The Mountains Are Calling and I Must Go

[Phoenixdown99]

Kilimanjaro was not too bad at all. If you are in halfway decent shape with no serious medical conditions you should be fine. It is basically a long hike at high altitude. Just pick a LONG route, preferably 6 days or longer if possible. I went with Alpine Ascents and they were great, but I think that you can go with a local African company and do just as well. The longer you take to acclimatize on the mountain, the higher your chances of a successful summit attempt. Bring diamox just in case and drink LOTS AND LOTS of water (and get used to peeing behind rocks in semi-public)

[Phoenixdown99]

Actually, your house being a mile high probably saved your brain cells because you are already somewhat acclimatized for higher altitudes.

There have been startling changes on MRI but the study was small. Interestingly, another study of climbers who acclimatized well on Denali showed changes  in only 3/49 climbers. It seems like the key to preventing this damage is careful acclimatization. That's why I am not planning on doing any quickie ascents.

http://www.boulderweekly.com/adventure/this-is-your-brain-this-is-your-brain-at-altitude/

 

I think climbing without guides is just fine if you trust your partners and are on the same level (and an appropriate level on the mountain). When you get into these meetup type or hobby groups, with different people you don't know showing up and being on varying skill levels on one rope team, you can run into some major problems. One of my guides' mother actually died that way, unfortunately. It also just makes sense to me that the folks that can best navigate such a potentially dangerous environment are the ones that spend the greatest amount of time in it.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

Phoenixdown99 wrote:

I’ve been training and I’m planning to climb Mount Baker over Labor Day. I have climbed Kilimanjaro, a few mountains in the Alps, Mount Hood as well as a few other mountains in the Pacific Northwest. Pretty amazing that you’ve done Denali! Would love to do that some day, though I do have some concerns about the long term effects of such high altitude on the brain.
I plan to do Rainier and Mont Blanc as well but with a longer acclimatization for the same reason.
Have you seen the research?
I always go with guides as I feel they have more experience to handle hairy situations should they arise.

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No, but if altitude kills brain cells it's far too late for me. Shoot, my house is a mile high and I routinely exercise at a higher altitude than that.

I've used guides for various things before, but I wouldn't call myself a "guide person." You can hire a guide to help you do the Cathedral Traverse if you like.

http://exumguides.com/ublminxportfolios/traverses/

http://smileysproject.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-teton-grand-traverse-sending-in.html

I've skied with these guys in the backcountry up there: https://jhmg.com/adventure/grand-teton-climbs/

Here's my review:

https://jhmg.com/2018/02/best-worst-review-ever-received/

Never climbed with them though. I'm sure they're very capable.

[chrisCD]

That was a great read.  My dad did Mt. Climbing but didn't pass it on to my brothers and I.  Beyond me at this point, so far I am stuck with an Elliptical

 

cd :O)

[Complete_newbie]

Phoenixdown99 wrote:

lol a person…you dont want to bring extra weight (books)so hopefully you will have memorized the techniques by the time you go!

Being a mountain guide is a calling and an intense career similar to medicine. It requires years of training and dedication. Similarly, you are responsible for people’s lives (though not paid as well ).

There are many guiding companies that are at your service. For the Pacific northwest, I recommend Timberline Mountain Guides

for the Alps, High Mountain Guides

In general, Alpine Ascents

Look for someone with certifications – IFMGA is the highest cert. level

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Thanks for the info. I dunno, I am semi-seriously thinking of retiring somewhere where the mountains are so I can do this sort of thing alot. Such a great exercise+bucket list+mental peace activity.

[HikingDO]

Phoenixdown99 wrote:

I’ve been training and I’m planning to climb Mount Baker over Labor Day. I have climbed Kilimanjaro, a few mountains in the Alps, Mount Hood as well as a few other mountains in the Pacific Northwest. Pretty amazing that you’ve done Denali! Would love to do that some day, though I do have some concerns about the long term effects of such high altitude on the brain.
I plan to do Rainier and Mont Blanc as well but with a longer acclimatization for the same reason.
Have you seen the research?
I always go with guides as I feel they have more experience to handle hairy situations should they arise.

