Mountaineering - Training & Preparation

Mountaineering - Training & Preparation. Cooke, Bunting & O'Hara (editors)

review by Dave McCormick

[The Section received a complimentary copy of this new mountaineering book awhile ago, one which will find it's way into the Section's library shortly. Until it does, here is a short review.]

If you've ever considered organizing (or being part of) a mountaineering expedition, or just wanted more information about training, leadership and trip preparation to support your outdoor aspirations, this new manual should go a long ways towards answering your many questions and providing some useful guidance. The book's editors and contributors (over a dozen) have drawn from research and personal experience to put together this extensive and comprehensive manual on the topic.

The book first deals with expedition planning and considerations of how to select members of the expedition team. Included in this section are extensive descriptions of equipment selection, basic articles on first aid, medical kits, the effects of altitude, and even how to use bright lights to help the body adjust to time zone changes. Although specific training is covered later on, there is one chapter on physical preparation, including developing cold tolerance and hypoxic training.

Almost half of the book, not surprisingly, deals with conditioning and nutrition. There is advice on all the fitness and endurance training that is important in expedition preparation and the section finishes off with nutrition advice while training as well as what nutritional needs will have to be met during the expedition. Some of the contributors were part of the 2006 Everest West Ridge expedition, so there are examples given from their experience. These include sample menus, caloric requirements, and energy content of certain foods. The examples given have a definite UK "flavour", but it should be possible to find North American substitutes that would match the samples given.

The final section of the book addresses an essential part of any extreme physical adventure, the part that takes place in your head. Psychological pressures and attitudes, how well one can stand up to those pressures and how to motivate and support your fellow team members, will almost certainly have an important, perhaps critical, impact on the success of your expedition. There are even comments relating adventure training like this to other aspects of a person's life. As one trainer puts it: "...accepting and dealing with levels of punishment or levels of poor outcomes ... tells you something about yourself".

Most of us have been involved in at least some level of mountaineering and have almost certainly followed or read about various notable mountaineering expeditions. If you're looking for more information, this book would be a good source.