These
pages have been written by qualified Personal
Trainers, exclusively designed
for Icicle clients, to help get you into the
best shape for your course. It has been written
to dispell many training myths, and if you
are likely to get a bit upset by having to
admit some home truths, then reach for the
Kleenex now! Having said that, we aren't expecting
you to become a mountain machine, but the
fitter you are, the more you can and will
achieve. Lack of training is the key cause
of failure to reach a summit or to complete
a tour...
Key
ideas and points to note about our training pages
Worried? If you are in any doubt about your training,
then you should visit your GP in the first
instance, or then a Personal Trainer to ask
them to help you develop a personnalised training
planner for you.
Advice? If you still have any queries after reading
these pages, get in contact with us and speak
to one of the guiding team. Speaking
to someone who is in the mountains every day
can be a real help.
Icicle
training? We offer a range of Alpine trail
running courses, for those who seek specific
hill or fitness training. See the Alpine
Trail Running courses and Personal
Training sessions for a
mountain fitness assessment.
We also offer UK mountain skills weekends, in
the Lake District for just £99 per person.
For more information on these training weekends,
please visit the course page; click
here.
So what are the next steps? (excuse the pun)
Take stock
of what shape you are in at the moment, and also
what shape you need to be in for your course, be
it a climbing ascent or maybe a multi-day ski tour.
You then have the start and end points and your
training requirements need to be tailored to join
them. The key error that most people make, is that
they are over-optimistic about their fitness level,
or take confidence in the fact that there are some
well publicised ascents of mountains by people who
are clearly not in the best shape. It's not a case
of training to the minimum level. It's about training
to a good level to give you a good margin for success,
and the fitter you are, the more likely you will
be to enjoy your course too. Before
you start any training, please ensure you read this
If
you are starting at a very low (or non existant)
level of fitness, you need to get yourself
checked by a doctor before you start any of
our training programmes. It cannot be stressed
enough that these training planners are designed
to build people up to good levels of fitness,
and that there may be a high risk of injury
or even death to those who follow these without
getting medical advice beforehand. Don't put
yourself at risk by ignoring this. Get a check
up as soon as possible!
We
provide more information about training than
any other mountain guiding operator, yet it
is never as simple as giving a fixed training
planner to a person, and saying that if they
follow it then they will be fine. We provide
this information in good faith for you to
adapt it to suit your specific needs, to ensure
that you arrive in good shape for your trip.
We cannot be held liable for any lack of your
personal fitness! Indications of fitness required
for each course are to provide suitable training
goals.
The
fast and light alpine philosophy is an approach
honed and adapted to the environment. The
sheer scale of the mountains, the changeability
of conditions and the altitude demands fitness,
experience and speed for safe passage. Thus
early starts and a steady relentless pace
with few stops is the norm. I could see now
that Icicle were not over-playing the fitness
aspect and why most of the guides in Chamonix
are small and skinny Nigel
G , Alpine Introduction course
Which
mountain sports are these Icicle training pages aimed
at?
We run a wide range
of mountaineering, skiing and trekking courses, all of
which have different training needs, but all share a common
requirement of a good level of aerobic fitness. These
pages have been developed to build up your fitness to
a good enough level for the course. For more advanced
training some specific muscle and tendon training is required,
but for the majority of our courses (e.g. Mont Blanc,
Off Piste Skiing, or Alpine Trekking) no specific training
is needed above a good level or aerobic fitness. These
pages talk you through the planners to choose which are
the most suitable for your course, as well as the general
principles of training, the holistic approach, diet and
hydration, and the types of exercise that you could consider
using. Just remember...
Training
isn't about joining a gym, putting on fancy
trainers and jogging with your iPod looking good.
It definately isn't about being really strong with big
muscles, able to bench press huge weights.
It certainly isn't about pouty fish face Instagram
posts in a health club, or Strava over sharing.
It's about getting very hot, sweaty, smelly, out of breath, and feeling like you want to stop!
It's going out again in the rain, to clock the miles, and pushing hard until you feel sick.
It's not glamorous. It's going to hurt. Suck it up princess, and get out there to succeed.
Only you know if you've done the training before. So will we after 5 minutes on a hill...
FREE
training podcasts
FREE
Podcast Training
for Mont Blanc
A no holes barred podcast, to fully
explain what an ascent entails physically
and technically, including several examples
of hill training.
FREE
Podcast
Starting out trail running
A fast growing sport, & this podcast
explains what it involves, how to get
into it, and exactly what equipment
that is required...
See
our Alpine blog, by clicking on the Word-press logo
to the right.
Itinerary
flexibility to allow you to take full advantage
of the weather windows on any day, to maximise your
summit chances.
Our
prices are fixed in £ Sterling, to protect
you from euro fluctuations, so you can budget accurately.
There
is a choice of routes to opt for, depending on the
weather, conditions, and your experience.
Any
further questions?
A
key part of choosing a company is being able to come and
talk about your plans with an experienced course advisor
face to face. In an increasingly virtual world, we know
our clients value speaking to real people, getting open
and honest advice. The vast majority of our clients are
British, and our office and outdoor store is based in
Windermere in the English Lake District.
Get
in contact to arrange a meeting, and come in for a coffee
to discuss your course in person with a trip
advisor.
