Mountaineers have tried to rationalize their obsession with scaling peaks for centuries. “What is above knows what is below but what is below does not know what is above,” wrote Rene Daumal. Anatoli Boukreev said, “[Mountains] are the cathedrals where I practice my religion,” and John Muir famously described them as an irresistible siren song: “The mountains are calling and I must go.”
Then there are those that submit to the pointlessness of it all. Lionel Terray labeled climbers as “conquistadors of the useless” and George Mallory cited his desire to climb Mt. Everest with, “because it’s there.” No matter what reason you’ve got for being here, these are the building blocks for anyone who wants to know how to climb a mountain.
Choosing an Objective
The first step to any summit attempt is picking the mountain you want to climb. Picking a peak that motivates you is the key here. Put a picture of the mountain over your desk at work, as the background of your phone, on your fridge, or in your home gym as a daily dose of stoke. I even knew a guy that taped a picture of Denali to the ceiling above his bed so it was the first thing he saw every morning. If your objective motivates you, it means you’re much more likely to put in all the work it requires.
Short-Term Objectives
Short-term objectives are ones that have a realistic timeline for completion. These peaks are challenges that are achievable, but gradually push your abilities so that you’re building experience along the way. A short-term objective is one that you can put a summit date on within the next year or two and start planning and training for immediately.
Eventually, you want your short-term objectives to build on each other in order to turn your long-term objectives into a reality. But be careful not to over focus on one dream mountain. Stay flexible and open to different options as you build your skills and confidence. An obsessive mentality around one peak can cause you to make dangerous decisions. It can also leave you feeling lost and unmotivated if you finally stand on top of your coveted summit after so much time working towards it. The goal posts are always moving and there are plenty of beautiful mountains in the world to climb.
Long-Term Objectives
A good long-term objective is a dream route or what I call a “one day” peak — as in, “one day I’ll climb that.” These are climbs that can be aspirational without a concrete timeline. They might require a mix of skill and experience that you’ve yet to gain in your climbing career. They could also be objectives that take a lot of time and resources or take years to complete, like a trip to the Himalaya or completing the Seven Summits.
Trip Plan
A good plan is a good start. Most successful summits happen over months or even years thanks to a well-executed plan. This is the phase where you recruit partners, build a budget, and collect the requisite gear for the climb. I recommend creating a shared document to track tasks and progress. If you’re a detail-oriented, type A personality, this might be your favorite part of the mountain climbing process. If you’re like me and have trouble staying focused or organized, this might take some extra time and effort to get good at. But either way, this is not a step to skip when trying to climb a mountain.
Season
The alpine environment experiences weather more severely than the places that we typically live. That means the seasonal changes are more drastic in the mountains than in the towns at their base. Some mountains that are easy hikes in the summer months are harrowing frozen adventures in the winter. Mt. Washington in New Hampshire is a perfect example of this phenomenon as an easy hike or drive will take you to the top in the summer but has recorded the highest wind speed in the U.S. during winter. Do your research to find out the best time of year to attempt your route. Even a month or two can make the difference in summiting.
Partners
While a solo trip can be an appealing adventure, most summits are reached through the efforts of a team. A good partner or party will provide extra motivation, a shared sense of camaraderie, and help out generally with the work load. It’s nice to have at least one other person to help carry gear, belay or rescue you (if required), and break trail through deep snow when you’re tired.
A good partner is someone who shares your motivation and risk tolerance in completing the same objective. They are also committed to the work it takes to summit a mountain and either have or are willing to gain the proper skills and fitness. A good team compliments each other’s strengths so find someone who excels in areas that you’re working on like experience, technical ability, or attention to detail. You want a well-rounded team with as few weaknesses, both psychological and physical, as possible when you show up at the base of your objective.
The last and most important facet of a good climbing partner is that you get along with them. You’re going to be spending a lot of time together and it’s going to be memorable and trying. You want that time to be spent with someone you truly enjoy and respect, even if they aren’t quite the perfect partner on paper.
