Digging an apex goal out of the wastebin

I climbed my first state highpoint 18 years ago. Joining the Highpointers Club is what I call an “apex goal”…it’s a huge goal that doesn’t feed into anything more ambitious. I will be supremely satisfied when it is accomplished. The problem has always been Denali…my apex goal in mountaineering. The time, money, experience, fitness, and weather all have to align. In the past 3 years I’ve managed to climb Rainier, Hood, and Gannett – all formidable mountains that were stepping stones to Denali. But these mountains pushed me to my physical limits. I was miserable and had little safety margin. I knew that in order to climb Denali I would need to train harder and I didn’t think that was possible. Let me briefly explain.

I was really into Krav Maga, a self-defense system. I would train Krav 2-3 hours a week and I would describe the kind of exercise I would get during a Krav session as highly anaerobic. The gym offered fitness classes as well which were all CrossFit based. This was my only source of fitness training for about 5 years. The problem I had was that every time I tried to train more for a mountaineering goal I would inevitably get injured at Krav because it’s a rough sport. And since I had trained so much for Rainier/Hood/Gannett (4-5 hrs a week) and felt so physically challenged I came to the following conclusion: There is no way I can increase my training enough for a mountain like Denali without getting injured at my age (49). So, I threw that goal in the wastebin. I was almost at peace with it but my kids said “Dad, I can’t believe it we’ve never seen you quit on anything.” That stuck in my head but I was focused on my Krav goals.

Then two things happened in the course of 3 months that changed everything, First, during a Krav belt test I snapped my left ACL (Grade 3 tear). Second, I found and bought Training for the New Alpinism (because I couldn’t get that thing my kids said out of my head). With my ACL tear I was officially retired from Krav. With TFTNA I realized I had been training for mountaineering completely wrong. I started thinking Denali might be possible. After rehabbing from the ACL inury (no surgery my knee feels fine without it) I bought the 24-week Mountaineering Training program and booked a trip to climb Ecuador volcanoes (Cayumbe, Cotapaxi, and Chimborazo). I trained super hard but this time completely injury free. I started with a AeT around 115 bpm and after training for about 30 weeks went into the Ecuador trip with an AeT of 140bpm and feeling much stronger. Those mountains were tough…I won’t say it was easy. But, I wasn’t miserable and I had a margin of safety – and these were the biggest days of my mountaineering “career”. This program works.

Coming out of that trip last month I would say I am not ready for Denali right now. But…I’m confident if I start training now using the same program combined with some ad-hoc Evoke coaching consultations I can be ready. I’m confident enough that I booked a trip and putting my money where my mouth is. Denali 2025 is a GO!

Jim