33 hours before departure: Some last-second thoughts before I head to KTM

I sit here somewhat anxious to get going.  Here is what I am doing....

1.  My body thinks it is about 11:30am and yet my watch says 11:30pm.  Why?  I shifted my sleep time by 30 minutes each day over the past 20 days.  Before that shift, I went to bed every night at about 9pm and woke up at 5am.  Tonight, I go to sleep at 7am (tomorrow) and wake up at about 3pm.  Given the fact that I have a meeting at 3pm tomorrow, I intend to get up a little earlier but not by much.  Why shift time zones now?  I often battle sinus infections when jet lagged.  Anticipating this stress, I decided to behave a bit proactively and ward off the stress by slowly shifting the jet lag away.  Now, I am a vampire.  

2.  Working out is done!  I am resting.  No sense trying to squeeze in any last-second workouts to just tire me out.  I am in full blown recovery mode.  I don't rest very well.  The energy I typically burn up by training has no outlet.  Instead, I am getting work done.  My late nights get consumed with work-related tasks and expedition planning/preparations.  

3.  Packing is done!  Yes, more stuff that is done.  

Not much more to say other than I do not need to worry about any gear.  All is packed and ready for my flight.

4.  Sleeping at sea level.  What a concept.  Boy does it feel good to get out of the hypoxic tent.  Don't get me wrong, I love sleeping in my tent but after a few months, getting a break feels so good.  I logged over 40 days at or above 20,000 feet (6100m) and I suspect my blood is chock-full-o red blood cells.  All of that sleeping at altitude prepared me well for the harsh demands ahead.  There is not much benefit of pushing the envelope any further.  Best to get a few really good nights of sleep before I fly.  Oh, speaking of flying, I will sleep on the plane; I can sleep anywhere in any position.

5.  My friend interviewed me for his podcast.  If you have the time (an hour), be sure to listen to my conversation (iTunes link - sorry fellow Android people) with Scott Sehon about swimming and climbing.  Scott is a great guy and a great friend.  He is no slouch himself.  He ran across the US.  No kidding.  I have some great friends.  Listen to our discussion.

Thoughts before I depart:

I leave this year with a full heart and climb for many friends.  My climbing friends (Sam, Alex, and John) who cannot accompany me this year will be with me every step.  All of you who support me and have supported me over the past few years are with me.  

Left to Right:  Sam, Alex, me (with gum as usual)

My friend John - never ages...ever

I look forward to climbing with my good friend Brendan.  He plans to keep his own blog (written partly in Chinese and perhaps even some Japanese - show off!).  Together, we will update you all on our adventure.  Brendan has real skills with his camera(s); I simply point and shoot.  We make a great team.  Speaking of team....here we are:

Brendan:  Post-climb celebration in Talkeetna, AK - after Denali

The ol' fat me.  Looking scary.  NOTE:  picture taken 6 months ago

See what happens after not sleeping?  I get crazy with the pictures.  I'd say we make a great pair...

I intend to post once more to my blog before I take off on Thursday morning.  Expect some instructions on how to follow us while we climb.  Thanks for reading along...

19 Days Remain: My torso gear and a quick update

Inside 3 weeks and I cannot keep still.  The anticipation is just killing me.  I have a few thousand things to do before I leave but those will be in my rear view mirror in short order.  A few days ago, Alan Arnette asked me if I would like to be interviewed and I readily jumped at the opportunity.  Alan chronicles Everest climbing every year and offers readers wonderful insights into the ground-level happenings on both sides.  Aside from being a climber himself, he is also a delightful guy.  We met several times in Kathmandu over the past few years and I always enjoyed chatting with him.  Needless to say, I felt incredibly grateful that he would have any interest in me or my climb.  If you are curious about his website, I encourage you to explore it.  Also, feel free to donate to his cause for Alzheimer's research; he takes nothing from the donations and gives back to the world ten times over.

I resume my coverage of gear by moving ever so slowly up my body.  Today, I discuss my torso gear.  I discuss each article moving from my base layers outward.  So, without further delay, here goes....

