Are your legs tired after climbing a long couloir?

[rod9301]

After climbing a long couloir, skis on the pack, i feel tired, but i never feel that my legs are tired, certainly not hurting.

I wonder if this is because i don't push myself to climb fast, instead instead l dial down my speed, to the point of taking a test step every time.

And by dialing down my speed, i go from 1500 ft an hour while skinning to 500- 800 ft/h booting up, depending on conditions, powder slow and firm, faster.

How do you guys feel after booting up? And do you push yourself when booting, or take it easy to have more in reserve when you get to the top?

[Lindahl]

My calves usually hold me back on steeper/firmer.

[TG]

depends, doesn't it?

if I've spent all winter skinning in powder, the first bootpack is gonna hurt, especially if it's an instant transition to kicking toes into the firm and burning up those calves.

If It's May and I've spent the past few weeks booting as much as or more than I've been skinning, then no - my legs don't feel tired, even if i push it.

It's all about mileage and training, with a bit of technique thrown in.

& as far as vertical feet per hour, if anything I go faster booting than skinning (in firm conditions, or an existing bootpack, not postholing). It's more of an aerobic cost - I breathe harder to pay for that vertical speed - but the above still applies - leg tiredness depends on the amount of time & conditioning I've spent booting.

[Not Neil_Armstrong]

I get tired looking at a boot pack.

After climbing a long couloir, skis on the pack, i feel tired, but i never feel that my legs are tired, certainly not hurting.

I wonder if this is because i don't push myself to climb fast, instead instead l dial down my speed, to the point of taking a test step every time.

And by dialing down my speed, i go from 1500 ft an hour while skinning to 500- 800 ft/h booting up, depending on conditions, powder slow and firm, faster.

How do you guys feel after booting up? And do you push yourself when booting, or take it easy to have more in reserve when you get to the top?

What's your pre-season exercise?

[mall walker]

living on the 4th floor and always walking up (at least 5-6 times a day sometimes from the basement, 20+ flights a day) has done wonders for me... stair stepper can't hurt though. ditto hiking, running uphill, step ups, etc.

[profahoben]

living on the 4th floor and always walking up (at least 5-6 times a day sometimes from the basement, 20+ flights a day) has done wonders for me... stair stepper can't hurt though. ditto hiking, running uphill, step ups, etc.

This. I start using the stairs around August to help my calves out. Live on the 4th floor as well. Serving tables over the summer kicks my ass too. I usually walk between 8-12 miles a shift.

First few bootpacks always suck though.

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[wooley12]

FWIW.

At 55 years I hiked 20 miles with a pack in one day that gained 3000' and all was good. When I started touring I'd be given a 1 hour head start to climb 2k of vert and needed 30 min to recover before I could ski down. 500' down my legs were toast again. I thought it was because all of my partners were 25 years younger and gym rats. Never toured with someone my own age. I must be just getting old. Last year my legs ached from walking across the supermarket. Toe bang bruises still hurt after 3 weeks. Then my right leg stopped working completely half way down a groomed ski run. Luckily I can ski like crap pretty good. Diagnosis was Peripheral Artery Disease. I needed to get an artery roto-rooted.

Looking back, a lifetime of smoking, eating lots of donuts, 1 lb steaks and heredity all worked against me. Looking back, the burning sensation in sole of my foot that I felt 10 miles into that hike out was the first sign.

[Kopi_Red]

I get tired looking at a boot pack.



What's your pre-season exercise?

You and me both. Although, after I broke my old ski boots last year at BBI, I am able to hike in my replacement boots without the desire to cut my legs off below the knees.

Lots of 12 oz curls for my pre-season exercise.

[Norseman]

Lots of 12 oz curls for my pre-season exercise.

That's all you need.

And lock the walk mechanism, duh.

[bodywhomper]

living on the 4th floor and always walking up (at least 5-6 times a day sometimes from the basement, 20+ flights a day) has done wonders for me... stair stepper can't hurt though. ditto hiking, running uphill, step ups, etc.

Do you wear your kit while on the stair master? Do you have orange ski pants? How many gopro?

[TAFKALVS]

I find doing lots of bootpacking helps me bootpack.

[NW_SKIER]

Lots of 12 oz curls for my pre-season, during season, and after season exercise.

