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Obviously both if you want to have an easier time of it at high altitude.
I haven't been doing any workouts this year (alternate year for being slightly lazy; I love NetFlix), but have been doing Personal Bests for "winter" climbs up Whitney. Yesterday, I finally decided it was time to see how I was doing fitness-wise, so I headed up to Morris Peak via the PCT, which is about 4-4 1/2 miles, depending on who answers the question. The heartrate was cranking, but I wasn't. About 10+ minutes slower than I would have expected.
So, my non-scientific answer is: acclimatization is more important if you can't/don't want to keep fit...
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As a parent with young kids, the luxury of acclimatization is a thing of the past. My M.O. is either leave the beach at 0400 hours...Blast the climb out, then home by midnight or for climbs like the MR, drive up, sleep at the trailhead. Alpine start. Sleep for a bit when I get down, then home... That means fitness is the key. Workouts like the ones found on www.gymjones.comor www.mtnathlete.comare awesome for mountain prep. This may sound completely bent but.... Here is my sea level favorite for rock and ice prep. I have rigged a truck tire with an eye bolt. Rigged a shoulder harness with a 4 foot lead connected to the eye bolt. I throw on a day pack with 50 lbs of weight plates in it. I add light dumbbells to the mix and just walk while doing curls and over head presses while dragging the tire. I am safely out of the public eye while doing this.(The rear yard of my fire station) I try for 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 minute sets. This is the closest thing I have found to working at altitude while at sea level. I know...nuts... But as a proud member of the "I am over 50 club" Desperate measures and all that.... Tad
Last edited by tadman; 04/11/12 12:46 AM.
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So, my non-scientific answer is: acclimatization is more important if you can't/don't want to keep fit... Ahh, come on Richard, you know you go up so frequently that you have plenty of "carryover acclimatization" to go around. Of course, if you go up that frequently, it is fitness itself.
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A couple of years ago, I was invited short notice to do an overnight on the summit of Whitney. I had a month to prepare with no previous hikes to get into shape, so I had to rely on the fact that I run about 2 miles a day + plus doing lunges for a month (hoping to help negotiate the switchbacks) My real secret weapon, though, was 2 days sleeping at 10k prior to the hike. It worked like a charm; no AMS or physical challenges, and after sleeping at 14K, the air at 9k felt "soupy" to breathe.
I would definitely choose -- if I could -- to acclimatize VS some rigorous work-out plan. (I admit that I was not setting any speed records up the hill, but I did not feel any bit as bad as those passing me from both directions)
B
The body betrays and the weather conspires, hopefully, not on the same day.
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I always thought the same, acclimatization was the most important factor, kept second guessing myself about the subject. I am glad you brought this up! Not that I will stop working out hard, I'll just plan more days to acclimate.
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Getting to places isn't the problem, it's the pain the following day.
I've worked to the edge of being in shape over the last year only to life, illness or injury prevent me from going over that boundary. Last weekend, after 3 weeks of very little activity, I decided going up North Baldy was a nice way to ease back into the mountains. No problem getting to the top or back down; however, the quads screamed Sunday and Monday.
I find recovery to be the biggest issue when not maintaining a good level of fitness.
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I do live in the low elevation. When I train for hiking up the hill (usually around 4,000 ft), I reduce my breathing such as taking one full breath for 10 hiking steps. This sort of prepare the lung to do more with less oxygen intake. It seems to help quite a bit when I hike the high peaks like Whitney. Ofcourse, I would breath normally at Whitney.
Before this type of training I would get some altitude issues even with one night at the Portal. Now, never an issue, even when I went to the Tibet side Everest Base Camp fast on a 4W car.
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"I haven't been doing any workouts this year...".
Um...what? How many weeks in a row? That's serious workout.
Fitness certainly helps reduce the amount of energy used, making breathing easier, getting more blood flowing, making the after hike aches manageable. But I can't agree with you more Richard. Acclimatization is by far the best method for good times at altitude. Another benefit of acclimatization is the feeling you get back at low elevation. You feel like Usain Bolt walking to the refrigerator.
Now putting acclimatization and fitness together requires a lot of time (especially not living near altitude). But the payoff is worth it. Take away acclimatization though and the penalty can be severe.
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Has anyone seen this?
A bit about Ginko:
"PEOPLE NEED TO LEARN how to acclimatize properly," says American Alpine Club medical committee chairman Franklin Hubbell. "If not, they're ignoring what a hundred years of climbing has taught us: You can't cheat death, taxes, or altitude." But now, thanks to a $7.99 herb on the shelf at every right-thinking grocery store, you may be able to haggle a bit.
The wonder plant? Ginkgo biloba. In clinical trials held in April, climbers taking the supplement were half as likely to experience acute mountain sickness as those taking a placebo. Peter Hackett, president of the International Society of Mountain Medicine and colleagues Kirsten Maakestad, a physician at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado, and Gig Leadbetter, professor of exercise science at Mesa State College (also in Grand Junction), co-authored the study of the leafy-tree derivative commonly prescribed by homeopaths as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease. "I don't think it's a miracle drug-people still got sick-but it's particularly good for slow ascents," says Hackett.
