radson wrote:
Im kinda curious K2, have you had much HA experience or are you going straight to 8,000 m. Climbing at these heights with commercial expeditions I think is more about being smart at altitude rather than being uber fit.

All my HA experience listed above. Never been above 7000 m before (Aconcagua is a hair short of 7000 m) though. So far I don't have a lot of problems, got some headache but always recover quickly.

Cho Oyu is called one of the easy 8000 meter peaks. Using the words "easy" and "8000 meter peak" in the same sentence is ridiculous. Even Cho Oyu has a couple of near vertical ice and rock sections. As for training, some upper body strength is helpful for ascending the fixed lines, so work on that a bit. The rest is just endurance and lots of it. Someone earlier said that an 8 mile run was short. I agree, 8000 meter peaks are marathons. I don't think that the type of workout (hiking outdoors or machines in the gym) makes a big difference. Just work hard and long, because that's what you will be doing on the mountain. Also, Cho Oyu is not Aconcagua with more snow (I've climbed both). I found Cho Oyu to be a lot more difficult because of the altitude. This may vary with individuals. I've had climbing partners who would leave me in the dust up to 6000 meters, but above that, I was king (your mileage may vary). In any case, train like crazy, because the better shape you are in when you arrive at Base Camp, the more fun you will have. That little photo to the left is me on Cho Oyu between Camp I and Camp II. Have fun, be safe.

yetibreath wrote:Cho Oyu is called one of the easy 8000 meter peaks. Using the words "easy" and "8000 meter peak" in the same sentence is ridiculous. Even Cho Oyu has a couple of near vertical ice and rock sections. As for training, some upper body strength is helpful for ascending the fixed lines, so work on that a bit. The rest is just endurance and lots of it. Someone earlier said that an 8 mile run was short. I agree, 8000 meter peaks are marathons. I don't think that the type of workout (hiking outdoors or machines in the gym) makes a big difference. Just work hard and long, because that's what you will be doing on the mountain. Also, Cho Oyu is not Aconcagua with more snow (I've climbed both). I found Cho Oyu to be a lot more difficult because of the altitude. This may vary with individuals. I've had climbing partners who would leave me in the dust up to 6000 meters, but above that, I was king (your mileage may vary). In any case, train like crazy, because the better shape you are in when you arrive at Base Camp, the more fun you will have. That little photo to the left is me on Cho Oyu between Camp I and Camp II. Have fun, be safe.

It's great to hear some valuable advices from someone who has Cho oyu experience! Thanks. Would you share more of your Cho Oyu experience? Do you have any blog or trip reports any sorts? I am eager to know more.

I agree with Yetibreath as well. I found Aconcagua surprisingly easy and Cho Oyu much much tougher than I expected ( I only got to Camp 2)No way is Cho Oyu just aconcagua with more snow. I attempted Cho Oyu after Ama Dablam and Mustagh Ata.

What I remember most from my Nepal and Tibet trips was, that we generally hiked,climbed and were active for at least four/five days at the time before we got a rest day or two.

Climbing in the Sierra here in California on weekends really did not prepare us well for the high work load that was required. We would drive to the mountains Friday night, hike somewhere high the next day, climb a route, hike to the car and drive home Sunday evening.

On the 8,000 meter peaks the trips up and down the mountain/route are longer, sometimes quite a bit longer. The most important thing in my opinion is, to train your body to accept strenuous activity for at least four days at the time and to be able to handle much more workload for longer periods of time.

IMO, being able to work hard for more than just a day or two at a time is the thing to train for. Those of us, who were able to climb hard and strong for several days before a rest day, were the ones who did well.

I know little about the activity on guided trips, so this advice might only fit those who will not use sherpas or guides, who will set up their own fixed ropes and camps etc. But most likely, being stronger and coping with it longer can benefit anyone attempting the high peaks.

asmrz wrote:being stronger and coping with it longer can benefit anyone attempting the high peaks.

Well said! This is exactly what I believe and prepare for. Basically for Cho Oyu I believe three things are critical to success: ability to deal with the elevation (which there is pretty much nothing I can do about it), be super fit (fortunately I can do something in this area), and very limited technical stretch (around 100 feet of ice climbing with fixed rope sounds doable to me).

Seems like you guys all climbed Cho Oyu without guide? It's really hard to imagine this for me. Don't you guys worry about get lost in the mountain that you had never been before?

radson wrote:I only got to Camp 2.

What stopped you? Weather? Poor acclimatization?

I was on a IMG expediton. We didnt have a guide per se but Mike Hamil was overall leader of the expedition plus all camps were stocked by IMG's Sherpa crew. IMG pulled the plug on the whole expedition as we hit some bad weather at the end of the expedition. Realistically, I dont think I would have made the summit. I found Cho Oyu really hard.

radson wrote:I was on a IMG expediton. We didnt have a guide per se but Mike Hamil was overall leader of the expedition plus all camps were stocked by IMG's Sherpa crew. IMG pulled the plug on the whole expedition as we hit some bad weather at the end of the expedition. Realistically, I dont think I would have made the summit. I found Cho Oyu really hard.