Base Layer

I rely on my X-Bionic base layer top for warmth and recovery. 

My favorite base layer - the X-Bionic top

This base layer is really tight but made of some stretchy wool - similar to most Merino wool tops but way warmer.  I wear this for days on end against my skin without fainting from the smell.  No kidding!  These tops resist getting smelly.  Brendan will thank me for wearing this instead of some technical shirt.  Speaking of technical shirts, I do wear one every day but mostly when I am in my tent.  These "tech" shirts get really smelly in a hurry.  I wear them to give my warm base layers a break and let them air out.  Also, I tend to run warm so wearing a short-sleeved shirt in the tent suits my internal body temperature.  

A typical tech shirt

I often bring about 5 or 6 of these tech shirts because they are light, take up no space when compressed, and get smelly quickly so they need to be either recycled or discarded in my bag of stinky clothing.  I also wear them every day so I need to have a few changes while I climb.  Many days when the temperature reaches 30F (2C) or higher, I wear these shirts and a light top so they are quite versatile.

Mid Layer

Long-sleeved tech shirt

I typically wear one fleece on and off throughout every expedition.  My fleece is really light - equivalent to a sweatshirt but much warmer when wet.  I also wear a long-sleeved tech shirt as a mid-layer over my base layer to just add another layer of warmth.  The tech shirt is something like the one pictured to the right.  Nothing fancy but it fits the bill nicely when I need just a little more warmth without any additional weight.  I also wear a puff down jacket as a mid-layer under my hard shell top.  My puff jacket has no hood but is warm and light.  Once wet, however, a puff jacket is useless so I try to use it only when I know I will either not sweat much or there is no chance of rain.  On Everest, the likelihood of rain is remote at basecamp or above; below basecamp, however, rain can be a problem.

My puff down jacket - used as a mid-layer or just as a light outer jacket

Outer Layer

Finally, we get to the most outer layer covering my torso.  I rely heavily on my big parka.  This jacket is so warm it can keep me toasty in the coldest temperatures.  I wear this as soon as I get into camp after climbing all day, crawl under it when I sleep on cold nights, and lounge around in it at basecamp when I get a chill.  Think of it as a sleeping bag with arms - not quite the coverage as my summit suit but it covers my torso and head nicely.  

My down parka

The other article I rely upon when climbing - almost daily - is my hard shell top.  I purchased this top almost 8 years ago and patched it, resealed it, and tortured it for that entire duration.  When I climb, I typically wear only the bare necessities under this top.  I find a tighter, wind-stopping outer layer allows me to stay warm while I climb.  Stopping for long periods requires more insulation so if you plan to climb with minimal layers, keep moving!

My hard shell top

These are the few items I intend to take on my upcoming Everest expedition to cover my torso.  Most of my choices come from many years sorting through gear that I found both useful and necessary.  Each of these items fit those criteria and can be used under the conditions I expect to encounter on Everest this year.  


I have two more areas of my body to cover - well, three.  Over the next few days, I intend to cobble together more pictures of my head and hand wear.  My final post on gear includes those articles that cover my entire body.  There are not many articles of clothing that do that job but there is one in particular that I rely upon heavily for summit day.  So stay tuned for more gear.

Thanks for following and a huge thanks to Alan Arnette for interviewing me for his blog.

23 Days Remain: Gear sort resumes with my legs

As promised, I am detailing my gear again - resuming with my legs.  I noticed as I gathered up all my gear that I really do not have much to cover my legs.  Actually, that point is not true.  What I do have in gear covers my legs just fine but I do not have many articles.  I guess that is a good situation.  More gear is not necessarily better.  Below, I sorted my leg gear by layer starting with the base and moving outward.