Half of the 40 college students participating in the team's trials swallowed two 60-milligram ginkgo tablets twice a day, starting five days before ascending Colorado's 14,110-foot Pike's Peak, while the other half took placebos. After ascending 7,000 feet in two hours (no, they aren't superhuman-they drove) and spending the night, only 33 percent of those on ginkgo had symptoms of mountain sickness, while 68 percent of the control group experienced nausea, headaches, lack of appetite, or dizziness.
Placebo? It seems to work for me...
Tad
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Has anyone seen this?
A bit about Ginko:
"PEOPLE NEED TO LEARN how to acclimatize properly," says American Alpine Club medical committee chairman Franklin Hubbell. "If not, they're ignoring what a hundred years of climbing has taught us: You can't cheat death, taxes, or altitude." But now, thanks to a $7.99 herb on the shelf at every right-thinking grocery store, you may be able to haggle a bit.
The wonder plant? Ginkgo biloba. In clinical trials held in April, climbers taking the supplement were half as likely to experience acute mountain sickness as those taking a placebo. Peter Hackett, president of the International Society of Mountain Medicine and colleagues Kirsten Maakestad, a physician at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado, and Gig Leadbetter, professor of exercise science at Mesa State College (also in Grand Junction), co-authored the study of the leafy-tree derivative commonly prescribed by homeopaths as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease. "I don't think it's a miracle drug-people still got sick-but it's particularly good for slow ascents," says Hackett.
Half of the 40 college students participating in the team's trials swallowed two 60-milligram ginkgo tablets twice a day, starting five days before ascending Colorado's 14,110-foot Pike's Peak, while the other half took placebos. After ascending 7,000 feet in two hours (no, they aren't superhuman-they drove) and spending the night, only 33 percent of those on ginkgo had symptoms of mountain sickness, while 68 percent of the control group experienced nausea, headaches, lack of appetite, or dizziness.
Placebo? It seems to work for me...
Tad I always wonder why the purveyors of such good news so often fail to provide clear references to the studies they claim to have provided the good news. Somewhere along the way that detail seems to get lost. In this case there may be a reason. The title of the study is: "Ginkgo biloba does--and does not--prevent acute mountain sickness." The full citation is: Wilderness Environ Med. 2009 Spring;20(1):66-71. Ginkgo biloba does--and does not--prevent acute mountain sickness. Leadbetter G, Keyes LE, Maakestad KM, Olson S, Tissot van Patot MC, Hackett PH. Department of Exercise Physiology, Mesa State College, Grand Junction, CO, USA. The abstract includes: OBJECTIVE:
To determine the efficacy of 2 different sources of Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) in reducing the incidence and severity of acute mountain sickness (AMS) following rapid ascent to high altitude.
METHODS:
Two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cohort studies were conducted ...
RESULTS:
Results were conflicting: Ginkgo biloba reduced the incidence and severity of AMS compared to placebo in the first but not the second study. ...
CONCLUSIONS:
The source and composition of GBE products may determine the effectiveness of GBE for prophylaxis of AMS. The full abstract is available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19364166The study seems to make no claims about what substance or substances that may or may not be found in materials sold as Ginkgo bilboa may or may not be responsible for the results. It also seems curious that a quote from Hackett about slow ascents has been juxtaposed with a study about fast ascent. Is this taken from ad copy from somewhere? Dale B. Dalrymple
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I had caught part of a TV show about AMS. This study was part of the program.
I thought (right or wrong) Ginko seems harmless. There was a possible benefit. I might as well give it a try.
As I detailed in an earlier post, my days of acclimatization are over... So far so good. I combine a decent level of fitness with good habits in the mountains, (Hydration, calories,pacing ) with Ginko. So far so good. North Peak via the right couloir, Mount Dana via the couloir, Mount Abbott, Mount Whitney via a whole bunch of different routes, Mount Irvine...All one day trips.
I also know the placebos have been known to work.... Go figure...
Tad
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And that's the important thing... You know what works for you.
In regard to a couple of comments about my fitness... I find it hard to believe that one climb a week would keep me fit. I think my success has more to do with familiarity. I know the routes... I know how to pace... I've done the mileage more times than I could probably count.
Also obviously, the theory about losing acclimatization as quickly as you gain it has been debunked. As Doc L mentioned, there is residual acclimatization from weekend to weekend. I'd be dying up there if there wasn't.
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Richard, there was a recent article in Wilderness and Environmental Medicine about the Indian Army's rules of acclimatization rate for soldiers going to higher altitudes like "only" 10,000 ft. Their schedule was amazingly slow - something like 2 weeks before full military activities. They have learned this through their stats on AMS and hospitalizations for HACE at "only" 10,000 ft.
The point I (not the Indians) am theorizing here is that if acclimatization takes 2 weeks to develop, and this is much longer than most people allow, then perhaps the flip side is that it may take 2 weeks for their residual acclimatization to go away, thus suggesting that you have plenty of "carry-over" when you go up once a week. That, and especially your vast experience with your own pace, make a big difference. We had a problem last year in our group with a member who was used to cycling but not high altitude hiking and she set her pace way too fast. That destroyed whatever acclimatization could offer, so she turned around 500 ft short of the top.
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