October 29th, 2014: My acclimatization formula and current experimentation

As promised in my blog post two weeks ago, I am posting my current acclimatization progress and current experimentation.  I also warned you that there would be some graphs but don't worry about these details, the story can easily be followed even if you pass over them.  Here goes...

Acclimatization then.....

Prior to getting my Hypoxico unit, I used to acclimatize the old fashioned way - by earning it on the mountain.  Hypoxic training also forces me to earn it but I earn the altitude at a more leisurely pace in the comfort of my own home.  I get to eat home cooking, sleep in my own bed, and recover between training sessions with all the support my house, family, and friends provide.  When I climbed Denali in 2011, I found the going pretty easy with a few exceptions.  The first exception was between 14K camp and high camp (17.2K).

The climb up the ridge was really slow going due to slow acclimatization and a fierce crosswind.  Glad I had a pretty full beard during that climb or else I would certainly have battled a little frostbite on my face.  OK, back to the acclimatization...

The 3,000 foot climb on that day really zapped me.  I was comfortable at all the previous altitudes but that day I eclipsed my highest climb to date and felt every bit of the altitude change.  Additionally, I expected to be out for no more than 5 hours but the 11 hour ascent left me with little water and even less food.  I vowed that day would be my last to struggle up a hill unprepared for the altitude.  

Denali was a brief climb - 11 total climbing days that included 2 full rest days and almost a full day waiting to fly out from the Kahiltna glacier.  

We made great time but I felt the altitude twice.  Yes, once from 14.2 to 17.2 and the second time after I summited and had to wait for my climbing partner at Denali pass (for 4 hours).  The dry air really affected my asthma and I had a rough descent on the Orient Express.  Again, these problems prompted me to learn more about acclimatization and how to prepare more efficiently for high-altitude climbs.

A chance encounter

While on Denali, I ran into Brian Oestrike who stopped by our camp while trying to summit on a what looked like a casual weekend stroll for him.  I wish I had a picture of his kit but it was almost too sparse to believe.  He had the usual sled behind him but on that sled was his clean mountain can, a small parcel of gear, and some odds and ends.  All told, he probably had 25-30 lbs of gear behind him while most of us had 80 lbs of gear on our sleds and an additional huge load on our backs.  I leave it to Brian to set the record straight on the actual weight of his kit but suffice it to say that I am hardly exaggerating when I say his gear weighed less than 25% of mine.  I had to know how the heck he did it.  So I asked.

Brian was and is an affable guy.  He took the time to describe his training (in NYC of all places) and I immediately took note that I could do the same in Fairfax, VA.  We chatted briefly and he headed on his merry way up to high camp.

Acclimatization now....

I returned home with a new-found vigor to pursue "at home" acclimatization and found his company on the web in no time.  Once I did a little research, I promptly ordered a hypoxic unit, tent, and mask to try out.

My do-it-yourself (DIY) acclimatization project began in earnest in June 28th, 2013.  Yeah, it took me a while to make up my mind but I was ready to try out this experiment with full vigor once I got the equipment.

The data from Denali and my 2014 Everest preparation

I want to start with my Denali data because that tells a simple story.  Here is what happened while I was climbing:

The blue line represents a smoothed (loess) relationship between altitude and percent oxygen (spO2 via fingertip oximeter) while the gray area represents the uncertainty around the blue line.  

My spO2 slowly dropped from KIA (7,800 feet) until 14,000 feet when I started to drink more water - almost forcing myself to drink a liter each night before falling asleep.  Note that any value below 90% usually sends ER doctors into extreme action.  For mountaineering, these values are not out of the ordinary.  Dipping below 70% at 17,000 feet, however, provides some reason to be concerned.  

Last year, before heading to Nepal, I began my acclimatization where I tried mightily to improve my spO2 with each week of training.  Here is how I fared:

The 2014 data looks hardly like an improvement over my Denali data.  I still dropped a fair bit from an ideal 80-90% but there were some remarkable differences between 2011 and 2014.  First, I learned more about my response to altitude and these revelations provided me with some comfort moving forward.  The most important thing I learned was that breathing more rapidly than I would typically breath dramatically increased my spO2 - sometimes by as much at 10%.  My discovery gets masked by the curve above.  Second, the data I presented for Denali are all from a rested state - that is, I recorded my spO2 and altitude either before bed or after waking up.  The data from my 2014 acclimatization process were all recorded during exercise.  Want to see how exercise intensity affects spO2?  Well, here it is:

The harder I trained at an altitude, the higher my spO2.  Thus, my training data (non-resting) does not match my resting Denali data well because of the difference in intensity.  A better comparison might come from my sleep data where all recordings came after I woke up from a night in the hypoxic tent:

Whoa!  Now that figure above shows a HUGE improvement.  Note that my spO2 (O2Sat in the figure above) never dips below about 83%.  My training data had spO2 values well below 75%.  Also note that I kept my spO2 above 90% up to 15,000 feet.  Not bad if you ask me.  I felt great for most of this time and certainly better than how I felt on Denali.  How am I doing this time around?  Well, here (below) are my data in the morning after sleeping in the tent:

Note all values above are above 91%.  I have yet to wake up with spO2 values below 90%.  Now there are some reasons for these high values.  I changed my acclimatization approach this year and intend to test the approach on Rainier and Aconcagua.  Instead of pushing the envelope in the tent (live high - train low), I chose to train harder and higher - climb high - and then sleep low at about 12,000 feet.  Below is a figure that shows my hypoxic training values.

