fitness

[ANDY S]

hi
I am doing my first trek to nepal in october 2005
it will be 25 days to base camp and all the high passes in the area and i was wondering if anyone can give me an idea of how strenuous it could be.
i am currently traing nearly every day and am already quite fit
can anyone give me some further advise that might help me?
thanks Andy

[Sharon]

Already quite fit? Compared to the 400 pound guy sitting next to you in the office or you are a competitive recently retired athlete. You will need to be in good shape and have a strong cardio. I live in the mountains so I frequently go on hikes of 8 to 20 miles return that have anywhere from 2000 to 4000 elevation gain and hence loss. Perhaps carry more weight in a pack on your back to try and get ready for the energy sapping altitude. It's hard to answer your question as you don't say what you have been doing. I went to EBC last October to get back in shape after breaking a leg July 1st...

[FRED]

Unless you intend to climb something fairly serious then fitness isn’t much of an issue, you just have to look at the state of some of the trekkers on the way up to EBC. If you can do 10 to 15 miles and say 1,000m of total height gain with 10Kg backpack and still want to trek in Nepal at the end you will be fine. Main concern is acclimatisation and avoiding sickness and colds. Initially be careful what you eat and drink and try to keep to the average of 300m height gain per day. It's not that tough at all.

[ANDY S]

Already quite fit? Compared to the 400 pound guy sitting next to you in the office or you are a competitive recently retired athlete. You will need to be in good shape and have a strong cardio. I live in the mountains so I frequently go on hikes of 8 to 20 miles return that have anywhere from 2000 to 4000 elevation gain and hence loss. Perhaps carry more weight in a pack on your back to try and get ready for the energy sapping altitude. It's hard to answer your question as you don't say what you have been doing. I went to EBC last October to get back in shape after breaking a leg July 1st...

hi Sharon
thanks for the advise,Ive been doing lots of cardio,running, arobic type classes 4 to 5 times a week.but I will increase that by the sound of what your saying.
many thanks for your tips
Andrew

[yakshaver]

Sounds as though you'd be ok. Yes, 25 days of trekking (hopefully you'll take rest days aplenty) is strenuous, mainly because once you are above Namche it's pretty high up, and cold at night. Take time to acclimatize in Namche by doing 2-3 day trips from there. But I suspect you've got everything organised if you're taking 25 days. Gokyo is awesome if you have time to get there.

The main reasons why people abandon treks might be:
a) not paying attention to altitude issues, i.e. not acclimatizing properly, taking plenty of rest days once above 3000m etc,
b) giving up mentally, not physically. The whole thing all of a sudden becomes too much... Depite the fact that they've dreamed to be in this awesome envirnment, after a while some people feel that then need to be back "in the civilized world" where they can sleep in a clean bed, and have a decent bath or shower. This desire becomes overwhelming for many, and they will rationalise their decisions not to finish their treks by coming up with all sorts of excuses. It's a coping mechanism I suppose.
I felt this on my first trek to Nepal, when I did not acclimatize properly and started feeling the effects of altitude a bit. While I knew rationally that just by stopping where I was for a couple of days would get rid of any negative symptoms, it was a mental struggle and a big effort to motivate myself to stay at Portse Tenga*, take it easy for a couple of days, and continue.
The lesson was not lost on subsequent treks, where I took my time, and knew what to expect. Recognized the feeling for what it was and concentrated on enjoying the moment and the companionship of friends on the journey.

Let's be clear about one thing: despite the fact that there are lodges all the way to Gokyo, EBC, AC, ABC ETC (!), there is a big difference between mountain walking for 3-4 days in the Alps or wherever, and slogging it out for 15-20 days in Nepal. You need to have the right expectations, pace yourself, and enjoy the moment.

*Portse Tenga wasn't the best place to spend the night back in 1996. Not much has changed when I passed by there in April last year. But for the purists, they would enjoy it: the two lodges there are the way lodges were in the 70s, the golden age of trekking in the Himal. Like crap in other words.
Still, it's a good place to see Himalayan Thar, comming down the mountain (Khumbila, I believe) to the river to have a drink. And Imperial Pheasant

[Trekker]

Get your legs in shape. Walk up and down as much as you can. Climb hills, stairs ... anything you can find. Get those leg muscles toned. Walk downhill a lot also to be sure your knees are in shape. If your knees blow out on a trek, you're going to have a slow, painful walk back to Lukla.