Trusted Ex-Officio Underwear

Base Layer

I have three pieces of clothing for my base layer.  First, I have underwear (an obvious and rarely overlooked item) and that underwear is made of synthetics so I can wash them out quickly when the begin to stink.  I tried Merino wool before but they tend to be too hot and, while the stink a lot less than the synthetics, they are difficult to wash/dry when needed.  Underwear is an essential item that takes up little space in my pack and is the one item that I wear continuously throughout the climb.  Mind you, I don't wear the same pair - that would not sit well with my climbing mates.  The second layer I have on for most of the climb is my long base layer pants.  Several years ago I stumbled across these base layers and I doubt I would ever return to the constantly sagging Merino wool or synthetic base layers.  Here is a good picture (on the right below) of my X-Bionic base layer pants.  They offer both compression and warmth and can be worn every day for a month and never stink - I promise.  Even after a hard day of climbing where I sweat many liters, these things just seem to take in all my wonderful smells and turn those smells into something much more pleasant.  You'll note that when I discuss base layers, I will constantly harp on smell.  Expeditions produce rather ripe individuals and I am no exception.  Best to have many redundant base layers and be prepared to clean them when your climbing mates start looking at you with the evil eye.

Compression pants (R) & base layer (L)

Another important layer is my compression pants.  These pants help my legs recover after a long day of climbing; they really work - at least for me they do.  I put these on in place of my X-Bionic pants.  Compression pants do not offer much insulation but boy do they help my legs feel like new the next day.  I love wearing these compression pants in my sleeping bag at night after a long, hard day.  Talk about creature comforts!  

Speaking of creature comforts, I often wear my puff pants around camp when it is cold and windy.  These pants are like walking around with a sleeping bag on my legs.  I wear my compression pants under them and these on top as I stroll around trying to recover.  Nothing beats a good pair of puff pants for creature comforts.  You can just feel the warmth coming from these pants, right?  

Puff pants (MH)

Finally, I have my every day hard shell pants that just work.   There are many different styles to choose from but these pants work and they put up with a ton of abuse.  Hard shell pants are a climbers best friend.  Don't worry about spending money on the "top" pants.  Try them on and look for some critical features such as 1) full-length zips on each leg so you can take them off without taking off all your footwear, 2) water proof enough to keep you dry from the outside and not soaking wet from your own sweat, 3) rugged material that withstands a beating on snow, ice, and rock, and finally 4) low profile suspenders that do not cause you to have chafing marks while climbing with a pack.  I purchased these GoLite pants about 6 years ago and have patched them about 20 times.  They are tough and still hold out most of the water.  I ski, climb, and sail in these pants - they are that versatile.  Once you figure out how often you use a piece of gear, I strongly recommend you consider the cost per use.  A good pair of hard shell pants may run you about US$250 but over their lifetime, you may spend US$1 per use - at least that is what I figured I would spend.  These hard shell pants come in handy on most climbs and will be on my legs until I put on my summit suit.  

GoLite Hard Shell pants - a necessity for all climbs

Well, that is about it!  I have a few things that I rely upon almost daily and they keep my legs warm and ready for another day.  

Given the short time before I depart, I intend to catch up a bit and post every two or three days.  Sometime this weekend, I plan to cover my upper body and then full body gear.  There might be a few omissions simply because I am starting to feel rushed.  Soon, I must pack all my gear - well, at least pack it after I check it, check it again, check it a 3rd time, and then figure out where it might be best packed.  In the meantime, I thank you for following along with my adventure.  

If you are wondering what I am doing these days with respect to training, I am tapering off my training schedule and focusing more on recovery and healthy living.  With a little over three weeks before I depart, I have a ton of things still left to do.  Wish me well and see you shortly....

Under a month to go (27 days)! A few minor hiccups during the final stretch but ready

I left off promising more climbing gear descriptions but I got bogged down in work, preparation, and recovery.  Here is what is happening....

1.  Getting sick again.  Over the past few days, I came down with another ear/sinus infection so that I have that wonderful experience - sleeping in a hypoxic tent with a clogged head and a blasting headache.  Oh the fun!  