I plotted each "test set" or simulated climb in its own panel so I could compare my progression by week.  The earliest date was August 9th and the data contains simulated climbs through last Saturday (October 25th, 2014).  I began with relatively easy simulated climbs where I started the climb at about 5,000 feet and then went to about 17,000 feet.  The past few climbs started much higher (12,000 feet) and went all the way up to 20,250 feet.  Obviously the degree of difficulty of these climbs changes.  What I am looking for in these climbs is a systematic shift upwards of the curves.  Last week seems like a setback from my progression from the previous two weeks.  I was making great progress but last Saturday I had much lower spO2 values for the same simulated climb.  My first guess on why is probably due to a higher intensity.  To see if my hunch is correct, I plotted the data for altitude and wattage:

Nope.  Looks like I am getting slower at the same altitudes; time to revisit this approach.  Sleeping at lower altitudes might not be as effective as I expected.  Despite the data, I intend to test out my fitness on Rainier and Aconcagua.  My intent is to sleep higher as I go but right now I wanted to remain fresh at night, recover from the increasing workload, and train harder during the day.  Obviously, something is not going right with my simulated climbs.  I expected to be doing better each week.  What the data indicate above is that my weekly simulated climbs are getting harder and harder.  The anomalous data from October 3rd came from a simulated climb where I bonked.  My comments from that day were "whoa!  got off the bike; cut it short after I bonked."  Well, that comment speaks volumes.  

So where am I now.  I remain committed to test out this climb high - sleep low approach for the next few weeks before I take off for Argentina.  I wanted to test this approach because sleeping in the tent at high altitude really affects my night's rest.  Prior to leaving for Nepal last year, I averaged about 4 hours of good sleep at 20,000 feet.  A few months of sleep deprivation (8 hours is my goal) might really affect my cognitive performance.  Thus, I wanted to try a different approach.  Sleeping low also allows me to continue sleeping in my own bed with my wife - both pluses in my book.

Hope you enjoyed this long post about my current acclimatization routine.  Stay tuned for a post about my gear for the three upcoming climbs.

  

Ignore the Elitists and enjoy your climb: Imagine....

yes, imagine you were a reader who viewed your reading like many elitist alpinists view climbing.  You might consider yourself a reader who has dared to read what others would never dream to undertake.  You tackle James Joyce as "light reading" before you delve into the likes of Hegel or Woolf (see this list for some others).  Your struggles through these tough reads empowers you to criticise others who dare crack open Joyce with the crutch of a reader guide.  Those aided excursions into Joyce are not true to the author's intent; the true reader must struggle alone to get through the books.  Your struggles must include a depth of misery and thoughtful reflection the authors intended you to endure.  You are no reader if you cannot handle these tasks.  Stop reading if you fail to live up to these standards.

Sounds silly, no?  Well, elitist alpinists think like this imaginary elitist reader.  Note, I use the term elitist rather than elite because there are many elite climbers (alpinists, mountaineers, adventurers, etc.) who do not hold this elitist perspective.  It is the elitist I am talking about here and I wanted to take a moment today to reflect on why I think elitism is bad for any activity.  Note: Earlier this year, I posted a bit on elitism in sport.   The current post is a bit of an extension of those ideas. 

Elitism

"Consciousness of being or belonging to an elite"

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

What makes a person hold an elitist view?  I have no clue.  Well, perhaps a few clues.  Perhaps these views come from some strong need to be unique and assert your uniqueness to others.  Social dominance orientation (SDO; Pratto et. al 1994) may explain why some feel the need to be different and, more importantly better than others.  Another explanation may be simply an individual's narcissism that drives them to this sense of superiority.  I also understand the need to be appreciated.  When an individual's orientation, personality, or need lead others to disengage in perfectly reasonable activities, I think it is time to call out the culprits.  Today, I call them out for the sake of all those who enjoy climbing at any level.  Do not let elitists ruin your time in the hills.  Climb and enjoy the experience.  Find others who enjoy climbing and share your experiences - ignore the elitists.  

Why say something today?

A recent set of articles published by Forbes (start reading this link if you feel the need) really struck a nerve or several in me.  Perhaps today's post represents a strong reaction to an individual and maybe my generalizations go beyond the vast majority but I witnessed sufficient evidence over the last year to warrant this post.  The great Reinhold Messner compared Everest expeditions to Kindergarten.  Perhaps the analogy is warranted given his extreme alpine expeditions but we all rely on some form of support in areas of our lives.  

I arrived at this point after reading many books written by (perhaps for?) and interviews of elitist climbers.  Not all climbers espouse these views but there are some parade examples from recent publications.  I find these elitist perspectives troubling.  Why should we all hold ourselves to the same standards they set?  

Elitism in other sports

Running, cycling, and triathlons all experienced and continue to experience elitists and their continued criticism of those who choose to endure rather than race.  Why bother doing these events if you cannot win?  Well, there is a great benefit.  Training for these events helps you improve your fitness, health, and well-being.  Sure, some take it a bit too far but most people get more positives out of the preparation than those who remain firmly affixed to their couches and remote controls.  Training develops discipline and good time-management skills.  Again, there are some who get obsessive about workouts and often let personal obligations slide in favor of a workout.  Don't let these exceptions cloud your view of the positive benefits.  We all benefit from participation.

Enjoy your time in the mountains

My primary point of this post is to emphasize that we all derive some benefit from being outdoors and being in the mountains.  Would the elitists prefer none go outdoors to claim some benefit?  Some people require more assistance than others but their experience is no less rewarding or challenging - to that person or even those who cheer them on - than any other's experience.  We all make do with what we have and the extent that an expedition challenges us probably has more to do with what we were born with and where we grew up.  In short, luck played a huge role in how hard these challenges are and there is no need to crow about luck.  Forget celebrating luck, genes, and good fortune.  Celebrate and support those who try to the best of their abilities.  

So climb and do not apologize for any assistance you seek out or rely upon.  Know full well that many others admire your drive to get off the couch.

