And there I was at the top of Harvard. This top was a small span of big boulders that simply had no pathway to climb beyond. I remembered all the cool things people do on summits on Instagram, make meals, drink a summit beer, take fun photos.
Here I was on my first summit, and I felt like I was going to throw up.
Instagram can easily allow any adventure seeker to get caught up in the moment of capturing the best photo and wanting to mimic what other outdoor lovers do. There are pros to this such as being motivated to go on hikes, summit mountains and protect the outdoors. But it also can cause us to forget that we all don’t have the same experiences and knowledge of the outdoors.
Yes there is a difference to being an expert mountain climber and novice one. And yes there is a big difference when you live at 800 feet of altitude!
Below are my three tips for the novice mountaineer (and especially for the mountaineer that lives no where near mountains).
1.Acclimatize
We acclimatized for around three days. This was better than my previous mountaineering attempt which you can read about in my rookie mistakes, but the longer you hang out in altitude the better you feel. I think the best method is to spend 4 days hiking in altitude in the area before you summit. It can also help if you hike partway up the mountain and spend the night. This not only shortens the distance the next morning, but it allows your body to make adaptations when you sleep. (Note to be truly acclimatized you have to eat/breathe/sleep at altitude for two weeks)
2. Get up early and plan to be down by noon
Hiking high in Colorado comes with one golden rule, “Be back below the treeline by noon to avoid afternoon storms and lightening.” To stick to this rule we got up at 2am for our summit on Harvard. Yes, that is a ridiculous time to get up, but we made it down and back without any run in with storms.
Now I saw people push onto the summit of Harvard at later times even with clouds forming as we made our way down. I’ve seen online that a lot of people wait out storms because they move by fast. If you are not from Colorado or don’t have a ton of experience hiking high in the mountains do yourself a favor and follow the golden rule.
You don’t miss anything by getting up so early to summit. As a matter of fact you get the trail to yourself for a bit and you’ll be joined by others who take being below treeline by noon seriously. I believe that mother nature will always win if she wants to. I have no desire to mess with lightening and storms at 14,000 feet.
3. Skip the summit Beer
The summit beer sounds like an awesome idea, but you have to get down the mountain after you summit! On Harvard going down was about as long/slow and hard as going up. In total our whole summit, bottom to top and back down was 10.5 hours.
Although beer has carbs it also dehydrates you. In altitude you’re more likely to be dehydrated anyways due to factors of wind, the cold temps at the top making you think you’re not dehydrated and the fact that your body is working way harder at 14,000 feet.
As mentioned, your first time at 14,000 feet doesn’t feel that great. After 15 minutes at the top I wanted to get down asap. Because of this I recommend water and a good carb heavy snack at the summit. Save the beer for the local brewery once you make it down safely!