Fixed

And I like to concentrate on the 12 ounce curls I'll be doing at the top of the line I just booted. Helps me focus.

[mall walker]

Do you wear your kit while on the stair master? Do you have orange ski pants? How many gopro?

idk how many is too many. front/back helmet, both poles, both ski tips, chest, this season adding a crotch-mount

[AKbruin]

I don't think my legs get particularly tired, pumped, etc. bootpacking. Of course, I sometimes get my ass kicked. But the result is more general fatigue than anything specific to my legs.

As for pace, I generally follow my heart rate. I don't really think about conserving my legs or energy for the descent though.

I also learned this season that in the right conditions--firm, not too steep--I can motor up some slopes at a good clip using French-technique, crampons, and moderate zigzagging.

[Toddball]

My ski partners and I have this problem too, but we found a pretty good solution:

[old goat]

Mountaineers rest step. Very briefly lock your knee with each step up. Allows both the quads and the hamstrings to relax. It only takes a second or so.
First sign of leg fatigue for me skiing is not pain or any overt sensation of fatigue but losing my technique--getting in the back seat especially.
At my age I've learned that it takes a long time for my heart rate to go up and my leg arteries to dilate--I do a lot better if I start slow. Skiing--the first run of the day is the hardest. (This really wouldn't apply to a bc situation where you've likely been skinning for quite a while before starting a bootpack and had plenty of chance to get warmed up, but in a situation where high level exertion starts at the beginning starting slow is important to avoid building up oxygen debt. I never competed in aerobic sports so I was surpised when my kids--one a swimmer and one xc runner--would spend a lot more time warming up at a meet than the actual event.)

[bodywhomper]

I also learned this season that in the right conditions--firm, not too steep--I can motor up some slopes at a good clip using French-technique, crampons, and moderate zigzagging.

The frank technique?

[old goat]

The frank technique?

so many possibilities with that post but none of them SFW.
but yes, French technique is a lot easier on the calves then front pointing or kicking steps. And if you can master piolet en barasse you get extra GNAR points.

[bodywhomper]

^^I was trying for a play on words.

to address the OP: i'm a couch potato and a talker. i usually do not get leg-specific tired from booting in relation to the muscles used on the descent. i get generally tired/fatigued, though, sometimes from the climb. it all depends. for me, a lot of the "it depends" for me has been based on things like how much rest i've had, the company i'm keeping, adjustments to altitude, and the hairiness of my palms. generally, i always push myself harder when i'm solo. if i can maintain a conversation, i'm staying aerobic and not fatiguing too much on the up.

[wyeaster]

having never done it and watched a lot of people do it in videos, i have always wondered how much the physical toll on the way up impacts the risk on the way down, especially with the really steep stuff in movies when it's all no-fall zones.

[Meadow Skipper]

Instead of trying for a given time or speed I work at what I figure is 60% of my max output. That leaves me with adequate gas for the down or whatever and gives me a cushion in case something unexpected pops up. And it works whether I'm in shape or been slacking.

And yeah, the rest step.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

French technique is useful on hard, lower angle snow. Hybrid technique works well when you're sinking in a bit, but not so much that you can weight your heels, or when things get steeper. Lets you rest one calf at a time.

[rod9301]

I've never felt my calves get tired, perhaps because i avoid climbing a couloir in hard conditions.

I try to weigh my heels, to use mostly my butt muscles.

[old goat]

having never done it and watched a lot of people do it in videos, i have always wondered how much the physical toll on the way up impacts the risk on the way down, especially with the really steep stuff in movies when it's all no-fall zones.

The skiers in ski movies are all rich and always use helicopters. They would never dream of climbing. Those scenes of skinning you see in the movies are the doubles of the actual skiers. It's a good way to get into the ski movie business--start out as a skinning double and someday you too may get to ride the helicopter and ski down.

[LiveLarger]

I do 60 mins on the eliptical machine every day before work. Add in two days a week with squats and the last two months before season I do crossfit (great for converting that pure strengt training to endurance). After I started this, most people I ski with are gasping for air behind me, even when I take it really easy. Hit the gym folks. My shape isn't even that good. It's just that almost everybody else are in really crappy shape, as they sit most of the day at an office. Drive to/back from work etc.