News of Technique and Training

Has anyone had hip flexor issues hiking/ climbing? I pushed a little too hard on Granite Peak last summer and really messed mine up—it is still lingering a bit. Anyhow, just wondering what works and what doesn’t? Thanks

While I've always been interested in measuring this in the "field", I have yet to take out the proper equipment (a good heart rate monitor). Still, I feel one can get a decent estimate and feel for calories burned on a certain hike with indoor studies, and so I did someinterpretation of a research paper and consequently made a '1st generation' caloric expenditure hiking calculator.

Now there is still a lot of work to improve ...

I was just reading The Complete Guide to Climbing and Mountaineering and they have a nice photo (page 198 for those reading along) showing the middleman tied in using an short isolation loop. I like the idea. The rope is able to ride along side of you while walking better than other methods (butterfly and biners, etc.). I can't rationalize any downsides to this method, assuming the isolation knot is close enough to reach in ...

I breathe through both nose and mouth while running/training in order to get adequate oxygen. As such, I was wondering if I only breathe through the nose, does it simulate high altitude conditions of less oxygen. Will it help me train for altitude or faster acclimatization?

I live at sea level.

How should I go about learning to set bolts? I want to start placing some, but I really want to make sure I know what I'm doing, and how I can be sure that the bolt is set well.

I have a good place that needs them that could also be good for practicing to set bolts - no one really climbs there, so no one should care, and I can practice placing them in ...

Hi folks,
Sorry if someone has posted this question already. The summitpost forums don't seem to have a search function.

Has anyone had any positive experiences with the sports drink acli-mate?
http://www.acli-mate.com/

SP member christinestella mentions using it on her Winter Denali attempt this spring. She seems to have had good results with acli-mate and recommends it (see the Summitpost Alaska/Canada forum: page 3). I looked on their website, ...

Going to tackle Elbrus again this year. But as my body seems to adjust slowly to heigth, I'm looking for a "fool-proof" acclimatisation schedule.

Some mountain pages have schedules like this, but I'm looking to find one that doesn't take camps or other convenient things into account. I'm looking for something that should work for every "normal" person on any mountain (but for now Elbrus' altitude is high enough). For the record, I've been higher, ...

I was curious how much hiking pole weight really matters...found only a few papers studying effect of pole weight, and wrote up something on that.

for those that used heavier and lighter versions, do you notice any significant effect? in the upper extremities only or a whole body effect?

So over the summer, at home in Hawaii, I am hoping to rappel into several otherwise inaccessible hanging valleys. Some have small trees at the top to anchor too, but some area's do not. I will be rapping from the summit ridge line down. The summit ridge is very vegetated, but mostly by just shrubs and ferns etc. Does anyone have any ideas about building anchors in these areas? I was thinking about the feasibility ...