2.  Climbing plans remain unsettled.  We are still working on getting Brendan's Tibet visa; mine apparently has not run into any problems (I hope).  Brendan works in China and apparently he must give up his Chinese work visa if he obtains his Tibet climbing visa in Kathmandu.  Yeah, I know, it sounds very odd but nothing is surprising when it comes to Everest.  Every little problem just costs a little extra - often US$1000 here and there to make things right.  Brendan and I still have no firm plans on how to meet in Tibet before we climb.  We might just end up meeting at Advanced Base Camp after about 2 weeks of climbing.  I sure hope not.  My preference would be to meet way earlier - perhaps in Kathmandu - and enjoy the entire experience together.  Regardless, these hiccups are hardly a major concern.  We just need to sort them out.

3.  Recovering means NOT training.  I reached a point where my body and brain said ENOUGH!  My body and mind are ready to climb and more training will only serve to make me sick or lead me to lose more weight (more on that point later).  I am at a perfect climbing weight (176 lbs or 80 kg) and I do not want to lose any more weight.  Recovery entails weight training, running, and some additional weight training using a weight vest on the elliptical.  I don't plan to workout any longer than 2 hours each day and most days will be easy - around 90 minutes.  That workout time includes stretching, breathing, and warming up so don't think I am going crazy here.  

4.  Last second purchases are done!  There are always little things that I need to purchase at the last second.  The timing often is important because what I purchase expires (e.g., sunscreen) or I don't know I need it until I finalize my packing.  Based upon a rather thorough gear sort, I purchased the final pieces to my entire climbing kit.  I checked and re-checked all my gear to ensure it is in fully functional order.  I'm ready to pack...but not so fast.

5.  Communications still need to be sorted out.  I plan to use a Garmin InReach for communications while we are climbing.  The InReach is quite a nifty device.  I can send texts and updates along with links to a map where you can locate us.  The only problem with technology is that you need to set it all up at home before you depart or else it simply will not work.  I think there must be some rendition of Murphy's Law that governs the operation of technology but the only way to prevent mishaps is to get things sorted out.  Over the next few weeks, I plan to post several "tests" that you can either ignore or become familiar with the system while I familiarize myself with it.  Every day (weather and time permitting), I plan to send a message indicating where we are and how we are doing.  Usually, these will be in the form of a map link and a simple "Doing fine, will send a more elaborate update when possible" message.  Expect these tests to start in the next few days.  

I finally have pictures of all my gear so once I get the time I intend to piece together my gear sort - resuming with my legs and working up my body.  

Thanks for following.  Hope you are enjoying the beginning of a fine week.  Expect another update in a few days.  

37 Days Remain: What am I up to these days?

My last post focused on my feet.  Today, or rather two days ago I intended to shift my attention just north to my legs.  That intention was met with reality.  Several things at work and some tough days of training kept me from taking pictures of my gear.  I promise to return to the gear posts on Thursday (6 days from now).  Yeah, I know I am out of sync with these posts.  Just trying to fit in as much as possible in the little time I have left at home.

What am I up to these days?

1.  Working (Having Fun).  I have four graduate students who are steadily progressing through their doctoral work.  Along with guiding them, I have several projects that occupy my days - perhaps too many projects that occupy too much time but I love the daily challenge.  Leaving for Nepal (and Tibet) in early April requires me to get caught up on all of these work projects well before I depart.  These projects also provide me with endless ideas about what to post on my Psychology Today Blog.  Work is fun.  Actually, I often say I never worked a day in my life.  With the exception of those days filled with meetings, I can honestly say I rarely work; I have fun.

Hard at work....in my own sloppy way.

2.  Training.  I train most days for 3 hours except for rest days when I only train for about 1.5 hours.  The indoor training routine is starting to drag me down a bit.  I know I need to press through but I just cannot get enthused about training.  Perhaps this is a good sign that I am ready?  I don't know, but mentally I am ready to go.  Based upon my schedule, I have 17 more "hard" days of training before I begin my recovery period.  Those days will be difficult but I enjoy the challenge; I just wish I could get more pumped up for the sessions now.  Each day begins with some light warm-up exercises, core work, lifting, running, and then more cardio with my pack.  I wish I could just put on my pack and go climb.  Soon.....oh so soon.

