Shock, awe, and excitement pulsated through my body like waves. In pure disbelief, I put my phone down and looked around my humble home in Cape Town, South Africa. In a few months, my life was about to change.
My father just told me he’s climbing Mount Everest, and I’m joining him on the two-week trek to Mount Everest Base Camp. That’s one week traversing the Himalayan mountain range from Nepal, meandering the verdant slopes and rugged outcrops that make up the path to the highest point on Planet Earth.
This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. One not many people experience. And one I could not resist. The call to adventure, to the unparalleled wilderness, beckoned to me.
I have to answer.
One of the spiritual emblems of the Mountain Spirits en route to Mount Everest Base Camp
Four months to train my physical being. Four months to comprehend the incomprehensible. Four months until I witness the surreal, and my life changes forever.
How do you prepare for such a mammoth expedition? I’m a mountain and hiking enthusiast who considers myself fairly fit but has never quite experienced something as grand as this.
Below are a few tips and tricks I’d like to share with you.
Training for Mount Everest Base Camp
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Slow is the name of the game. Just put one foot in front of the other.
These are a few of the most common sayings you’ll hear regarding Everest Base Camp fitness advice.
I am an avid hiker and nature walker who occasionally goes for a run. I am passionate about high-intensity interval training, love my pilates, and practice yoga on an almost daily basis. Why am I telling you this? Because I am not a fitness fanatic, and I don’t take a 10-kilometre run lightly.
You don’t have to be the fittest person in the world to hike to Mount Everest Base Camp. You do, however, have to be fit. It is not for the faint-hearted, and you are going to be spending over two weeks on a semi-desolate, unforgiving, yet astonishingly breathtaking mountain range.
To fully enjoy your experience and not spend your entire expedition in a state of suffering, you need to train at least two months before you depart.
IMPORTANT: Mount Everest Base Camp is 5,364 metres above sea level. Your body begins suffering from low oxygen levels at around 3,500 - 4,000 metres. It’s, therefore, crucial to train your lungs to increase their oxygen capacity.
I began my training four months before leaving. My training schedule looked like this:
1x hike a week (the trail must be over 2.5 hours and contain a decent incline)
2x strength sessions a week (focusing on legs, glutes, and core)
1x run per week (around 5 kilometres)
Sounds easy, right? I continued this training schedule for one month.
Three months before departure, I switched it up:
2x hikes a week (steeper inclines, taller mountains)
2x strength sessions a week (adding weights and resistance bands)
1x run a week
Two months before departure, I focused more on the hiking aspect of my training:
3x hikes a week
1x run a week
1x strength session a week
Now, just under one month before I leave, it’s all about the hiking and incline:
4x hikes per week (higher mountains, steeper and longer inclines)
1x strength session a week
The most important aspect of training is acclimatising your lungs to lower oxygen levels. Running is one of the most effective ways to assist your lungs in functioning at a faster pace and process as much oxygen as they can. Steep inclines on hikes also help your body adjust to a quick change of atmospheric levels.
The Nepalese Mountain Spirit is said to guide you along your journey
The Mental Training for Mount Everest Base Camp
They say the hardest part isn’t the hike - it’s the mental strength required to pull yourself up this mountain. It’s gruelling, demoralising, and incredibly frustrating at times. However, it is one of the most rewarding adventures and spiritual journeys you can put yourself through.
There is no way you can grasp the experience you’re about to have until your live through it. Nothing anyone can tell you will bring a refined grasp of perception into your awareness.
My preparation for this is simple: Don’t place expectations on your journey. Be humble. Practice meditation and deep breathing. Accept that difficult times lie ahead, and you are strong enough to overcome every obstacle.
I will be taking a diary with me, a few small, sentimental items, and a picture of my partner.
I will leave my phone behind and embark on a media, technological, and societal detox.
I am preparing for an energetic shift of unmatched potential and power.
With three weeks until I meander the mountain of immeasurable and unimaginable awe, I am filled with the thirst of experience, of true inner and outer discovery, of what it means to be truly alive.