Click to expand...

What did you think of Kilimanjaro? I'm planning on doing that hike in the next few years, but haven't really done any planning or research at all. Are you from Phoenix too (I assumed because of your name)? It's almost hiking season here, getting tired of driving up north, can't wait!!!

[Phoenixdown99]

lol a person...you dont want to bring extra weight (books)so hopefully you will have memorized the techniques by the time you go!

Being a mountain guide is a calling and an intense career similar to medicine. It requires years of training and dedication. Similarly, you are responsible for people's lives (though not paid as well ).

There are many guiding companies that are at your service. For the Pacific northwest, I recommend Timberline Mountain Guides

for the Alps, High Mountain Guides

In general, Alpine Ascents

Look for someone with certifications - IFMGA is the highest cert. level

[Complete_newbie]

Phoenixdown99 wrote:

I’ve been training and I’m planning to climb Mount Baker over Labor Day. I have climbed Kilimanjaro, a few mountains in the Alps, Mount Hood as well as a few other mountains in the Pacific Northwest. Pretty amazing that you’ve done Denali! Would love to do that some day, though I do have some concerns about the long term effects of such high altitude on the brain.
I plan to do Rainier and Mont Blanc as well but with a longer acclimatization for the same reason.
Have you seen the research?
I always go with guides as I feel they have more experience to handle hairy situations should they arise.

Click to expand...

Thanks for posting. Curious, does that mean like a person (guide) who knows the terrain and goes climbing with you or do you mean guide as in paper guide? If the former, how do you get a guide?

[Phoenixdown99]

I’ve been training and I’m planning to climb Mount Baker over Labor Day. I have climbed Kilimanjaro, a few mountains in the Alps, Mount Hood as well as a few other mountains in the Pacific Northwest. Pretty amazing that you’ve done Denali! Would love to do that some day, though I do have some concerns about the long term effects of such high altitude on the brain.
I plan to do Rainier and Mont Blanc as well but with a longer acclimatization for the same reason.
Have you seen the research?
I always go with guides as I feel they have more experience to handle hairy situations should they arise.

[pulmdoc]

I had no idea what any of the technical jargon meant, but staying awake for 26 straight hours to climb mountains is either insanity or brilliance.

[Complete_newbie]

hightower wrote:

The White Coat Investor wrote:

August is the time for climbing in the mountains and I try to go every year. This year a partner and I did a one day ascent of The Cathedral Traverse in the Tetons. It was one of those objectives that I thought I could do, but wasn’t 100% sure, so we did all we could to make sure it went perfectly. Still, we made some mistakes and were over 13,000 feet when night fell. I did a little write-up if you’re interested.

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/how-mere-mortals-can-do-the-cathedral-traverse-in-a-day/

Click to expand…

I envy your life out there!  Incredible stuff.  I’ll keep working on convincing my wife to move somewhere close to mountains

Click to expand...

Totally envious. Despite being fittest in my life, I am 'wasting' this fitness just doing exercises at home gym. How can I get started on rock climbing/conyoneering? Are there classes for it? I am in a state where there are no near by mountains. Sucks.

Great post.

[hightower]

The White Coat Investor wrote:

August is the time for climbing in the mountains and I try to go every year. This year a partner and I did a one day ascent of The Cathedral Traverse in the Tetons. It was one of those objectives that I thought I could do, but wasn’t 100% sure, so we did all we could to make sure it went perfectly. Still, we made some mistakes and were over 13,000 feet when night fell. I did a little write-up if you’re interested.

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/how-mere-mortals-can-do-the-cathedral-traverse-in-a-day/

Click to expand...

I envy your life out there!  Incredible stuff.  I'll keep working on convincing my wife to move somewhere close to mountains

[RocDoc]

I'm a hiker, not a climber, but I loved this post! Congratulations on the climb and the excellent report. As enthralling as I find your financial posts, this story topped them all!

[The White Coat Investor]

Not a blogpost technically. There are a few little gems like that on the site that never ran as posts. Kind of a side benefit of owning a website.

[VagabondMD]

Perhaps my favorite WCI blogpost ever. Well done!