Outdoors4Life

Disclaimer

The blog below is my experience and my opinions regarding the hike and training.  Please use your judgement and consult a professional personal trainers for training plans specifically customized for you if you are contemplating doing EBC.

Overview

EBC is not a technical hike.  People in their 60s and 70s have been known to successfully summit to the Base camp.  I, myself, have a host of medical issues (asthma, high blood pressure, knee pain etc.) was able to complete this hike with a 2 month rigorous training.  That is to say that this hike is doable if you have the will – and train appropriately.

That being said, being in good physical health is always recommended for any hike – high altitude or otherwise.  It is also necessary to enjoy the experience and maximize your chances of completing this hike.

The EBC hike is more of a gradual uphill walk with cobblestone type terrain the first couple of days.  What makes it difficult is the altitude, lack of oxygen and distance/duration.  To be able to do this, you need cardiovascular endurance, ability to walk long stretches with a heavy backpack and hiking specific training. 

One of the most important aspects of training in my opinion that a lot of people overlook is mental fortitude.  Once you have trained for the hike and actually hit the trail, the mountain takes a lot out of you.  There is no rhyme or reason to why AMS hits certain people and others do just fine – I can tell you that physical fitness has nothing to do with this.  Most of my hiking group – young men in their late 20s – felt mild to moderate symptoms of AMS almost from the beginning while I was fortunate enough not have that.  When you train so extensively, spend so much time and energy and money to get to the trail, and face having to climb with a splitting headache or low grade nausea or light headedness for hours on end and for days on end, it is one of the most discouraging obstacles to face.  Our guide told us that most people who turn back in the first 4 days do so because they were not expecting to feel so sick so soon.  It is extremely difficult to go through this and still convince yourself to keep putting one foot in front of the other.  Luckily, the landscape is beautiful enough that it can distract you – if you let it.

Training details

Remember to train in the exact gear you are going to use on the hike.  This will help you break into it as well as help you figure out if something that is highly recommended is not working for you.  I researched and bought light weight hiking boots (brand?) only to realize within one use that they were still too heavy for me. I ended up opting for trail shoes with lesser ankle support, lower sole thickness and not as waterproof as hiking boots.  These worked great for me during training and absolutely well on the EBC trek.

Cardiovascular endurance

I started with 1-2 mi fast walks in the neighborhood, 4-5 days a week, gradually ramping it up to 3-4 mi.  I would incorporate 1-2 mi runs into this as well with the goal of running 4 miles 3X a week.  The runs worked not only to strengthen my leg muscles, but also my lung capacity.  Your lungs don’t know the difference between gasping for air because you are on an endurance run vs because the oxygen level is really low!  The endurance built up by one, carries forward and helps you with the other!!

Building up leg strength and stamina – Hiking

I live on the East coast in the US where we don’t really have high altitude mountains.  So, to gauge how I would react to that, we did a 14er in Colorado (Quandary Peak).  Once I knew I was able to handle about 14000 ft. of altitude and oxygen level without triggering my asthma, I decided to seriously pursue training for EBC.

Flexibility

I would do 30 min of yoga – focusing on mainly breathing techniques and stretching 5 times a week. I do believe this significantly helped me with core strength, being able to carry the day pack without stressing out my neck and back muscles too much.  The breathing techniques (Pranayama and holding your breath for increasing long intervals – I was able to get to 1:30 min) helped me maintain my oxygen levels which never dropped below 95% while the rest of the group hovered between 80% to 92%.  I religiously did this yoga every morning on the trail as well to warm up my body before the hike of the day.

Stairmaster

I had been warned to do stairs.  Unfortunately, I did not pay as much attention to this as I should have.  The first couple of days is all rocky, cobblestone type uphill terrain where stair-master would have significantly helped me.  This was the one big glaring blind spot in my training.  I would recommend doing stairmaster for 15 min and building it up to 30 min 3X a week into your workout regimen.