October 15th, 2014: Everest 2015 updates and future climb information

Greetings,

Today was a landmark day for my preparation towards Everest 2015.  I am resting today and consuming a ton of calories in preparation for more training before two 2014 climbs.  Here are the updates from this week:

1.  Everest 2015.  I heard some great news from Dan Mazur today.  His group - Summit Climb - is honoring our oxygen and (unused) Sherpa fees from last year while the Nepali government continues to promise that our $11,000 climbing permits are safe for this year (2015).  In short, I am going back and now I have a better idea about the costs and timing.  There are still a few fuzzy details but Dan's email to the climbers from 2014 seemed rather clear.  He intends next year to be an inexpensive return for us all.  I want to thank Dan and his group for coming to this concession.  Last year was an odd one and I am sure it hit everyone pretty hard; I was just not willing to be among those who shouldered the huge economic burden.  If I were independently wealthy and had tons of discretionary time, I might consider taking one for the cause but my finances/time are limited and I am I just so thankful that we did not need a protracted discussion with Dan to get a reasonable settlement.  Thanks Dan.  For those interested in climbing big peaks, remember the expedition teams like Summit Climb who treated their climbers well after last year.  

2.  Rainier push in late November.  The details about climbing Rainier in late November remain pretty sparse on all the internet sites.  Most summits occur during the summer.  Here is Steph Abegg's figure produced from the available 2006-2010 NPS data:

If you get a chance, please visit Steph's page.  She was kind enough to let me link to her figure rather than forcing me to recreate the figure from the raw data.  Thanks Steph.

I chose to show the Disappointment Cleaver route in the figure above because I suspect that might be the one route available if there is a chance to summit.  Here are a select number of routes and the success rates by month throughout the year (again, from Steph's website):

The blue curve that creeps most to the right is for the Disappointment Cleaver route.  I will see how the route shapes up over the next few weeks.  Suffice it to say, there will not be a ton of traffic on the hill when I get there in late November.

My aim is to get up as high as possible without an overnight stay - one hard, fast/light push up the hill until I turn around and head for civilization.  I just want to see how my legs and lungs handle the fast push up the hill.  It should be a fun outing.  Expect more details later as I figure out my route and gear list.

3.  Argentina climbing in Dec. 2014 - Jan. 2015.  Our flights are booked and the dates are settled now for our trip to Argentina.  I land on December 6th and plan to get out to several ranges before I meet up with my family and Brendan Madden on December 20th.  Here are some ideas I came up with while trying to figure out how to use my time alone constructively.

Option 1:  Climb in the Cordon del Plata (CdP) range for 10 days.  According to summitpost.org, the CdP is a "little sub range to Los Andes. It's conveniently located along the highway which also takes you to Aconcagua, the giant of the South American peaks. The area has gained a lot of popularity in the last couple of years and many climbers use it as an acclimatization ground for the higher peaks. The easy access, the short distances in between the peaks and beautiful views has also contributed to CdP's positive reputation. There are lots of peaks within a few day's walk and even if most of them are easy scrambles along the normal routes, also more experienced climbers go here for some challenges."

What I like about Option 1 is the opportunity to see other parts of Argentina while I acclimatize to higher altitudes.  The central valley of CdP offers easy access to 9 peaks ranging from 4080m (Stepanek; 13,386 feet) to 5930m (Plata; 19,455 feet) that would consume at least a week if not more of my two week head start.  Also, I could acclimatize to the high altitudes with little time pressure for the eventual 6962m (22,841 feet) climb on Aconcagua.  The time alone could also prove worthwhile for me to test out speed and recovery.  Here is Pico Plata from the south:

Option 2:  Climb a more technical route on Aconcagua and summit before the rest arrive.  I thought about this but the timing might not be great.  My responsibility for the climb is to establish our mule transportation and food for the entire group before they arrive.  I take that responsibility seriously but if I could take care of most of those details before I arrive then I could climb on the hill until they arrive.  One route that piques my interest is the Polish Glacier Direct route (thanks summit post):

That route would require about 10-12 days and give me plenty of time on the glacier and high up on the hill.  

There are a few drawbacks to this second option and one major advantage.  Drawback 1 (cost):  One downside is that the Aconcagua climbing permits are good for 20 days and an early climb followed by my family climb would require two permits (roughly $1300 in total).  The fees and logistics for the two climbs might make the two-climb push really hard on me both financially and logistically.  Drawback 2 (limited adventure):  Another drawback is that a more technical climb only allows me to see one mountain for the first four weeks of my trip.  Granted, I could easily retreat from Aconcagua afterwards and explore the CdP alone when my family takes off in early January but I might prefer to rest and relax in sunny Mendoza after climbing with my family.  Major Advantage (lower stress with family and friends):  A big climb before the others arrive cuts the stress on me during their climb.  I want to see the summit and they may not be as enthralled with the summit push as I am on summit day.  

Option 2 seems more appealing at this point but I need to figure out the logistics for mules, food, and transportation before I jump into another route - especially a more technical route that I would solo.  Additionally, the mountain may dictate the options more than my preference.  If unstable snow or poor ice conditions exist then a solo ascent up the Polish Glacier Direct would be foolish choice.  I expect a return trip no matter what the conditions so prudence trumps preference.

4.  Training going well.  Yep, not much to report.  I remain fit, fat (relatively speaking), and happy with no injuries to report and an overall good attitude that dominates my current situation.  I am so excited about the upcoming climbs that I can barely focus on much of anything else....but I do continue to chip away at the piles (megabytes perhaps?) of papers to write and grants to finish.  

Upcoming posts.....

• I plan to detail my acclimatization formula based upon a ton of data from myself and others.  Expect some graphs and formulas to appear in the blog shortly.  
• Gear check for the climbs to be laid out and explained in some detail.  Each climb requires slightly different gear.  Rainier requires a fast and light kit - not much to bring for a one-day push; Aconcagua requires a much more extensive kit for the potential two-climb expedition; finally, Everest requires a ton of gear but this year will be trimmed down substantially from last year.  
• Lightening my load for all climbs will be my focus for the next few months.  I examined each piece of gear and started fixing, replacing, or retiring anything that does not serve multiple purposes.

More on these later.  Thanks for reading and feel free to post any opinions on my options or provide other options for Argentina.  I'm open to other ideas.  See you next week.

October 8th, 2014: I'm going climbing...soon.