Budget
Transportation, gear, food, training trips, and time away from work might all factor into your climbing budget and they add up quick. I have had to cancel a few climbing trips that looked good right up until the moment we pulled out a calculator and realized we didn’t have the proper funds. So figure out your budget early before you get too emotionally invested.
Don’t keep the margins too tight when you’re planning your budget either. The price of eggs and gas change, gear breaks, and life expenses can pop up suddenly. Always make sure you’ve got some cushion for the unexpected when it comes to your trip finances.
Gear
Ultimately, whether you summit or not will come down to your ability and luck. But the gear you bring will stack the odds for or against you. Even though it’s expensive at times, the proper gear will keep you safe and comfortable so pay close attention to what you absolutely need and what you can leave behind.
Most overnight climbing trips will require a backpack, tent, stove, sleeping bag, and sleeping pad. You’ll also be bringing clothing appropriate for the weather and objective which can include thermal underwear, mid layers, shells, socks, and gloves.
If your objective is going to be technical in nature (meaning more than just hiking) then you’re going to need a rope, harness, helmet, belay device, and anchoring/rescue materials.
If the technical terrain is mostly rock climbing, you might need to add approach shoes, climbing shoes, climbing clothes, and chalk. But if the technical challenges are going to include glacier travel or ice climbing then ice axes/tools, crampons, mountaineering boots, and protective sunglasses will go into the kit.
Make sure to get what you need early to break in the gear and familiarize yourself with it. The last thing you want to do is learn how to use a new piece of your kit on the way to the summit.
Training
Once you’ve got an objective and plan in place, it’s time to train. Training is the hard work of getting yourself ready for your climb physically and mentally. Sometimes training is monotonous and mind numbing. This is where that motivational photo as your phone screen background comes into play. Use everything at your disposal to stay inspired like mantras, books, pictures, or warm up trips to avoid losing interest. You’ll be happy for those extra days spent in the gym or under the pack once you’re summit-bound.
Fitness Calendar
To put together a fitness calendar, work backwards from the target date of your climb to determine how much time you have. Then identify the physical feats your ascent will require (e.g. 3,000-foot ascent with a 25-pound pack, 200 vertical feet of ice climbing, three pitches of 5.8 rock climbing) and set training check points in your calendar that match these goals. You can consult the wide range of fitness resources that exist in websites, books, and personal training services to help map out how you’ll reach these check points. But remember to keep your calendar flexible and don’t be afraid to pivot. Life happens and most successful fitness goals aren’t without setbacks and bumps along the way.
Education and Skills
If your objective requires you to learn or develop new skills, you’ll want to make sure you include time for this in your training. Some mountains involve glacier travel so you’ll want to get practice moving on a rope team and performing crevasse rescue. Other climbs could entail vertical rock or ice climbing so learning skills like anchor building and belaying will be essential to staying safe.
Seek out experienced climbing mentors to teach you these skills or join an alpine or mountaineering club to take classes. For those that have the resources, hiring an experienced guide from a reputable guide service can be one of the fastest ways to develop climbing skills. As a professional guide for Mountain Madness, I have helped a number of people learn the necessary techniques to achieve their alpine dreams through courses like Intro to Rock, Glacier Mountaineering, Alpine Climbing, and many others.
While many tutorials can be found online in videos, I recommend learning from someone in person so that they can give you live feedback if you’re missing something or making a crucial error.
Climbing Your Mountain
Once that circled date on your calendar arrives, actually getting to attempt your objective is the payoff for all the tedious planning and grinding physical and mental work you’ve put in. But your approach and strategy on the day (or days or weeks) of your summit attempt can still make or break the experience.
Stay in the Moment
Make sure you’re paying attention to the present moment on your climb instead of thinking about your previous preparation or future glory. Focus on the sounds of the creek beside you, the feel of the crisp morning air, or the beauty of the sunrise on the mountain.
