EVEREST – The name itself conjures up feats of strength and stories of both human triumph and tribulation.
It is the glimmering goal of mountaineers around the world, standing as a beacon for both challenge and self-discovery. Many climbers begin the seemingly simple task of climbing mountains when, somewhere along the line, we read a book or watched a movie about epic adventures from the highest peak on this rocky planet.
The 5 stages outlined in The Road to Everest represent key building blocks that any climber should strongly consider if the ultimate goal is attempting to climb the tallest peak in the world. Everest may not be every climber’s dream summit, and for that person, these stages are a thorough outline for any high altitude summit etching the skyline in the mountain ranges of the world. It is important to keep in mind that these are only suggestions along a climbers path, and many other options for gaining experience and training exist out there.
For the extremely focused individual with unlimited funds, time and energy, this road can be done in a year. More commonly, however, a project like this is done in 3-4 years on the fast end, and typically more than 5 years. It’s not unusual for a climber to spend a decade or more moving methodically through skills practice while gaining invaluable experience at high altitude. It’s a fact of life that the more time spent perfecting a craft like climbing high altitude glaciated peaks, the better craftsman you become along the way. Apply some diligence, discipline, and passion and you’ll be rewarded with a shot at standing on top of Everest alongside the world’s best team.
Stage 1: The Basics
Enroll in a basic mountaineering course to learn the basics of snow travel, glacier travel, and start to scratch the surface of moving in the vertical realm. Learning the basics of mountain travel will build a strong foundation from which your mountaineering career will grow.
Just like building a house, you’ll be best served on The Road to Everest by building a solid foundation of mountaineering skills. By enrolling in a basic mountaineering course here at Alpenglow Expeditions you’ll begin to learn about crampon technique, self-arrest skills, the finer points of climbing in a rope team, and crevasse rescue skills for when things go south.
You’ll spend 2 days learning the basics of traveling on snow and ice-covered terrain in a vertical environment before moving on to higher altitudes. As with anything in life, more time spent early on working and learning in this foundational realm will pay off handsomely down the road.
We offer this basic mountaineering course in Tahoe and cover rock, ice, and snow climbing techniques. We’re lucky to have diverse terrain that makes for great training opportunities. You can find equivalent courses offered throughout the United States and Europe.
Beginning with the Intro to Mountaineering course, you will get familiar with your gear and learn how to recognize hazards and plan your route using maps, forecasts, and terrain clues, use equipment such as crampons and ice axes to move over steep snow and ice, and how to properly self-arrest in the event of a fall. You’ll also grasp quickly that proper teamwork is essential to success in the mountains. Team dynamics play a huge role in effective ropework. To introduce these concepts, you’ll start by learning and practicing basic knots and hitches, as well as building rock and snow anchors for use in belaying and rappelling.
Becoming familiar with the gear and its basic application will ease your transition into the next step: practicing these skills and getting comfortable with your systems before applying them in real time.
If a crevasse fall occurs, rescue timing and efficiency are paramount. As such, it is extremely important that you understand and have practiced what to do in this scenario in order to protect yourself, rescue your teammate(s), and prevent further injury.
In your Glacier Travel course, you will learn how to build snow anchors to support your rope system, basic principles of weight distribution, load transfers, and raising/lowering, and how to ascend and descend ropes to safely get in and out of a crevasse.
Taking a course with a group of fellow climbers under the instruction of a certified guide is without question the best way to build your knowledge, skills, and confidence in the mountains. Traveling on glaciated terrain involves objective hazard, and learning how to read the conditions to avoid an accident, as well as knowing what to do should an accident happen, will boost your chances of success in the mountains. And more importantly, it will drastically increase the probability of a safe return home.