Greetings,

The past week went by without much to note other than one major change - I get to climb soon.  Yeah!  We made plans to go to Portland, OR for Thanksgiving.  While there, I intend to take a day or so and climb Rainier.  The climb should give me some immediate feedback about my training preparation for Argentina.  I want to do a one-day push to the summit and see if I can sustain the effort.  The climb will be light and fast - alpine style.  If I can swing it, I want to bring my son but not if he prefers to spend more time with his cousins.  Kathy said she plans to spend her limited time with her family; thus, I might be on my own.  Here are a few other updates...

1.  Sleeping with my new mask.  Kathy continues to battle some bug while she prepares for her last triathlon of the 2014 season.  Her continued battle means that my acclimatization routine shifts from the tent to the mask.  My new mask is actually quite comfortable.  I wouldn't call it true comfort but it is not as bad as sleeping with the exercise mask.  Here is the mask in action:

Yep, I look a little weird but hey, I'm sleeping.  Who is gonna notice my strange looks other than my wife (who knows all my quirks already).

2.  Working on acclimatization index.  Many of you know that my work focuses on measurement.  I'm sure you all got the hints from my previous blog posts with countless figures showing my progress.  I wanted to figure out how well I was progressing with my training - particularly my acclimatization to different oxygen levels.  The progression needed to be expressed in terms of oxygen level (the predictor) with spO2, HR, and power (in Watts) as the outcome.  Some combination of the three outcome measures ought to communicate the extent to which I can accommodate the hypoxic stress.  Here is what I have come up with so far.  Feel free to comment on the blog if you have any other ideas.

As oxygen levels decrease from 20.9% (normoxia at sea-level), I should see a decrease in spO2 and power along with an increase in HR.  Thus, oxygen level is directly proportional to the two former and inversely proportional to HR:

O2% : spO2 + power + 1/HR

The additivity of these three components, however, is not clear to me and certainly not clear in the literature.  If I simply add them then the more variable components will be far more influential than the others.  Consider the simple problem of figuring out BMI (wt in kg / height in (squared)).  If your height does not change then all changes in BMI are attributable to only your changes in weight.   Thus, I need to weigh these three components in a logical way that does not favor one over the others - unless, of course, I wish to weight them unevenly.

Expect a full post on this topic shortly.

3.  Training...training...and more training.  I keep on training with the hope of being stronger this year than last year.  Last year's preparation was not terrible but I think I could gain a bit in fitness and, in particular, fitness at altitude.  Why not? Push harder and stay healthy seems like a good plan.  Preparation for a climb is one thing I can control.  Each day of the week offers me a different amount of freedom to train.  Here is what my cumulative weeks look like since I began training again in June 2014:

Each week during this second phase, I started increasing my training altitude (staring at 10,000 ft or 3050 m and slowly moving up to 20,250 feet or 6170 m)  So far, I logged 341 hours and expect to have almost 1000 hours before I push off for Nepal in early May.  Here is where I am in the process:

4.  Fat is where its at.  Despite all the training, I successfully maintained my weight at 175 lbs (79.4 kg) and intend to stay at that weight for the duration of my training.  Last year I struggled to get my weight back up after I lost a ton during my intense training.  I learned from my mistakes and decided to back off the intensity a bit and focus more on hypoxic training earlier to reduce the intensity of my workouts.  The net result of this change is that I am equally fit but now I maintain a little expendable weight that I am sure to shed during the first week at high altitude.  Beer and chips are now a staple in my daily diet.

That is about it.  More news to come shortly as I prepare for my climb on Rainier and then onto Aconcagua.  See you soon and thanks for following.

September 23rd, 2014: Where am I now and what is going on? Update post rest week.

Greetings,

Last week was very busy despite the "off week" from training.  I regained almost 30 hours from the previous week but I filled those hours quickly with the following activities (in reverse order for some reason I cannot explain this morning):

1.  Traveling to Hypoxico (NYC).  On Friday, I left Fairfax at 4:10am and arrived at Hypoxico a little after 8am.  Not bad time for I-95 at rush hour.  Brian Oestrike was out of town at Ironman Tahoe so he put me and my hypoxic unit in good hands with his namesake Brian (Bilius).  We met each other down by the curb and Brian took my unit upstairs while I did what every good NYC driver does....I backed up my car about 200 feet to enter into the parking lot.  Why go all the way around the block to get just 200 feet behind where I was sitting?  Silly question.  I parked and then went up to find out how to troubleshoot the strange noises coming from my Hypoxico unit.  By the time I got up to the 5th floor, Brian had the unit apart and was already checking into the problem.  I knew I was in good hands.  He walked me through how to take it apart and identify all the critical pieces.  It was a DIY'er (DIY = do it yourself) dream.  After this trip, I intend to troubleshoot the problems myself and then send back the faulty piece rather than the entire 60 lb. monstrosity.  Brian and I worked diligently until about 10am when he had to push off for a doctor's appointment.  He was extremely thorough and took the time to describe each step.  During my break, I walked around the city (downtown area around 21st and lower Manhattan), grabbed a hot dog from one of the many Sabret stands, and enjoyed the wonderful weather.  It has been a while since I walked the streets of my home town.  Here is one picture I snapped on my phone:

I realize this picture has little to do with climbing but it was an important vantage point - one I had never seen before.  Yes, I have been to Washington Square Park many times but the new World Trade Center or 1 WTC (formerly known as the "Freedom Tower") is a novelty for me.  I enjoyed the walk - especially after my 4-hour drive earlier that morning.  Next, get back to meet Brian to wrap things up....

I returned at the same time Brian got back from his appointment.  We made quick work of the remaining tasks.  All was fixed on my unit and I learned a ton about the simple device.  After I picked up a few extra things - sleeping mask and a few internal filters - I was ready to push off and head home.  My trip up lasted 4 hours; the trip back was about 4.5 hours.   Again, not bad for an east coast trip up I-95.  I arrived home in time for dinner with my family.  Needless to say, I was dead tired.  Bedtime could not come soon enough.

