{"id":5288,"date":"2011-11-15T12:39:17","date_gmt":"2011-11-15T20:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/?p=5288"},"modified":"2011-11-15T12:39:17","modified_gmt":"2011-11-15T20:39:17","slug":"5-12-tips-from-an-atypical-mountaineer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/2011\/11\/15\/gear-questions-answers\/5-12-tips-from-an-atypical-mountaineer\/","title":{"rendered":"5 1\/2 Tips From An Atypical Mountaineer"},"content":{"rendered":"

November 15, 2011<\/p>\n

In the spirit of last week’s “From A Guide’s Perspective”<\/em> features, longtime friend of IMG, Viki Tracey, took a few minutes to give us a few pointers from her point of view.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u02dc5\u00c2\u00bd Tips\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 From An Atypical Mountaineer<\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/em>By Viki Tracey
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Viki on the summit of Illimani in Bolivia.<\/p><\/div>\n

I like to think that I am a somewhat atypical mountaineer. Not really naturally blessed with good balance, a strong head for heights or even much in the way of coordination, I am, frankly, a Guides\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 nightmare. However, not one to let physiology hold me back, 5\u00c2\u00bd years ago I decided I wanted to climb Kilimanjaro. At the time, I weighed about 215lbs (I am 5\u00e2\u20ac\u21226\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) and getting out of a car was about the most challenging part of my \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcexercise regimen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. Undaunted, I lost weight, did some exercise and summitted Kili. And, in so doing, found a passion for the mountains and for climbing that has brought a better \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcbalance\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, good health and some wonderful friends into my life.<\/p>\n

I am by no means an expert, but in recognition of those 5\u00c2\u00bd years, here are my 5\u00c2\u00bd tips for having fun in the mountains…<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Take the step.<\/strong> If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re like me, you may be nervous about getting started or committing to that next step up. Use your resources and pick up the phone… the crew at IMG have never led me wrong, and I think I am coming up on trip number 9.<\/li>\n
  2. Train smart, be practical.<\/strong> It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no surprise that the more you train, the more fun (and safe) your climb will be. But just because you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t live in the mountains, doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be ready. I dragged an SUV tyre [read tire – Viki is from London]<\/em> around Houston and carried a weighted pack around London to get ready for Denali and Bolivia. In my experience, optimizing power to weight ratio, core strength and endurance training is the key to success. If you can get into the hills to train, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s great, but if you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t, you can still come well prepared.<\/li>\n
  3. Self reliance.<\/strong> All of my trips have been guided (most with IMG). It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s impossible to overstate how wonderful the Guides are and how well they will take care of you. However, I care a lot about taking personal responsibility for being a strong part of the team. For me, this means being able to keep my wits about me even when exhausted: eat, drink and put on warm clothes at every break. I actually \u00e2\u20ac\u02dctrain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for this by doing mental arithmetic when I am walking or at the gym (did I mention I am a little odd?!).<\/li>\n
  4. Keep it light<\/strong>. Less stuff equals less work. I plan ahead and buy the lightest stuff that I can. 30 minutes on the internet nerding out about a piece of climbing kit is a great de-stresser (for me) after far too many hours in the office. Follow the IMG gear lists. You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need more.<\/li>\n
  5. Look up!<\/strong> Remember to make time at the breaks to look around, take in that exquisite view and snap a photo to share with your new found climbing pals and the gang back at home.\n

    5 \u00c2\u00bd. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 One for the gals.<\/em><\/strong> Pee funnel. Get to grips with it. Mastering this means a lot less time spent evaluating your need to go against the (internationally recognised?) cold arse to desperation rating scale… and, in all seriousness, in my case, means I stay better hydrated (I drink more liquid because I am not so worried about holding up the group).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I hope our paths will cross in the mountains one day. Happy climbing!<\/p>\n

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

    November 15, 2011 In the spirit of last week’s “From A Guide’s Perspective” features, longtime friend of IMG, Viki Tracey, took a few minutes to give us a few pointers from her point of view. \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc5\u00c2\u00bd Tips\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 From An Atypical Mountaineer By Viki Tracey I like to think that I am a somewhat atypical mountaineer. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gear-questions-answers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5288","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=5288"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5292,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5288\/revisions\/5292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}