team at Altitude Athletic Training for their offering on hypoxic rentals and training sessions.
Closing
What’s your goal? Climb Everest as fast as possible? Soak up the mountain life and culture?
None of the methods are wrong. I can present an even shorter way: just see if someone will give you a permit by lying and saying you’ve tried to climb an 8000 m peak before. Indeed it’s not the smartest idea, because you have no idea what you’re doing, or maybe you think you do, but you could try it. Other have succeeded this way.
I trust you have digested the undertones of the need to acclimate slowly while learning how your body reacts to higher altitudes. To cut down on the time it takes for your body to acclimate, reach out to the Altitude Athletic Training team to see how you can use their products and services. It’s key to coming home alive.
The Himalayas is a stunning region. If you love mountains, you must visit it. Bhutan, China/Tibet, India, Nepal, or Pakistan: just go there. You’ll be surrounded by massive peaks that don’t exist outside the Himalayas.
If it’s the mountaineering thrill you seek, try chasing K2 8611 m and Logan 5959 m (in Canada). To climb these, you must truly appreciate the mountain life and hold strong mountaineering skills. Neither of these mountains are ones you simply climb on a whim.
If you want to experience the mountains of Nepal (likely your most effective for cost and time), reach out to me. I can get you to Everest Base Camp (Khumbu region) safely and you can walk through the majestic valley of some of the worlds most famous and tallest peaks under the banner of BigClimbs. We can even guide you up Lobuche 6119 m, Everest/Lhotse camp 3 at 7000 m, or the summits of Lhotse and Everest, all in Nepal.
If you love the mountains, you will love Nepal. Under COVID-19 travel restrictions, the Nepalese mountaineering community (porters, mountain staff, and Sherpa) are suffering with many who have lost their homes and cannot afford food and or clothing. This loss of human dignity is depressing and unjust. I have setup a programme to help these mountain life families directly in Nepal with the basics of life (food, clothing, and money for rent). We will soon be sharing a crowdfunding link to support the suffering mountaineering community in Nepal. We hope you will be in a position to donate and share the link with others. Thank you.