My home gym - ready to be used for 3 hours

3.  Sleeping (barely).  Hypoxic sleep training starts off really fun/exciting and then progresses toward work - yes, work and I mean work.  Today, I woke up at 8.7% oxygen in my head tent.  What does that percentage mean?  I had about 42% of the oxygen that most of you had this morning.  That oxygen level is roughly equivalent to the summit of Aconcagua (23,000 feet or 7000 m).  Even typing that gives me chills.  I had tons of fun climbing Aconcagua with my friend Brendan.  He and I will be your tour guides this spring on Everest so stay tuned for an introduction.  For now, I struggle to sleep through the night.  I wake up almost every night at 2am after going to sleep at roughly 9pm.  From 2am until about 4am, I think about things to do.  After 4am, I may drift back to sleep but more often I just get up and grab a cup of tea.  For those of you more interested in my acclimatization, my spO2 ranges from about 65% to 78% on most mornings.  All in all, I feel great in the morning (perhaps less so this morning) and feel great while training.  Getting started with my training routine early is likely affected by my hypoxic sleeping (if you want to call it sleeping). 

The night-time arrangements where I may sleep (or not)

4.  Preparing.  The last few weeks before departing on any expedition tend to be the most hectic.  Everyone wants things from me and I only have about 15 hours each day to devote to these life activities.  Part of the preparation is packing, sorting through gear, checking each piece for integrity, and organizing lists upon lists to reduce the cognitive burden while I am climbing.  These preparations take time.  I am also ordering last-second consumables (e.g., sunscreen, body wipes, and such).  Taking stock of what I have and what I need is a full-time job that needs to fit into what remains of my day after I sleep, work, and train.  To add a little intrigue into the mix, I also have to prepare to collect data while on Everest.  I didn't mention this before but will explain the rationale in a future post.  So climbing and working preparations occupy my "spare" time when I am not working, training, or sleeping.

You might ask yourself, when do I eat?  I eat on the run.  I eat when I can.  I eat when I need to eat.  More on that later - I promise.  This morning, I woke up at 176 lbs (80 kg) down from 198 lbs (90 kg).  I am eating...again, I promise.  Between training, working, and sleeping, I can only eat so many calories to offset the weight loss.  Heck, I had a few pounds to spare anyway.  My weight is no concern right now.  Finally, I am able to run without feeling the pounding through my knees. 

My next post - probably on Thursday (March 8th, 2018 - 31 days remaining) - focuses on my leg gear.  After that post, I should be in the clear to post more regularly on both gear and last-second preparations/announcements.

Thanks for following. 

51 Days Remain: Rest days are not always restful

As promised, today's post includes multimedia amusement.  I recorded some video (unedited but brief) documenting what I do on a regular rest day.  Some of what I documented is my usual routine (movement prep, core, and stretching) whereas other bits are typical of my rest days.  Since today is a rest day, you now have a good idea about what I do during my 74 minutes of training.  On these rest days, I don't run, lift, or do any strenuous cardio training.  Instead, I focus on recovery and do a little hypoxic training so my brain is ready for the strange sensation of exerting an effort with little oxygen.  So, let me walk you through the videos.

First, I begin my day - every day in fact - with movement prep(aration).  The objective with these exercises is to warm up my body and get ready for the real deal.  Movement prep is every bit as important as any other aspect of my training.  Here I am demonstrating a typical movement prep routine:

Once my body is ready for more strenuous activity, I do my core exercise routine.  My back is rather fragile.  Too many years of skiing and training without proper care left my back susceptible to all sorts of nasty things...including sciatica (not recommended at all).  So my core routine varies from day-to-day but this one is a typical one when I just need to do it!

On a typical workout day, I follow up the core workout with a strength or resistance training routine.  I use the same tabata timer as I used in the video above but I do legs on the 1st and 3rd days of my 3 days on, 1 day off cycles; on the middle or 2nd day of the 3 day on cycle, I lift with my upper body.  Since today is a rest day, I didn't lift.  Later, I intend to take some video of my lifting routines but today I don't lift.  Also, once I am done with movement prep, core, and lifting, I typically run outdoors.  My runs are short but often high intensity so I can feel a little discomfort but also spare my knees of the added pain and suffering they don't deserve.

