Brad P.

Sorry I'm late to the party. Here is some research that specifically shows the benefit of training in a hypoxic normobaric room. It shows the physiological benefit with even just several hours a week of 'altitude training'. Czuba et al, 2011: "The most important finding from the present study is that the 3 week training program, associated with 3 IHT sessions per week (180min per week, where 90 - 120min per week corresponded to a workload equal to 95% of the lactate threshold), significantly improved aerobic capacity (VO2max by 4%) and endurance performance (time in TT by 2.6%) in well-trained cyclists at sea-level." That’s a 4% increase of VO2 max an improvement in their TT time in elite athletes in only 3 weeks of training!! So this study did indeed find an improvement in endurance performance with hypoxic and normobraric intermittent hypoxic training. There were also small improvements in red blood cell count, hematocrit and other red blood cell indices. Galvin et al, 2013: “...gains were significantly greater in the hypoxic than the normoxic group. During the 10x6s repeated sprint training there was a tendency for greater increases in oxygen consumption in the hypoxic group…” Twelve repeated sprint training sessions in hypoxia resulted in twofold greater improvements in capacity to perform aerobic high intensity workout than an equivalent normoxic group. Performance gains were evident in the short term (4 weeks).” Another study using high intensity intervals and getting results in only 4 weeks. These rugby players training in a hypoxic environment had double the improvement than the control group. Kon et al, 2014: This one is really cool! “The increase in muscular endurance was significantly higher in the hypoxic resistance training group. Plasma vascular endothelial growth factor concentration and skeletal muscle capillary to fiber ratio were significantly higher in the hypoxic resistance training group than the normoxic resistance training group following training. Our results suggest that, in addition to increases in muscle size and strength hypoxic resistance training may also lead to increased muscular endurance and the promotion of angiogenesis in skeletal muscle”. What!! Angiogenesis!! That’s right, increased capillary density in 8 weeks of hypoxic training!! Now that will get more oxygen to the tissue level. And!!...increases in growth factor with hypoxic training, sweet! That’s also been found in a type of rehab that cuts off circulation to injured areas of the body, but with this study it was systemic. Meeuwsen et al, 2001: “Nine days after training in hypoxia, significant increases were seen in all important parameters of the maximal aerobic as well as the anaerobic test. A significant increase of 7.0% was seen in VO2max, and the mean maximal power output per kilogram body weight increased significantly by 7.4%. The mean values of both mean power per kilogram body weight and peak power per kilogram body weight increased significantly by 5.0%, and the time to peak decreased significantly by 37.7%. In the sea level group, no significant changes were seen in the above mentioned parameters…” This study was done with elite male triathletes, and again huge results that equate to improved performance for endurance athletes. Bobyleva and Glazachev, 2006: “Intermittent hypoxic training increased the efficiency of the mechanisms of autonomic regulation of heart rate at rest by increasing parasympathetic control and optimized changes in heart rate variability during simulated acute hypoxia. The hypoxic preconditioning contributed to increased resistance of the body to simulated acute hypoxia, as reflected by less marked hemoglobin desaturation and a smaller increase in the heart rate”. This hypoxic normobaric study basically found that the body adapted to the hypoxic environment with a lower resting heart rate and a decrease in red blood cell oxygen desaturation. This is just another adaptation the body makes due to the increase in oxygen demand in a hypoxic environment. Lower heart rate due to more efficient oxygen transfer. Heart rate goes up according to demand of blood/oxygen by the body. Shie et al, 2013: “Waist circumference, preperitoneal fat thickness, brachial ankle pulse wave velocity, and high sensitive CRP after training were significantly lower in the hypoxic group than in the normoxic group. Our results suggest that regular short-term hypoxic training may more effectively reduce arterial stiffness, and thus prevent arteriosclerosis, compared to training at a similar exercise intensity under normoxic conditions”. While this study looked at cardiovascular risk factors, we can consider their results for an endurance athlete. Improved metabolism of fat. I know I don’t have to explain what that means for an endurance athlete!

Thanks for sharing, PC.

Are they sold?

I know what it is... Good meeting you up there. What a great climb!

The knot would be more likely to get hung up when pulling. There is a lot of opportunity for stuck ropes up there, and re-climbing would suck (sometimes rap line is not the climbed line). You could use a light weight 60m double/twin, especially if there are no plans of belaying.

Take the 60m, Josh. You'll be annoyed with too many raps and not finding established rap stations with the 30.

I agree with Ivan. Not much pro needed. If you're not comfortable on loose 3rd and 4th class, I guess a few small cams would be good in addition to a set of nuts. Really though, not a lot of good pro to be found. We placed not one piece of pro on the ascent. Don't forget a little extra cord or webbing in case you use a rap station with nothing but 10 year old tat. You'll get by with a single rope just fine, but the doubles were nice because they cut the number of raps in half. Have fun!

Cool, thanks Josh. Let us know if you have any questions about the route. The couloir is not as steep as it looks.

Nice write up, Katie. Good climbing with you and Jeremy. Tom, we saw that 3rd class walk up on the SW side of Cascade. It looked pretty straight forward. The NW chimney route looked much more appealing and challenging.

La Sportiva Batura 2.0 GTX (size 41) $350 Brand new mountaineering boots. Worn once, perfect condition. They don't fit me, can't return. http://www.sportiva.com/products/footwear/mountain/batura-20-gtx

Thanks for posting that picture of us on Yocum Ridge. What a beautiful day.

In June I broke a purple link cam climbing Kunza Korner at Smith rock. Omega Pacific has had the link cam since June and is investigating why it broke. Until they give me information or release a statement about why it broke I thought I would present the facts to those in the climbing community. The rock of Kunza Korner is tuff, but I’m not sure what type of tuff. If you are unfamiliar, here are pictures of the route taken by someone else: http://www.summitpost.org/image/505904/151526/kunza-korner.html http://www.summitpost.org/image/505899/151526/kunza-korner.html The placement was at the crux about 50 or so feet off the ground. I weigh about 146 lbs and when I fell the cam was at or less than a foot below my feet. The placement was in a pocket where the crack above and below the placement tapered out. It was cammed to the middle lobe (if you’re familiar with link cams I hope that makes sense). The stem was angled down about 45 to 60 degrees. I don’t think I could have angled it down any more because the height of the pocket wouldn’t allow, but I don’t think the cam was bottomed out in the crack. I fell and the cam pulled immediately, the nut placed below held and there were no injuries. I inspected the cam before finishing the climb as it was sitting on the rope right in front of me. Here is the link to some pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bpfarra/Purple# As you can see both middle lobes on one side of the cam failed. The lobes that broke were the lobes contacting the rock (the middle of the three lobes of the link cam). The other side of the cam, cammed just fine after the fall, and all of the moving parts of the broken side continued to move just fine. In other words there was no damage or failure of any of the pins that connect the lobes. The failure was that of the metal at both middle lobes on one side of the cam. The stem was just fine (a subtle bend in the stem, which may indicate the bottom lobes broke, that’s just speculation. The cam had been placed a few times but never fallen on before. I'm sure OP will let me/us know what they came up with in their investigation soon. I tried to include as much detail here as possible, but if I've left some important detail out be sure to let me know.