Really nice shot! By my understanding, you are a professional mountain guide (( read your TR of Spantik, great TR BTW), I am curious what made you thought you couldn't make it on Cho Oyu? You mentioned you had just made the summit of MA, and MA by my understand is also a long slog and is not that much a big difference from Cho Oyu. Am I wrong?
BTW, does FTA still do Spantik this year? I know a friend of mine might interested.

Hey K2,

No, I am not a mountain guide, just a keen amateur. I attempted Mustagh Ata but only made it to 7,000 m due to weather. Cho Oyu is much much harder than Mustagh Ata. I hope you can get the understanding that CHo Oyu is hard work. Cho Oyu, Shish, G2 and Manaslu are kinda marketed as easy 8'000 m peaks and that is such a misnomer. Yeah compared to Kanch, Makalu, Annapurna etc they are easy but still they are epic undertakings.

I hope my comments are not misconstrued. Yeah you have to be fit, but a lot of fit people don't summit big mountains. You need to be in a good mental and physical state at Camp 3 on the night of your summit push. That takes a lot more than just being fit. You need to be healthy and prepared on that night. You have set yourself up for that final summit push and that means being fed, hydrated, warm, relatively rested, acclimatised, gear ready etc. Ive seen a lot of very fit people fuck up as they think their fitness is all that matters. I have seen slower older more mindful climbers have great success. I kinda hate the word but all mountains, especially the big ones have to be approached in a 'holistic way', not just fitness. You would be on Cho Oyu for 6 weeks, and it all counts for nought if you are not ready on T-1 at Camp 3.

So what am i saying? I recommend not going from Aconcagua to Cho Oyu. Maybe visit via Denali, and other more 'real climbing mountains before you rock up to Tingri.

Im not sure what is happening with FTA and Spantik. Best to email them direct.

Good luck.

radson wrote:Hey K2,

No, I am not a mountain guide, just a keen amateur. I attempted Mustagh Ata but only made it to 7,000 m due to weather. Cho Oyu is much much harder than Mustagh Ata. I hope you can get the understanding that CHo Oyu is hard work. Cho Oyu, Shish, G2 and Manaslu are kinda marketed as easy 8'000 m peaks and that is such a misnomer. Yeah compared to Kanch, Makalu, Annapurna etc they are easy but still they are epic undertakings.

Good luck.

Sorry I misunderstood your message. In your TR to Spantik you mentioned that you 'work for FTA' thus the confusion.

Thanks for your advice! I certainly understand Cho Oyu is a formidable giant and deserves everyone full respect!
Your point is very well taken. The reason I want to try Cho Oyu is basically based on the amount of objective dangers and time frame, etc. There is not a lot of difference as far as time speaking for Cho Oyu compared with some other intermediate 7000 meter peaks such as Spantik, Baruntse, MA etc. Baruntse will cost pretty much the same as Cho Oyu.....Denali is a long slog just like Cho Oyu but the elevation is simply not there and I want to move higher. I am not a climber per se, climbing a mountain is fun to me, but not as fun as reaching a higher altitude.

Anyway, I have't put any deposit yet so I can still keep my options open. But as far as training per se, I am still targeting at Cho Oyu.

Yeah thats cool. Just for the record. I consider a mountain guide, someone who has studied, trained and received the coveted qualification from the respective Alpine organisation. IAMG, AMGA, NZMGA etc. I on the other hand was 'expedition leader' on Spantik in 2012.

Anyways, maybe try and examine what you really want from mountaineering. Crossing an arbitrary line? Higher is not better. By gaining experience and practice on lower peaks, you can go to higher peaks as a more rounded climber, able to help yourself and others, not just head bowed down, following a fixed line on o's.

Like Radson mentioned, what you climb and HOW you climb depends on what you want out of mountaineering. There's a drastic difference between climbing guided vs not and climbing with O's vs not. Look into Lenin Pik in Kyrgyzstan for a relatively easy 7,000m with in-country costs of less than 500 USD. Assuming you climb independently. And it's a very easy mountain to climb independently. You can get from the airport to BC in four days. No visa costs, no permits, just a country with a lot of mountains that have not been spoiled by mass tourism.

I can't offer any personal 8k meter advise yet (Cho Oyu or Manaslu are in the dream stage) but some of the best advise I was given for training was to rely less on weights/cardio machines and go out for long walks/hikes with a heavy pack. Some people wear flexible double boots (I use an old pair of Scarpa Phantom 6000's) and go without walking sticks to work on balance and strength. Biking and swimming are excellent low impact cardio exercises as well. But a long walk with a pack is simply the best for me and best of all haven't suffered an injury from it yet. It's always impressed me how wiry many Himalayan climbers are. My best performance was towards the middle of a season when I was about 8 pounds below my ideal body weight, feeling thin but surprisingly quick and strong. A quick visit to a nutritionist is also a great investment. Good luck with your goals!

I've only been to about 19K, but chiming in anyway. I've found mtnathlete.com and Rob's philosophy to be very effective and practical. I live at sea level and can't "go spend long days in the mountains", but find these work outs serve me quite well when I do get out in the mountains.
If you have an hour, IMO a workout like those from mtnathlete will be as valuable as an hour on a stepmill with a pack.
As you're in Cali, there are mountains around so getting out on weekends would be great. Something like 1 weekend long hike, 1 midweek "gym hike" and 2-3 mtnathlete style workouts would serve you well.