{"id":5161,"date":"2011-11-08T15:58:00","date_gmt":"2011-11-08T23:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/?p=5161"},"modified":"2011-11-08T16:07:28","modified_gmt":"2011-11-09T00:07:28","slug":"from-a-guides-perspective-day-to-day-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/2011\/11\/08\/gear-questions-answers\/from-a-guides-perspective-day-to-day-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"From A Guide’s Perspective: Day To Day Expectations"},"content":{"rendered":"

November 8, 2011<\/p>\n

Part 2 of our week long series \u00e2\u20ac\u0153From A Guide\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Perspective\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em>, IMG Guide Chris Meder describes a few things that can make or break a climb.<\/p>\n

Daily Expectations & Your Process<\/strong>
\nBy Chris Meder<\/p>\n

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Chris Meder<\/p><\/div>\n

Mountaineering, like many challenging things we apply ourselves to in life, can bring some anxiety.\u00c2\u00a0 Not knowing what the route looks like, an uncertain weather forecast, and not being sure of our physical fitness can all contribute to an unproductive sense of nervousness.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 As with most of these challenges, planning, preparation and knowledge can give you a hefty psychological advantage.\u00c2\u00a0 That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good to have an idea of what you can expect day to day in the mountains.\u00c2\u00a0 Whether you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just embarking on your mountaineering career with a first climb of Mt Rainier, or attempting a big peak in some remote location around the globe, the process<\/em><\/strong> of your day to day activities will be very similar.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0Here are some things to get you started in developing a mental model of what to expect from a day in the mountains, just about anywhere.<\/p>\n

At its most basic, your daily routine will look something like this.\u00c2\u00a0 Wake up reasonably early (dark and early for summit days), get dressed in clothing appropriate to the current weather, jumpstart the body with some breakfast, then attend to any camp chores before departing for the day.\u00c2\u00a0 Once you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re walking or climbing, your goal is to move as efficiently as possible, moving at a consistent pace.<\/p>\n

You want to focus on taking care of yourself, conserving precious energy as you go.\u00c2\u00a0 This means stopping to eat and drink approximately every hour<\/a>, even if you are not hungry.\u00c2\u00a0 You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not eating to satisfy a current hunger, but rather to keep the fire going throughout the day so that the body continually has reserves to draw upon.\u00c2\u00a0 Stay ahead of the caloric and hydration curves.<\/p>\n

Throughout the day, even while trying to move at a consistent pace, you will inevitably get hot or cold.\u00c2\u00a0 Thermal equilibrium in the mountains is a myth; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just something we need to accept and deal with.\u00c2\u00a0 The weather can change quickly, and the body\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s heat output will do the same based on the terrain you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re traveling through, and how hard you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re working.\u00c2\u00a0 Be flexible and do your best to anticipate what layers to wear for each part of the day, given the current weather and your current temperature.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Your guide will help with this clothing selection, but spend some time at home becoming familiar with your layering system to aid in this process.\u00c2\u00a0 Eventually, you will come to know exactly what layers to wear for a particular part of the day.\u00c2\u00a0 No problem if you choose incorrectly, just make a mental note and adjust next time. \u00c2\u00a0Your goal with all of this is to manage your body temperature effectively\u00e2\u20ac\u201dnot sweating profusely or shivering uncontrollably\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhich will in turn conserve energy.<\/p>\n

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IMG Camp On Bona (Photo by Mark Allen)<\/p><\/div>\n

At the end of the traveling portion of the day, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll pull into camp.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time to put on some warm clothes, probably that big puffy jacket you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been carrying.\u00c2\u00a0 Tasks you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll want to attend to in the evening are establishing a solid camp (done as a group on IMG trips), drying out any wet clothes, and continuing to hydrate and eat.\u00c2\u00a0 After dinner and enjoying your surroundings for a bit, get to bed at a decent hour to rest up.\u00c2\u00a0 The more time you can spend lying down, the more opportunity the body has to recover.\u00c2\u00a0 Fortunately, this applies to a certain degree even if you are not sleeping.<\/p>\n

So whether you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on Mt Rainier or any other mountain in the world, this general daily process will be roughly the same.\u00c2\u00a0 Throughout the day, and over the course of any trip, you want to approach the climb as you would any long term goal.\u00c2\u00a0 The mind has knowledge of the final objective, but its best to break the journey down into discrete, manageable chunks.\u00c2\u00a0 On day one, it can be counterproductive to fixate on the summit.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s helpful if you take the climb one day at a time.\u00c2\u00a0 Focus on the immediate goal for the day.\u00c2\u00a0 You can gain an idea of the day\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s itinerary from your guide or your research, but you need to remain flexible with that vision as the day\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plans often change in the mountain environment.\u00c2\u00a0 Executing that itinerary successfully, while taking care of yourself, is your goal for the day.\u00c2\u00a0 Take each day as it comes, and enjoy the process.\u00c2\u00a0 Before you know it, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve amassed a number of successful victories in the journey to the summit and back!<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Up next for Chris:\u00c2\u00a0 Vinson down in Antarctica later this week, his first trip onto the ice. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

November 8, 2011 Part 2 of our week long series \u00e2\u20ac\u0153From A Guide\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Perspective\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, IMG Guide Chris Meder describes a few things that can make or break a climb. Daily Expectations & Your Process By Chris Meder Mountaineering, like many challenging things we apply ourselves to in life, can bring some anxiety.\u00c2\u00a0 Not knowing what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gear-questions-answers","category-guide-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5161"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5233,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5161\/revisions\/5233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}