My rest day includes hypoxic training.  I provide a quick overview of my approach during the following video:

That elliptical workout often ends with me gasping for breath.  See...

Oh, but wait; there is more!  Once I finish my huge 10 minute workout on the elliptical, I then make a quick transition (note, I don't put on cycling shorts when I move from the elliptical to the bike - too long for too little gain).  

Finishing off the bike workout (again, another whopping 10 minutes), I stumble off the bike....

Now that I am done with the bulk of my day off, I finally get to stretch my muscles and gear up for the rest of my day....of work.  Ah, but first, I stretch:

My rest days do not consist solely of rest.  These are active rest days.  Some people do not take rest days when they are training for endurance events.  Many people find that rest days leave them flat.  Complete rest days make me feel flat and unmotivated.  I found that if I skipped the rest days to fully recover, I soon burned out and lost interest in training.  Striking a balance between too restful and not restful enough requires fine tuning on every athlete's part.  

Thanks again for following me during my preparation.  I realize you have plenty of other distractions on the internet and appreciate the fact that you distract yourself with my ramblings.  My next post will take you for a tour of my sleeping setup so you can see how my hypoxic sleep training unfolds every night.  See you in 4 days....

63 days left - Super Bowl Sunday and some thoughts about excellence

What makes a person excellent at their craft?  Countless articles, books, movies, and such try to convince consumers that there are simple rules to success.  Take one event as a microcosm for success - the Super Bowl.  Tonight, the New England Patriots take on the Philadelphia Eagles for one of the most watched events on television per capita (worldwide).  Don't believe me?  Here are the numbers (all rounded for simplicity):

Top Event:  Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan (2015) had 1 billion viewers.  If we assumed that only those two countries and the host country (Australia) were interested in the event, we have a 1.5 billion people.  Now that seems a bit of a stretch.  We know that 14 teams qualified and presumably people from those 14 nations would be interested in the outcome of that seemingly critical match leaving us with 1.9 billion or roughly 53% of the interested parties watching.  Cricket appears to be more popular than any American could ever imagine.

Runner Up:  World Cup Final in Rio de Janeiro (2014) had 3 billion viewers.  Assuming that the world was interested in this event (given that it is called the "World Cup"), we can assume that the 3 billion came from the world's 7.6 billion for an estimated 39% of the total world population.  Not a bad showing world!


Super Bowl (last year):  112 million people in the US watched the game last year and we have 324 million viewers available giving us a 35% viewership per capita.

I don't expect it to be a good game but there is plenty we can all learn from the game and the two teams' preparation/execution.  Specifically, what makes a winning organization different than a...well...an organization that fails to win?  Mountaineering expeditions share many of the same attributes as these professional organizations.  The players prepare, anticipate and plan for as much of the game as could be expected, and they rest prior to the game.  The coaches prepare the players but also make decisions during the game to help the players be their best while exploiting their opponents weaknesses.  We mountaineers do the same as these players and organizations but the game is slightly different; the player, the opponent, and the decision-makers are one in the same - me.  So, what can I learn from these organizations to make me more successful?

1.  Don't follow the leader - find out what works for you.  I learned this the hard way many years ago when I tried to emulate elite athletes and their training programs.  They had extreme routines that I simply could not adhere to and, as a result, often felt like a failure.  Slowly, throughout the process, I learned that I had to listen to my own body and build up gradually.  What those elite athletes didn't tell me (us) is that they were like me at one point too and they didn't start off with such extreme routines.

2.  Learn to rest.  Stress + Rest = Success.  It is important to develop a workout routine and stick to it to the best of your ability BUT it is vitally important to rest.  All the work you put into your body only results in success if you allow your body to recover.  Most endurance athletes over-train and eventually burn out.  If you learn to rest when you need it, you will be ready to take on the next workout and make even greater gains.

3.  Immerse yourself into your craft.  There is no shortage of tales where the "excellent" describe a life focused on their craft early on.  These peak performers read everything, they talk to others about their insights, they test these insights empirically without reliance on authority or weak evidence.  By immersing yourself, you learn what others may refuse to learn.  Be better by reading, thinking, and testing.