2.  Giving a Presentation on Wednesday night.  Two days  before my trip to Hypoxico, I gave a brief presentation to a client gathering hosted by my friend's company.  Here are the slides for those interested.  The event was a ton of fun.  I met some very interesting people and had a chance to tell part of my preparation story for Everest 2014.  Even though my climb was not successful, I still believe I prepared well and controlled what I could control.  Thanks to Glenn Mickelson for inviting me.  

3.  Organizing my training schedule on Monday.  My huge spreadsheet needed some updating.  Previously, I scheduled summit days to fall on Sundays but as previously mentioned, I found it far easier to have a long, hard day on Saturday.  That change required a ton of updates on the Google doc.  I spent a few hours updating that sheet on Monday before my meetings and Google Hangouts with students.  

4.  Digging a ditch (queue the Dave Matthews song).  

Yep, I dug a drainage ditch in the front of my house to divert water from the front to the side.  We had some water damage in our basement from years ago.  Now that we have our basement renovation almost done, I wanted to ensure that water had a better place to go rather than gather in my new bedroom.  Here is a picture of the ditch (post refill) so you can get an idea of how my 6-hour restful dig looked after the fact:

5.  Sorting out details with my climbs.  We still have a ton of things to do for both Aconcagua and Everest.  I need to book my travel to/from KTM and sort out the details of flying into basecamp.  It might be a little early to jump onto those plans but it is never too early to start planning the checklist of tasks.  I am almost done with the Aconcagua planning.  There are a few details about food for the expedition, timing of the climbs, and gear for my family.  I ordered a few new BD Express ice screws (3 x 16 cm and 2 x 22 cm) to replace my aging and dull BD ice screws.  Here is a picture of the Express:

Very purdy, ain't it?  These are essential for my planned climb up the Polish glacier on Aconcagua.

5.  Working.  Oh yeah, I work too.  My students rock!  We meet each week for an hour (Thursdays from noon to 1pm - called the MRES (pronounced mysteries) meetings) and I also meet each of my students for an hour either in person or via Google hangout.   I believe we have 7 papers ready for submission in the next few weeks.  It should be a productive semester.  My lab also has a grant currently funded and several in preparation.  Our support from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) enables us to delve into many different topics.  Right now, we focus our attention on simulated training - go figure.  The grant funding allowed me to "buy out" of one course so this semester is a relatively light teaching load.  For the first time in a while, I am teaching an undergraduate class.  I find it quite refreshing from my usual routine.  The undergrads are really enthusiastic and keep me energized from class to class.  It is early in the semester when we are all fairly excited.  Expect routine updates on how my training and teaching affect my disposition; I expect smooth sailing.

See you next week when I preview my 12 week run before departing for Argentina.  Week 1 (this week) is only 18 hours and I progress to 27 hours in 12 weeks.  Should be a fun ride; hope you enjoy the trip with me.

September 17th, 2014: Things are starting to take shape in my plans

Greetings,

I am in the middle of my full week off after 15 weeks of training.  Since starting, I only slipped off schedule three times in those first three weeks.  It was tough to get started back again and I think I needed a few more weeks of beer drinking and weight gain.  Now I am a healthy 175 lbs. and aim to keep all that weight throughout the next few months.  Here is where I stand today....

1.  Rest.  The one huge advantage of having a clear, proven plan for training is that I have several times I really look forward to during the process.  I increase my workload in 3-week increments.  Each week progresses by 10% from the previous week but stops every 3 weeks to drop down by 10% back to the middle week level.  Thus, the load progression looks like a sawtooth shape that increases over 15 weeks.  The past 15 weeks had 5, 3-week cycles where the plan was to progress from 10 hours up to 30 hours using this method.  I really look forward to week 16 when I completely shut down, rest, sleep at normoxia, and eat to my heart's (perhaps more my brain's) delight.  Even after each 3-week cycle, I look forward to dropping back to a lower workload.  Increasing the workload in this systematic fashion keeps me fresh and excited about more training.  Gotta keep it fun but sprinkle in plenty of rest.

2.  Permit situation settled.  Sam and Alex forwarded Dan Mazur's post about the Nepali government honoring our permits for 2015.  I am extremely excited that we have some clue about the permits.  Here is the letter (in Nepali) just in case you want to see how we learn about these things:

Translation....

Subject: Climbing Mountaineering forwarding.

To: SummitClimb Pvt. Ltd.
Kathmandu

As per your agency requested letter, This is to inform you on dated 2071 – 03 - 05 that SummitClimb Everest Expedition 2014, permit no 60/Spring, led by Mr. Mazur Daniel Lee (P.P. No 710848024), including 10 climbing members permit is extended to next spring season 2015 as per law 2059 – sub law – 5. 

Depender Paudel

Department Head

3.  Aconcagua plans shaping up.  We have four confirmed climbers for our trip to Argentina in December.  I leave on December 6th, my family leaves on the 17th, and Brendan Madden joins us on the 20th.  I hope to have three climbs on Aconcagua or other peaks in the area before I depart on January 12th.  Should be a great time.  Flights booked, equipment checked, and details sorted out; next step, plan for food and domestic travel.  I'm practically jumping out of my chair with excitement.  

4.  Hypoxico Tour.  Speaking of jumping out of my seat, I'm heading up the New York City - my home town - to get one of my units checked out.  It was making some strange noises so Brian Oestrike suggested I get it checked out.  No better time than the present (Friday actually) where my week-off gives me the ultimate luxury to make the 4-hour drive from Fairfax to NYC without missing a workout or any meetings.  I intend to take in a few conference calls during the drive up (from 4am-8:30am) and then a few on the way back (from 7pm-11pm).  The folks at Hypoxico were extremely inviting and even offered me the use of one of their machines/setups to workout.  I told them that this week was devoted to rest (#1 above) and I planned to just walk around the city and get some good food.  Remember, this week I focus on eating too - no better place to eat than NYC.  Pizza joints...here I come!  With any luck, I roll out of the city after a few hearty meals and about 10 lbs of additional heft.  Wish me luck on Friday.

