How to start with mountaineering

Hello everyone,

I am Marius, 32 years old, and I live in Aachen. I love strength and endurance sports, preferably powerlifting and ultramarathons up to 65km. For some time now, I have been looking for a new physical and mental challenge and came across mountaineering. Unfortunately, I am a bit clueless about where to start.

What does an adequate training program look like?

Where can I have my first encounters with mountaineering?

What should I generally keep in mind as a beginner?

Thanks a lot for your help,

Marius

Hi Marius, greetings from California!

I’m no mountaineer, but the book Training for the New Alpinism has lots of info about training. I believe that it’s fairly well respected.

Wish I could help with your other questions.

Cheers 

Freedom of the Hills is going to be a better starting point if you've never done any mountaineering or climbing: lack of technical skills is a bigger hurdle than fitness if you've run ultras. What kind of mountaineering? If you can't answer that question, go to the Alps and hire a guide for a few days. Make sure to find someone who is game to actually teach you things. Guides in vacation destinations like Chamonix often see their task as hauling your ass up (sometimes literally) and won't bother teaching you anything unless you make a point of asking.

Hello from Chicago, USA! I’m not sure exactly how you are defining mountaineering, but rock climbing has many forms and types; not just climbing big snowy mountains. All of them require different skills (indoor, bouldering, sport, trad, big wall, mountaineering, ice climbing, 8k peak climbing)

Like others have said the biggest problem will be you knowing how to stay safe and use equipment when climbing outside. There are many details to it depending on what you do, and your life depends on it.

My advice is this.

- climb indoors at a local gym. It will help you feel some new movement and also give you a new workout. Just go in and tell the person you don’t know anything, they can help!

- find a mountaineering group or program, local to you I don’t know, but I’m sure a lot exists if you look and ask. Or finding friends that you trust to show you can work too.

- read books on it. All kinds, technical ones, adventure stories, death reports (it’s important to know how things can go wrong).

- consume online content like YouTube and podcasts. There is a lot of climbing content to help someone learn.

It’s a beautiful activity, and you can progress fast. But it’s important to be safe and know what you are doing. 

Logical climbing progression. Not mandatory order but a good way to build confidence. These have increasing amounts of suffering involved and you can figure out if you want to be cold or not. The other benefit of building a ladder like this is finding friends/partners. 

Gym -> Sport -> Trad/Ice -> Multipitch -> Alpine -> Mountaineering.

IMO mountaineering really starts with big hikes to summit mountains. Also - ive heard mountaineering described as a cold weather camping experience. How good are you at camping/backpacking?

I'd start by going south and doing big hikes in the German Alps, logical progression is something that will follow naturally. We all come to alpinism/mountaineering from different sides but what we all share is that we love spending time in the mountains. For me the logical progression was hiking - via ferrata - beginner alpinism - gym climbing - trad climbing - ice climbing - technical mountaineering. 

Also, define mountaineering. Are you looking for a 'big' challenge and sufferfest just to say that you did something hard or do you like spending time in the mountains? 

Thank you for the numerous responses! I’ll take the liberty of addressing all your points and dividing them into different sections.

Motivation:

Primarily, I am looking for the "ultimate" challenge for myself, but I also love spending time in the mountains or in nature in general. Because of my job, I simply need these challenges; it's like therapy for me.

Experience:

I am quite familiar with the Alps. I have already been able to gather some initial experiences there (hiking, alpine runs) and discovered this passion for myself. Climbing is currently my biggest deficit, but I have been studying it intensively in theory and will actively include climbing in my training program starting today.

Goal:

For me, it is quite clear that I want to reach the summit of an 8000-meter peak. I need this one big goal, both professionally and personally, which I will pursue with all my determination. I can’t yet say which peak it will be in the end. What I do not want is to pay 70k to be "carried up" there.

Requirements:

When I do something, I do it as professionally as possible; otherwise, it’s no fun for me. It’s not enough for me to just do something to be able to say I’ve done it. I am self-employed and can manage my time relatively flexibly.

Roadmap:

Currently, I am setting various milestones, and the kickoff for my project begins with a vacation in the Alps and a hike to the Zugspitze. Which mountains should be included in a roadmap that I can use as milestones for a potential 8000-meter peak?

If you don't want to be 'carried up' there but do some serious routes I'd set some intermediate goals first. Go attend some climbing courses, get into ice and alpine climbing before seriously thinking about the 8000ers, do A LOT of technical routes in the Alps. Attend an alpine or ice climbing course organised by the DAV - or both.

If you really like it, knowledge will come naturally and you will be able to put yourself on a road map to the Himalayas.

Trying to answer this question for you right now is like trying to explain parenting to somebody without kids. There's too many moving parts.   

Also, you might have noticed that the 8000ers are quite a shit show nowadays. If technically challenging ascents are what you are aspiring to, you might want to adjust your altitude to 6000-7000 meters. 

Edit: BTW Zugspitze, especially via the klettersteig, is a good first step into the world of alpine. But ferratas are restrictive. I'd really recommend doing a multiday summer alpine climbing course. It will give you all the tools you'll need to start progressing. 

Hire a guide for a couple of days of climbing. That will open your eyes. Your guide can help instruct you on how to achieve your goals.

Einfach für starters: www.alpenverein.de Zu viel basic unterrichten and guidance.

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the numerous and especially helpful tips. 

I have currently adjusted my strength training and incorporated more strength/endurance sessions. I haven’t changed my running routine, still doing a lot of Zone 2 training with an average of 80 km per week. 

Additionally, I’m now going to the climbing gym every other day and starting to learn the basics, with the goal of climbing outdoors as soon as possible.

Soon, I’ll be heading to the Zugspitze for some hiking, which I’m really looking forward to. Moreover, a 110 km ultra-march is planned, and I’m planning a trip to Kilimanjaro (Northern Circuit). Other trips that focus more on climbing are planned depending on my progress.

Best regards,  

Marius