Hello everyone,
Under the guidance of my favourite coach Marjaana, I am preparing for a 4800m climb (Mont Blanc, France), a 3-day event planned in 2 months.
Technically, this type of event requires the ability to hike more than 1000m/day for 3 consecutive days, carrying a heavy backpack (>10Kg), at an average altitude of over 3000m, spending nights in uncomfortable conditions, a quite demanding situation. Low oxygen levels definitely increase the difficulty. And unfortunately, I don’t have enough time to get properly acclimatised to the altitude, but a fast climb like this is absolutely doable.
I am interested in any feedback/insights from hypoxic training plans/tools to complement my current training plan based on running/hiking/cycling, with the aim of supporting the effects of high altitude and optimising my mountaineering preparation. I have always planned to spend some nights above 3000m, but most of the time I live between sea level and a maximum of 600m altitude. That’s why I’m interested in any artificial Low Living High Training (LLHT) options that are technically relevant and approved.
Thank you very much in advance for any help you can give.
I have quite a bit of history of high altitude mountaineering in my background over the decades.
That’s rather an aggressive schedule. Are you doing any acclimatisation peaks before Mont Blanc? Typically on my annual Alps trips I’d not tackle something as high as Mont Blanc till at least a week of tackling lower peaks in the 3,800 to 4,200m range.
I’d expect some altitude sickness if you are flying in to Geneva then heading up Mont Blanc not long after.
You could look to see if there are any hypoxic chamber facilities near you. Not something I’ve used as I’ve always used traditional acclimatisation techniques once in location.
You might want to sign up on Uphill Athlete to ask your questions as that has a mountaineering focus, and very knowledgeable professional mountaineers founded it.
Many thanks for your reply and recommendation Phil, I will look into it carefully.
I live in the area and have some experience of moutaineering, so thankfully I will not be flying to Geneva and climbing directly.
But still, I want to optimise my acclimatisation to have the best possible experience.
Renaud, you may enjoy this podcast : Uphill Athlete Podcast on Apple Podcasts