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Denali 2008 1-Aug-2008 At 8:35:48 PM psd

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On 28/07/2008 macpacgirl wrote:
>Your photos are great. I am going to Denali in June next year and any
>tips regards sled pulling and training for Denali are welcome. Cheers,
>Annie

Hi Annie,

Sled pulling - you'll need to take lashing cord, haul lines, brake cord and more cord for the back to catch it if you go into a crevasse but most of that info is in freedom of the hills. I have info on cord length and diameter to suit the sleds you get from base camp if you want. Attach the sled to your backpack not your harness if you can - you'll be happy the load is coming through your padded harness waist belt not your harness when you hit the first decent hill. Take a big pack liner or survival bag to shove the stuff for your sled in - makes packing easier and makes it very hard to lose stuff off the sled.

Training - Two fairly obvious ideas for training: firstly, get as much time in carrying a really heavy backpack as you can. I used weights on my ankles too to simulate heavier boots / snow shoes. If you're doing laps on hills a water source at the bottom is good - save your knees by filling at the bottom and emptying before you come back down. For me 25kg was a starting point building up to 32kg (32 probably a bit too much - you won't have that much on your back on the mountain). I weighed 82kg when I left so you may need to cut that back - make sure your gear is light!

The other thing is to get really cardio fit, high intensity low impact cardio sessions where you get your heart rate really high are good. Even though your HR will be low while climbing good cardio fitness means you can go harder at that HR (I think?) - important when there's not much oxygen! I went from over 50 resting heart rate to below 45. Check out Extreme Alpinism by Mark Twight - good tips even though not really aimed at expedition style stuff. It's worth getting a heart rate monitor watch - absolutely excellent training tool. I found spin classes and interval training on a treadmill to be ideal for this sort of training. Keeping the impact low is important - the heavy backpack work will strain you enough. Also spend some time strengthening your core - you need to make it easier to pull a heavy pack off the gound and onto your back and not let it throw you over if you get off balance.

I spent about 4 months of hard training 4-5 times a week. Probably over did it a bit in the end but better than the alternative. I work long hours and got training in before work including walking to and from work with my pack a couple of times week (a great look walking into the office at circular quay!). Spin classes were good as it's easy motivation and just general gym work.

Anyway hope you have a great trip - you will have an amazing experience, the scale in Alaska is awesome.

Cheers,
Peter