Speaking of Hypoxico, Sam & Alex as well as Brendan both ordered units.  Should be fun comparing notes as we all prepare for some big climbs ahead.

5.  Early to bed and early to rise makes me tired.  Apologies to Ben Franklin but healthy, wealthy and wise do not match my experience.  My son returned to his morning schedule.  He has swim practice from 4:30am to 6:30am on the weekdays so Kathy and I take turns shuttling him the 20 minutes to/from practice.  I think I found my groove where getting up at 4am is far better than stirring at 4 and then waking at 6am.  Often, I return from dropping him off and drift back to sleep - no matter what I am doing.  Even if I go to sleep at 8pm I still wake up exhausted when I change the routine.  My current sleep/wake cycle might take a while to absorb into my system but I assure you it will work.  Soon, I plan to get in a few extra workouts from 4:45am (when I return) to 9am when I typically head to campus.  Nothing like a good 4-hour workout to start the day.  Good thing I have a couch in my office for that inevitable mid-day nap.

6.  Summit Saturdays.  I changed my training routine a bit to accommodate the rest of my week's schedule.  Sundays worked for me last time when I was training for Everest 2014; those days do not work any longer for Everest 2015.  I found that Sundays really needed to be easier or else I risked getting sick and not recovering sufficiently for the next week.  Wednesdays came too soon after Sunday and I often found Fridays to be less useful training days.  So, after careful consideration and several trials, I found that Saturday was the perfect day to simulate my climbs.  The past 7 weeks had some intense simulated climbs where I would try to mimic a climb - approach, summit, and descent.  These days started out rather easy and slowly progressed to two peak summits and almost 10 hours of hypoxic training.  I felt and feel great during and afterwards.  It might be a little early to get too acclimatized to high altitude but I figured this time was an excellent opportunity for me to test out different routines.  Success!  I tested out a new routine and now my week is much more manageable.  

Thanks for following along.  

September 8th, 2014 - a 2 month hiatus from posting but back and better than ever!

Greetings,

I hope this update finds you all well.  My summer was extremely busy with training, parenting, building, resting, relaxing, sailing, and other non-G-rated gerunds.  The funny thing about blogging is that when I got behind, it became harder and harder for me to post - something akin to returning a borrowed item.  Starting back up seemed hard but it really isn't.  So, here I go with my first blog post of the fall and I expect more to follow.  These posts document my training/preparation for my climbs this 2014-2015 season.

There are a few people I need to acknowledge before I post any updates.

1. Dad's inspiration.  I had a great conversation with my dad the other day.  He told me to get back to posting updates so that the posts drive me to be better.  I get it.  Sitting here working my life away and mulling things over in my head from last year provide nothing but reasons to continue a reclusive lifestyle.  I have a great life and a great family.  Many of you do not know but my dad battles pancreatic cancer.  He may cringe by this note but I want to draw out the positive.  My dad inspires me.  He pushes through awful treatments delivered by the best in the world.  I gather my strength from his endurance.  When he told me to press forward with a simple task of posting updates, I did so without hesitation.  We all encounter obstacles in life but few are as daunting as what my dad endures.  Life is great and we all ought to make the most of what we have today.  BE HERE TODAY.  Thanks dad for reminding me of what matters.  I'm back.
2. Brotherly support.  My brother worries and often calls to check in.  He worries about his younger brother and I appreciate his concern; I love him like no other.  There are few people in life who can provide the support only a brother can provide.  I am fortunate that I have three brothers - Sean, Ed, and Kevin - the latter two cousins or brothers of another mother (and father).  My cousins also serve in that role.  They never waver in their support.  Thanks guys.  I climb for you and all those who cannot climb due to limitations.  Someday we will jump out of a helicopter with our sons and ski untracked powder until we drop.  Expect it and plan for it.
3. Kathy - a wife like no other.  Some of you may recall that Kathy sleeps in the tent with me.  Her support never stops.  She trains for triathlons and she toils with her own goals.  We rejoice about successes and mourn (briefly) our defeats.  The past year was a huge test for both of us.  We both had successes and failures.  Without her unwavering support, I would never realize any of my goals.  Just ask my students; they all know my adoration.  She makes me better and pushes me to strive to be better still.  I love you so and have no reservations to express it publicly.
4. The best son a dad could imagine.  I promise I won't embarrass him.  A 14-year old is easily embarrassed by his dad - especially publicly.  My son makes parenting easy.  He is a devoted athlete, good person, and easy-going lad.  I can't wait to climb in Argentina with him...and Kathy.  Life is good!

Thank you all.  I hope to share all the fun from the next few years with you.

Aconcagua

The other night, Kathy and I finalized our plans to Argentina.  I fly out in early December and Kathy and Patrick follow in mid-December.  My blood is flowing again and I can't wait to get back on a hill.  My friend Brendan Madden - who lives in Japan - booked his trip so he plans to join us.  Next, we need to convince Sam to come out from the UK (or Africa where he is now).  I intend to post my climbing plans shortly once I have all the itineraries solidified.  My current thinking is to get down there early, climb a technical route (perhaps the Polish direct) and then come down to retrieve my family and Brendan.  Together, we will climb the normal route up and summit.  It should be a fun time with plenty of climbing, steak eating and Malbec drinking.

Everest

As I indicated upon my return from Nepal, I plan to return in 2015.  Some signs indicate that the Nepali government will honor our permits.  I remain somewhat skeptical but guardedly optimistic that they will spare me the $10,000 expense.  Now, about the oxygen....more on that later.

Training

I have one week left before I get a full week off.  The past 15 weeks were a slow, base-building progression where I accrued over 265 hours of training - mostly at normoxia.  I completed 5 simulated climbs up to the equivalent of 19,000 feet.  In sum, I've been busy training, getting my lab back in order, and finishing some tasks on the house.  Not much sailing to speak of this year but I hope to get out every now and then with my friend Bob and our crew of swimmers.  I intend to post a bit more about some of my new training ideas.  Like my Everest plans....more on training later.

