Training

Find out what the team members are doing to get ready for the expedition to Denali in May 08.

Follow their ups and downs on the main BLOG as they learn new skills and struggle with the physical and psychological challenges associated with taking part in an expedition of this nature.

January 2008

Voss Norway - winter training, climbing skills further details to follow soon.

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 GOALS PRIOR TO NORWAY

All members must complete the following;

1 – The full Snowdon horseshoe carrying 40lbs the first section to be carried out in darkness
2 – Five ascents of the killer mile / or comparable route in succession carrying 60lbs
3 – Follow the 10k route of the duathlon (or a comparable route) carrying 80lbs
4 – Ski downhill ten times at the Snowdome or Stoke Ski Centre carrying 80lbs

Any team member who is unable to complete the above tasks must think seriously about the whether they are fit enought to Climb Denali next year and should approach Andy Topham about being part of the vital base camp team?

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November 11th – 13th

North Wales Climbing and Camping – for more details contact Matt on 07813268124.

Depart from Lichfield either Sunday morning or evening (depending upon people getting leave) – return to Lichfield on Tuesday evening. This is a great opportunity to climb some big rock routes in North Wales and to get up close and personal with some of your fellow team mates. Lets face it – you don’t want to wait until you are at base camp on Denali to find out if you can spend 12 hours holed up together in a tent NOW do you??

Sunday 11th Nov – Park up just off the A5 at Gwern Gof Isaf GR 686602 – wild camp at either GR 695625 or 698635 en route to Carnedd Llewllyn.

Monday 12th Nov – Approach the foot of Great Gully or Ampitheatre Buttress (>200m long VD rock routes), upon completion continue to climbCarnedd Llewllyn and Carnedd Daffyd before descending to Ogwen Cottage – wild camp near Lyn Idwal.

Tuesday 13th Nov – Climb ordinary route (D rock route) on Idwal Slab followed by Central Arete Direct ( > 200m VD rock route) OR climb North West Face Route (2* scramble) – decisions about which route to take will be dependant on time / weather / conditions at the time. If possible continue to climb Glyder Fawr / Fach / Tryfan before returning to Gwern Gof Isaf GR 686602.

This route requires a high level of fitness as you will be carrying climbing and camping equipment over a long distance, a basic knowledge of climbing ropework is beneficial BUT not essential. Ideally this trip needs pairs of climbers / walkers in order that climbing and camping equipment can be shared out and that good progress can be made on the rock routes. For further details and for information about the equipment required for this trip please speak to Matt Higginson (o7813268124) or Mark Chaplin (Tamworth Fire Station).

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September 24th – 25th

Training with the Marines - a great two days training attended by most of the Denali 08 team members. Our hosts – the Royal Marines – were fantastic, they really made us feel welcome. We were taken right back to the basics… and shown just how much training we will all have to do over the next few months in order to achieve our objective of reaching the summit of Denali.

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EDIT to add from Kev Griffiths – Training Marines Style!!

We arrived to be met by two very fit looking physical training instructors (PTI`s) and were told the endurance course which we would be completing was nine miles from the camp, faces and hearts sank at the thought of a nine mile run before we started the course, luckily the instructors took pity on us, or was it the though of having to resuscitate some of the team on route and we drove to the start.

We all participated in a gentle warm up, things were looking up and then we stated the course, this was to be an easy jog round so we could be shown the obstacles we would have to negotiate, wheezing up the first hill clearly demonstrated what a marine PTI called a jog. It was soon apparent that this course, if not going up hill (how can a course that starts and finishes in the same place only have up hill sections) would be spent crawling through pipes, wading through mud or being under water.

One third of the way through the course my knees and elbows where bleeding, (always listen to the brief, a long sleeve top would have saved much pain) we arrived at the “water duck” with a few worried looking faces, the instructors informed us of the drill, funny they never got wet! But we didn’t argue they are big lads. I jumped in first, not through any bravado, but I have always found it is better heckling when you have done it first. 

We all completed this trial and set of up the next hill, heading for the “smartie tubes”!! This turn out to be an even longer set of tunnels, usually half full of water but luckily for us it had been a dry week. The course finally finished and we though we deserved a rest, but no, we had to start it all again in teams, then out came the dummies that had travelled down with us. (The fire-fighters among us are very familiar with these dummies, as they came from our very own training centre).

This team event brought out the usual competitive spirit and off we went at full speed with our respective dummies, I’m sure at this stage my team had more than one dummy! We worked hard, we worked as a team, we got some gentle encouragement from our PTI and we came second, not bad you would think but there were only 3 teams and one of those got lost or did they find a short cut.

Many thanks to the Marines’ instructors who clearly demonstrated that our fitness had a long way to go.

Kev Griffiths