So if you are lucky enough to live in an area where the game can be watched with relative ease, I suggest you think of these three things.  My suspicion is that the team that creates their own formula for success, shows up rested and focused, and studied diligently well before game time will be the victor.  Oh yeah, I also suspect that the team with Tom Brady will win....a non-trivial factor.

Enjoy the day and see you on my next day off.  By the way, my friend Jane asked about my workouts.  If you care to see how I am faring, check out the Google Sheet where I store scheduled and actual workouts.  You'll see that I took the past two days off due to unreasonably low HRV scores.  See?  I listen to my own advice.  Thanks for following.

67 days and counting: Four rules for training specifics to eliminate surprises

Another 3 days down and I am resting again - this time I really needed the rest.  Over the past few weeks, I started to focus on training for very specific instances where most mountaineers struggle.  We all struggle.  If you found the time to watch Adrian Ballinger and Cory Richards ascend Everest (from the Tibet side) without oxygen, you will see that they both struggled.  Climbing without oxygen that high is a huge feat - not one that I wish to accomplish due to the fact that I have too much invested in my brain already and I make my living by thinking.  That aside, those two expert mountaineers struggled with parts of the climb.  The more we prepare ourselves ahead of time for those struggles, the less likely they will affect us.  Sure, these climbs might still affect us or we might overlook something and get bitten by that oddity but nothing beats preparation to eliminate surprises.  I prepare for any adventure the same way...by following these four simple rules:

1.  Focus on the little things:  Everyone seems to focus on the big aspects of an adventure.  We need gear, fitness, and such but it is often the little things - often routine things - that interfere with our success.  Many forget to train themselves to go to the bathroom without making a mess, to change clothes quickly without much light to help guide the way, to organize your gear so everything can be found easily, and to eliminate any obstacle that interferes with optimal performance.  I try to train for all these little things (and many more) while at home.  I create checklists that I affix to the inside of my bags to eliminate any cognitive load while packing between camp sites.  These small steps help me immerse myself in the environment well before I even step on the mountain.

2.  Prepare for every scenario:  In most adventure sports, the odd scenarios are the ones that are most dangerous.  I try to the best of my abilities to prepare for both the good and the bad.  What happens if....and I think of contingency plans.  As Yvon Chouinard (the founder of Patagonia) said "[t]he word adventure has gotten overused.  For me, when everything goes wrong - that's when adventure starts."  We can all prepare a bit for the adventure though.  If we let everything unfold without much preparation, then we might find ourselves in adventures where and when none should exist.  

3.  Focus on the process - not the outcome:  I find more enlightenment in the process and experience of the outdoors and of adventure rather than the attainment of some goal within that environment.  You may differ from me but I think most of us who go outside, stress ourselves, and come away wanting more are those who enjoy the process.  I like the stress.  I like the preparation.  I like the discomfort.  I embrace it all.   Each of my adventures includes all and more but I find the most memorable aspects of every adventure are those that involve the struggle - not the culmination of the effort.  Sure, I celebrate the end but I live in the moment and enjoy every step, stroke, or surge forward.

4.  Eliminate surprises:  Most surprises come from inside - not outside of us.  If you know yourself and know how you will fare in every situation, you can both prepare yourself but more importantly you can prepare your mind.  I try to eliminate surprises to the best of my ability by experiencing the stress and strain of every adventure BEFORE I depart.  I start from my feet and move upward to the top of my head.  What can my feet withstand?  Apparently not much these days.  Then, my legs; how do they fare after long days?  Can they withstand more stress after 3 or 4 days of hard slogging?  Eventually I move up to my head.  What does it feel like to be truly tired?  How does it feel to be exhausted, dehydrated, malnourished, or spent (all combined)?  I like to feel and know how I react before I leave so I can also learn how to prevent these situations from occurring.  It is one thing to say that you know how you feel but it is another to say that I both know how I feel in those situations and I know how important it is for me to prevent them (and here is how...).  

These four steps served me well over the past few decades.  Thanks for following my adventures.  Hope you have a lovely day.