So there you have it.  Fifteen weeks down in preparation for two climbs.  I have tons more to post about the climbs and our revised plans for Everest - that is, once I figure out what we are doing and what expenses I can expect.  Stay tuned for more.

June 27th, 2014: One week after starting over, all cylinders firing

Greetings.  I began anew and things couldn't be better.  The world cup, Sopranos and various work projects kept me occupied as I trained for over 22 hours since I posted last Wednesday.  I finally feel normal.  Kathy and I are sleeping soundly at 9,000 feet and roasting as usual.  My appetite finally came back.  No aches or pains to speak of now.  Again, all is well.  Here are a few updates from the past week.

1.  No climbing in the Pacific NW this year:  Our summer climb in Oregon/Washington conflicted with my son's freshman football training so something had to go.  We figured he only had one shot at freshman (HS) football so that objective took priority over a climb that will always be there - well beyond our years.  So, we will stay at home for the month of August.  I was a little bummed but would gladly compromise my interests for my son's athletic interests.  While I will not be climbing, I do intend to simulate altitude and climbing stress until December.

2.  Hypoxico training for our Aconcagua team:  I plan to climb with my family and two friends - at least - in Argentina this December/January.  Sam and Brendan will accompany us down south and all five of us plan on training with Hypoxico units.  Our aim is to climb light and fast up the hill by pre-acclimatizing at our respective homes.  The international team (Sam from the UK, Brendan originally from the US but living in Japan, and the three of us from the US) plans to press for the summit in short order.  How short?  I figure 5-7 days ought to suffice if we all acclimatize to 20,000 feet for at least 2 weeks before our departures.  Brian Oestrike offered some trip itineraries and such to assist in our success.  I think we can do it; Brian thinks we can do it.  Plus, the Aconcagua climb will be a great proving ground for Everest 2015 and our plans to skip the trek to EBC.  Stay tuned for more details on those plans.  For those who want to learn more about Brian and his background, check out an interview with him:

3.  Caffeine free and eating (semi-)healthy:  My typical day started with about 2 liters of fresh brewed black tea.  I slowly became dependent on the stuff and suffered greatly when I could not get my morning jolt of caffeine.  Well, those days are done.  I slowly weaned myself off caffeine and enjoy a cup every now and then; no more 2 liter mornings.  Before I leave for Argentina and Nepal, I may start up drinking a little more just to get accustomed to tea on the mountains.  Nothing better than a hot cup o' tea on a cold mountain.  As far as eating, I am off the beer and chip diet.  I still have a icy cold malt beverage when I feel the pangs - usually on Friday evenings - but I am not making it a daily habit.  The weight I lost in Nepal is finally back on (plus a few extra pounds) and I can finally start focusing on eating well and training diligently for my climbs.

4.  Sleeping at 9,000 feet, training at 10,000 feet, working at sea-level:  How cool is that?  I live at 320 feet above sea level (100 meters for those of you who were fortunate enough to avoid our crazy English legacy system).  I am sleeping at the peak of Half Dome (Yosemite Nat'l Park, CA, USA) and training at the peak of the Middle Sister (OR, USA).  Eventually, I plant to sleep and train at 20,000 feet (5,500 m) that is roughly the equivalent of Denali (Alaska, USA).  Brian characterized my training regime for Everest as "aggressive" but he said it sounded like I was on top of all the relevant variables.  I agree.  I measure everything and leave nothing to chance.  Soon, I hope to have a good calibration of time to acclimatize - for myself - for every rise in altitude.  Those measurements and analyses come after Aconcagua.  For now, I train high, sleep high, and live low.  The better I acclimatize at home, the safer my climb and the shorter my time away from home.  
In summary, I feel great.  Nothing to worry about whatsoever.  Work is humming along without any stress.  What can I say, life is great!

ONE LAST ANNOUNCEMENT:  I want to take a moment to alert you all to Alan Arnette's K2 expedition.  You can find his blog at http://www.alanarnette.com.  He left a day or so ago and needs all the support he can get from climbers and non-climbers alike.  If you have not read his blog, I strongly encourage you to do so.  K2 is no trivial hill; it offers a real challenge to even the most experienced alpinist.  Alan plans to update us on his position using his Spot locator - the same one I had on Everest this year.  Please follow his climb and consider donating to his cause to support Alzheimer's research and treatment.  Thank you for your time and consideration.  Climb on Alan!

Today, June 18th, 2014, I begin again....a fresh start

I posted 9 days ago about starting over and getting ready for Everest 2015.  Well, things didn't go well from that week forward.  First, I missed 2 swim practices due to an aching shoulder.  That first week was followed by more missed swim practices and a few missed runs and then a complete collapse in my workout routine.  My third week began with more rest to recover from my rest.  Sheesh!  When will the rest end?  Why the bad start?  Well, I have several reasons/excuses/rationalizations for the lapse.  Here they are:

1.  Work stress:  I had some lingering stress from my time off.  Work and colleague stress came to a peak upon my return and I had too many uncomfortable things to deal with.  Today, I dealt with the final one - not that today's event is over but I did what I needed to do to move forward.  I sent off those uncomfortable email messages to my colleagues to resolve our differences; I worked diligently to eliminate all email in my inbox; and I cleaned off my desk to signify a new beginning.  I feel completely liberated and plan to sleep well tonight.  Work stress hits me hard and it seems as if academia gets more and more stressful the longer I stay in the game.  I think I need to get away more often....

2.  House stress:  My stress was compounded by too many house projects that needed my attention (or money) and with money lacking after my failed Everest bid, I chose to spend my time.  Plumbing, electrical, framing, and drywall work brought me back to my construction days on Martha's Vineyard.  If it were not for my understanding wife and supportive cousin (who helped me out on three grueling days), I would not be at peace with my current house project list.  "The only shoeless children are the cobbler's kids" is one of my favorite quotes but not one of Kathy's favorites.  We always live in a house partially (95% or p < 0.05) finished.  Thanks to both Kathy and Kevin for being understanding and lending a helping hand.  For those interested, you can check out my web album that shows all the stuff I am doing to my house.  