Staying present helps to keep unnecessary doubt at bay and invites positivity. It also keeps your mind focused on the task at hand so you have the mental energy to make decisions. No climb goes exactly as planned so your day is going to be a series of decisions and you don’t want to waste energy dwelling on the project at work you neglected or how many reps of squats you skipped in training.
Food
Food is fuel on long summit days so bring the right amount. Training should give you an idea of how much and what kind of food you’ll want to eat but there are also ways to calculate and project the number of calories it takes so you don’t run out of energy.
But calories aren’t the only thing to consider when eating for climbing. I recommend eating things that are familiar and that you actually like eating. A protein bar might have the right amount of carbs and fat, but a salami and cheese tortilla often sounds more appetizing to me. It has the benefit of being made out of recognizable ingredients that I can actually pronounce.
Flexible Decision Making
Standing on the summit may be the most exhilarating moment of a climb, but it is also only the half way point. No summit is worth the risk of not coming back so don’t be afraid to pivot, change your timeline, or bail completely from a summit attempt if conditions aren’t right or you don’t have the energy to come down safely.
A good strategy to keep ambitions in check is to set a “reevaluation time” with the entire team. This is a dedicated time that you and the team agree to come together and discuss options if you aren’t yet on the summit. Some people call this a “turn around time.” But summit days and mountain conditions are dynamic so I never recommend locking yourself into a pre-determined decision. Maybe after reevaluation you decide to turn around, but flexible decision making is key to success in the alpine.
Read Next: The Way Up: What It’s Like to Bag Your First Peak
Good First Mountains
Class 4 Hikes/Scrambles
Longs Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO — Keyhole Route
This is a fantastically exposed day climb of RMNP’s highest peak. In the summer months, hundreds of peak baggers set out at 2 a.m. or earlier to race for the summit of Longs Peak before the famed afternoon thunder storms start to roll in. This is a committing and conditions dependent jaunt to over 14,000 feet.
Black Peak, North Cascades National Park, WA — Multiple Routes
There are multiple ways to scramble to the top of Black Peak. Some who summit bring a rope while others choose to leave it behind. This remote peak in NCNP can be done in one long 5,000-foot day or broken up into an overnight endeavor.
Alpine Rock Climbing
Grand Teton, Grand Teton National Park, WY — Owen Spalding Route
This peak is iconic and the namesake of Grand Teton National Park outside of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. While the climbing on this route is relatively easy, a rope, climbing helmet, and rappelling experience will be required to safely ascend and descend this mountain.
Forbidden Peak, North Cascades National Park, WA — West Ridge
One of the 50 Classic Climbs of North America, this is rock climbing on a knife-edge ridge in a wild and breathtaking alpine setting. Rock climbing, scrambling, and rappelling over a long summit day is required to tag the top of this classic.
Glacier and Snow Climbing
Mount Hood, Mount Hood National Forest, OR — South Route
Many are called to climb Mount Hood when driving through Government Camp and staring up at the towering peak. This is Oregon state’s highest peak and an excellent first outing for aspiring mountaineers. The climb features a long snow slog with a short section of roped travel at the end. Most complete it in a day.
Mount Baker, Snoqualmie National Forest, WA — Easton Glacier Route
This mountain is often used as a training route for the mighty Mount Rainier in Washington state. It is often climbed as a three day objective and is an excellent venue for extended roped glacier travel. Many use the lower glaciers on Mount Baker to practice crevasse rescue and ice climbing.
Final Thoughts
The world is full of mountains worthy of our admiration and ambition. If you have a desire to scale the high points on the horizon, then you’re spoiled for choice. Use this guide as a starting point for your journey into the vertical world, but don’t ever stop learning because climbing mountains offers a lifetime of growth if we’re open to it. My parting goal to you is to climb high, come down, and always have fun.
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