EISPIRATEN

I have known plenty of people who want you to take a hike if you try to talk about science, but I think this is something different. 8)

Ze's new hiking science blog

leave it to ze.

yes we'll see how it goes. i figure there's a decent amount of people who'll take something from my blabbering

Me likey! Thanks for the effort.

Well, I apparently have made the newbie gaff of proclaiming "I'm going to train for Mt.Whitney"...and worse, let out some 'details' of my planned two-day ascent in June. Oh, well.

I have noted in your blog post and elsewhere that the steepness of grade is not that big an issue on Whitney but, rather the altitude itself is more likely to stamp 'FAIL' on the novice climber's forehead.

I considered all this when I mailed off my permit app. and began thinking about cheeky photos of Marmots bouncing off my backpak at 14K...with me standing (barely) & breathing heavily as I fathomed the pain of the long descent in front of me.

If Whitney were to throw some sustained sections of 12% or better at me I doubt I would be having much fun. Most of my training (on the bike) is at 4000'+, with grades between 4-12%. I'm hoping that those long sustained climbs on the bike and Baldy Bowl hikes will, somehow, with a two day window this first time, get me up the hill.

obie wrote:Well, I apparently have made the newbie gaff of proclaiming "I'm going to train for Mt.Whitney"...and worse, let out some 'details' of my planned two-day ascent in June. Oh, well.

I have noted in your blog post and elsewhere that the steepness of grade is not that big an issue on Whitney but, rather the altitude itself is more likely to stamp 'FAIL' on the novice climber's forehead.

I considered all this when I mailed off my permit app. and began thinking about cheeky photos of Marmots bouncing off my backpak at 14K...with me standing (barely) & breathing heavily as I fathomed the pain of the long descent in front of me.

If Whitney were to throw some sustained sections of 12% or better at me I doubt I would be having much fun. Most of my training (on the bike) is at 4000'+, with grades between 4-12%. I'm hoping that those long sustained climbs on the bike and Baldy Bowl hikes will, somehow, with a two day window this first time, get me up the hill.

I have very little experience dealing with high altitude. But here's the initial / 2nd attempts.

1) First time did a dayhike of Mt Whitney. Slept at 6,000 ft and was feeling dizzy already (that is very abnormal for me, I don't know what was up, but not a good sign!). Starting the next morning going at about 1,000 ft / hr. Again it was harder to go slower than that (2mph).

Got up to trailcrest and was feeling quite dizzy. Made the summit, but threw up. Got back down and felt better.

2). This summer (1 yr later), I was going to hike Mt Tyndall (14k ft). Based on the previous hike, I drove up the day before, and did a hike up to over 12,000 ft. I didn't feel good, but not terrible either. Headed back down and slept at like 6,000 ft.

The next day I hike Tyndall, again averaging 1000 ft / hour. The last 1500 ft of this hike is a class 2/3 climb so you don't want to be dizzy. And I wasn't. I felt perfectly fine!

I think the altitude exposure I got the previous day really helped.

In your case, if you camp a ways up, you'll get the same effect. The only problem may be getting good sleep at high altitude.

P.S. I read the bike forum once in a while. Good stuff. Think I could get pass CHP and ride up the 2?

Zé wrote: I think the altitude exposure I got the previous day really helped.

In your case, if you camp a ways up, you'll get the same effect. The only problem may be getting good sleep at high altitude.

P.S. I read the bike forum once in a while. Good stuff. Think I could get pass CHP and ride up the 2?

There's my mantra: "I think the altitude exposure....really helped."

Your experience is encouraging. I had a bout of altitude problem at 7000' heading up to Big Bear. It was cold, rainy and generally pretty miserable to be climbing on a bike. Very dizzy, thought of stopping but it passed after some hydration, quick stop to wizz and some gel. Scary though when you think your fitness is up to par and it goes out the window unexpectedly.

I heard this week that the 2 was closed "from La Canada to Islip till March"? Doesn't look good for Newcombs now...that's too bad. We biked up from La Canada to Cloudburst a couple days before the big week of rain and ACH was great - now? Eh...not so good I guess. We'll probably be on 39 and GMR/GRR the rest of the winter now.

Link to ACH closure article and pictures of road sections washed out.

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_14328787

Interesting research regarding high altitude and brain function.

http://www.cns.nyu.edu/events/spf/SPF_p ... idence.pdf

Very nice blog, Joe!