[Hendrik van Dingenen]

Crap! I think I´ll broke at the trek, because I´m not in shape at all. I´m not fat or anything. Just that I´m a few months living very quitely. No exercices at all! Hope when my brother gets here I build some motivation to do some walks. Right now I only have a big will to go and do this trek (and the tickets).

[]'s

Hendrik

[Old Trekker]

Crap! I think I´ll broke at the trek, because I´m not in shape at all. I´m not fat or anything. Just that I´m a few months living very quitely. No exercices at all! Hope when my brother gets here I build some motivation to do some walks. Right now I only have a big will to go and do this trek (and the tickets).

[]'s

Hendrik

If you're under 60 and healthy you'll get in shape on the trek itself. Most "norma" trekking days are only 5-6 hours of walking. If it takes you twice that long the first few days, you'll still be ok - just extra tired and sore at the end of the day.

When I was in my 20s and 30s I'd go straight from the office to a trek - the first few days were tough, and I was the last one into camp, but I made it. Now that I'm an old fart, can't do that any more.

[Sharon]

You would probably find a weight component a good addition to your repetoire. Avoiding the ever circulating colds and flus are a bit chore on EBC. So many people from all over the world in a small area. You should probably be fine. If you are active in everyday, you will feel your fitness improve on the trip. Getting your legs used to steep descents would be useful but like I said I used a trip to Gokyo/Cho La/EBC as a rehab from a broken leg last Fall.

[a1jbg]

I am 60 yrs old and am a regular high altitude trekker,ie, Himalayas, Andes, Kili etc. I find the best way to acclimatise is to carry a reasonably heavy load to start off with at the lower altitudes with only a light trekking bag for the porter to carry. I have a 65L day bag in which I carry all of the things I would need to survive, ie, 2L water, food, sleeping bag, survival sack, wet weather gear, cold weather gear, etc,. As you get higher and the altitude starts to take its toll, you can transfer non essential gear into your trekking bag. Also, carrying heavy at the lower levelsincreases your fitness levels quicker. It works for me anyway.

[snaark]

Andy,
I did a 3week EBC trek in March-April and I too was pretty worried about my fitness before I went. All the trekking brochures described it as "strenuous", so I trained pretty hard for it, spending nearly every night running or in the gym for about 6months beforehand. When I got there I was bitterly disappointed at how easy it was for me, and that there were some serious unhealthy people doing exactly what I was doing. I don't regret the training (I'm now in the best shape of my life) but I could have saved myself the worry.
Cheers
Nick

[a1jbg]

Nick
I am not surprised you did not find the EBC strenuous if it was a 3 week trek, the pace must have been very slow and/or the walking day very short. 10 days on trek would have been sufficient to complete the trek and give you a decent workout. Next time you go to Nepal I would recommend you hire your own guide and complete the Annapurna Curcuit in 12 days. A most rewarding experience.
Regards
John
P.S. Whereabouts are you in Brisbane, not anywhere near Cleveland I suppose?

[Sharon]

It all depends on what you do for side trips. Gokyo Ri, Cho Oyu base camp, over Cho la the list is endless. I had 3 weeks and could have spent more time doing all the side trips.

[Unregistered]

My 3 weeks took me to Thami, EBC, Cho-La and Gokyo. It was a pretty relaxed schedule, but I was glad because I didn't get sick. The other guys in my group walked pretty slowly so I spent most of the time walking by myself, and waiting an hour or two at the end of the day for them to catch up. Next time I will definitely get my own guide and go by myself.

John, I live in St Lucia, next to the university. Are you from Brisneyland?

Nick

[Unregistered]

Hi Nick
No, I am not from Brisneyland, but I was out there last year to visit my best friend who lives in Cleveland, and I hope to be out there again later on this year.
Keep on trekking Nick.
John

[kiwiclimb]

I personally don't recommend doing too much training (as long as you have plenty of time)
obviously some fitness will help but don't over do it

why?
because the slower you climb up ... the better your body will adapt to the altitude ... and hence lessen the risk of AMS (alt sickness)

relax the trip is not all that strenuous

[trekomaniac]

how stressful would a mera/island peak ascent be for a first timer in himalayas?? i'm of average fitness and cycle /run for an hour a day for abt 4-5 times a week. would that be good enough for climb (after 3 months)