Everest Training Week 2024
“Had to be careful for the hidden falls as the snow was so thick. Luckily Fit4Adventures can use a compass! Great experience and opportunity to put some training into practice. The countdown to Everest is on!”
A bespoke and unique trip we designed for a pair of friends heading for the highest mountain in the world this Spring. The three days were structured to complement the training both Darius and Stu have been doing with The Altitude Centre by providing more technical preparations ahead of their big climb. Using the fixed lines, abseiling, crossing ladders, climbing ropes and dealing with incidents!
Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worse but the team brought good morale despite the not so glamorous weather and they say that training in poor conditions prepares you better.
After a brief rendez-vous and breakfast in town we headed into Glen Nevis for day one. Making our way through the forests, we covered a load of basic skills of how to use a rope to our advantage. Mostly this relies on friction as the guys quickly grasped the concepts and learnt simple yet effective ways of using just a rope (no harness/carabiners etc) to create anchors, abseil and even belay a friend up and down. After this we ventured further up the hill, with both Darius and Stu troopering ahead in their 8,000m boots, trying to break them in as best possible! Once at the snow line, we created a fixed line. These are the rope systems used to summit Everest which every climber should be autonomous at and are used to reduce the chances of an accident. We refined what kit each climber should carry on their harness to be self-sufficient in a range of situations as well as learning a robust system to use the fixed lines safely and efficiently, both up and down. Definitely a skill to have dialled so when you're up there for real it requires zero brainpower!
Once back in the valley, it was time for some of the more technical skills;
Crossing ladders. Something that looks daunting and without a head for heights would be pretty overwhelming! After a couple crossings over our make-shift crevasse it's a pretty simple process. Clip onto the ropes, wrap your arms around the ropes for friction, lean into the ropes for balance and move one foot at a time, carefully checking the crampons have caught on both the front and back. Unfortunately we couldn't replicate the heights you’ll feel crossing a real crevasse but the skills will transfer nicely.
How to climb a rope using nothing more than 2 pieces of prusik cord (you can even use a shoelace if you’re desperate), a sling and a couple carabiners. At Fit4 we feel that arming climbers with the skills to be self-sufficient mountaineers not only adds to their own personal safety but also empowers them on their journey up this mountain and many more in the future. On Everest, one of the risks along the Khumbu icefall is falling into a crevasse and knowing how to climb a rope can reduce a full on rescue mission to a 10minute process of climbing the rope back to the surface. Skills hopefully never to be used but stored in your mental toolbox in case the occasion arises!
After a skill intensive day one the guys were motivated for a physical day 2. With a brutal forecast on the summits, high winds and snow, we ventured up into the clouds, seeking tough (‘character building’) conditions on our way to the summit of Ben Nevis. An early start and a march straight from the carpark led to a quick ascent of the highest mountain in the UK, 5 hours up and down again. The conditions were fantastic to put the goggles on, drop our heads down and keep striding through the fresh snow to reach the summit. As well as a physical day it also provided us with an exciting white-out for the final 30 minutes to the top, where sticking together and following a bearing reminded the team to always respect the mountains and polish up our skills for when times get tough! Even our wee mountains up here in Scotland can pack quite the punch!
For the final day, the team’s main aim was to become comfortable abseiling and ascending steeper ground. We headed up towards the lost valley in Glencoe for a change of scenery and to break up their journey home. We set-up many more fixed lines on steeper and steeper terrain. First of all we discussed and tried out a few methods of making abseiling safer as the wall becomes more vertical by adding back-ups in case you slip and let go of the break rope. After, we also abseiled using an Italian hitch, a great skill to know in case you drop your abseil device… very easy over a 4-week trip whilst fumbling around with carabiners in high-altitude mitts!
Finally, we got onto some much steeper ground. At altitude you can waste massive amounts of energy by inefficiently ascending the rope. Hauling yourself up by your arms may seem logical and easy enough for 10m at sea level but this will soon become arduous, if not impossible at 8,000m. So we went over the most efficient ways of ascending steep fixed lines, making the most of our equipment, momentum and most importantly, employing our glute muscles!
It was a great week for us at Fit4 to be with 2 such motivated individuals and we wish them the best for their upcoming summit attempt. Keep the hard work up!