3.  Poor diet:  All the stress and increase work demands lead to a really poor diet.  Hey, I accept the blame and acknowledge I will take any opportunity to live on potato chips and beer.  I ate when I could and whatever I could manage at the time. In short, I was eating garbage at home (chips, beer, and toast) and never really did much to change those bad habits.  Now that I am fat and in a good place to change my diet, I intend to move forward by decreasing my alcohol intake and eating more healthy foods at home.  Today, I started with tea and peanut butter on cinnamon roll bread.  Yeah, not a good start but maybe tonight will be better.

4.  Post-expedition irritation and stress:  If I thought Everest 2014 planning presenting difficulties, I had no clue how what 2015 had in store - at least not until this point.  We still have no confirmation about our climbing permit situation.  The costs may be the same as last year meaning I need to find a way to make a ton of money and spend none of it this year.  Not sure how I am going to swing that but I plan to give it my best shot without affecting my family.  Money is always an issue for these climbs and I intend to do it like I did it before.  I will accept whatever people are willing to donate and give them as much access as I can muster.  Any suggestions other than selling blood/plasma are welcomed.

5.  Poor sleep:  I can fall asleep but just couldn't stay asleep.  Never in my life - save for my last few weeks before leaving for Everest 2014 in the hot hypoxic tent at 20,000 feet -  have I struggled to sleep.  Exercise tires me out and I usually sleep like a baby or more like a rock.  Some days I would sleep for 12 hours followed by a 2 hour sleep night.  Here, check out the graph just so you can see:

The dotted horizontal line indicates my preferred 8-hours of sleep.  Not much sleep going on here and rarely was it 8 hours over the past month.  Those erratic and unpredictable sleep patterns wore me out - leading me to....

6.  Getting sick:  Kathy and I are fond of the quote "sick and tired of getting sick and tired."  Well, I'm there.  I was more sick than healthy since I returned from Nepal.  The stress, diet, and sleep problems all lead to my health problems.    I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.  

7.  Getting over a failed expedition:  Everest 2014 didn't end for me right away.  There were too many things that lingered.  I still have no clue about what will happen with our permits, oxygen bottles, or even the funds that were to pay for services not rendered.  I just don't know.  For now, I plan to plow straight ahead and deal with the setbacks when they arrive rather than sit wondering when/if they will come.  

Today is the start of a new effort to prepare for Everest 2015.  I plan to address each one of these and slowly turn my efforts into something more positive.  As a good, first gesture, I shaved:

Here we go....

Back on the horse! First post for Everest 2015 (6/9/2014)

Greetings and welcome to my first Everest 2015 update.  I just finished my first week of training and, after reviewing my previous posts, I decided to offer more descriptive and narrative material rather than data.  For those who like the data, feel free to send me a comment and I will post two types - the narrative format and the graphical displays.  Here are a few updates from the prior few weeks.

1.  With one full week down and two "Summit Sundays" under my belt, I am feeling pretty good.  The past few weeks of eating and drinking left me feeling pretty fat and bloated (175 lbs now!!).  I know all the extra weight will go away and in April 2015 I will long to be back to my current weight but I want to get lean and fit now.  The partying will slowly be replaced by climbing and exercise.

2.  I am fully committed to return to Nepal in 2015 but there are many factors that need to be sorted out before I know how and when I go.  Several great posts from knowledgeable sources indicated that the permit fees and other associated costs are not guaranteed - far from it.  In fact, there are some people who think the Nepal government may rescind their offer to honor our permits.  If that indeed happens, I may re-evaluate my climbing objective and consider only climbing from the Tibet side.  Readers interested in other opinions ought to consult Russell Brice's "Daily Moraine" newsletter along with Alan Arnette and Mark Horrell's blogs.  Each of these writers have slightly different perspectives but they all converge on an important point - we all remain unsure about next year.

3.  Despite my uncertainty about Nepal, I have firm plans already for my next two climbs.  First, in August, I intend to climb Rainier and several other Cascade volcanoes with my son and wife.  Not sure how much vacation time Kathy (my wife) will want to devote to climbing but I suspect a few days should whet her appetite.  My son is excited about climbing so he and I will go out for about 10 days of backcountry adventures.  One thing I would like to do is to traverse the Three Sisters in Bend in a single push.  Patrick (my son) may not want to do that so I may leave him in Portland.  Second, I plan to climb in Argentina for at least a month.  My plans are to fly out to Mendoza in early December - as soon as my semester ends - and prepare meals and such for two expeditions on Aconcagua or other nearby mountains.  The first expedition will be up the Polish Traverse and the second will be the normal route with my family.  If time permits, I would like to take in a few other climbs around the area.  Should be a fun few months of climbing.

4.  My plans to climb in Nepal include some others who I met in April.  Sam Chappatte and Alex Schneider - my two friends I met during my last outing to Nepal - will be great fun to climb with next year.  Sam may join me in Argentina if his work and vacation schedule allow.  We await any news about the Everest permit situation because that dictates what our options are for next year.  Our aim is to climb together and improve upon a few minor things we felt could interfere with our success on Everest.  More on those details later...

5.  In terms of training, I learned a ton from my previous year's preparation.  This time around, I intend to focus more on acclimatization and less on fitness.  I was fit for sure but I could have been in better shape for 20,000 feet.  My intent is to start at 8,000 feet and move up three times - August, December, and May.  I figure if I can train and sleep at 20,000 feet (6,100 meters), I will have no problems getting up the hill and skipping the trek into basecamp.  Sam, Alex, and I intend to fly into basecamp (EBC) next year so the acclimatization portion of our training will prove to be far more important compared to if we opted to trek into EBC.

That is it for now.  I hope you all enjoy the updates.