I have been training for about 3 to 4 years using Scott’s methods (fairly diligent over time but it ebbs and flows for sure). I’ve seen huge gains in my uphill speed with skinning (went from taking about 6 hours to do a 1500m volcano slog to taking about 3.5 hours at an aerobic effort).
However, I haven’t seen the same gains when it gets steep and I need to start bootpacking. I feel like my speed has generally remained pretty constant for this over the last few years, though it’s hard to make comparisons directly since this can be even more condition-dependent than skinning.
My uphill trail running speed has improved a lot and I find that this is more independent of steepness, though I am sure there is a point where my gains are diminished as well.
My question is: what is the best tactic to take to address this? Stick the course and do a combo of basebuilding w/ max strength followed by ME cycles? Or is there something I could incorporate differently into my aerobic workouts to also improve this aspect of my fitness. Thanks!