Mountain skills
Top advice from Trail’s experts
Drink plenty. It’s easy to forget to drink when it’s cold. Some people recommend avoiding caffeine, but it’s better to drink a lot of tea than barely any of the icy water from your bottle. Keep an eye on your water intake and keep sipping.
But avoid alcohol (sorry). Despite the fiery glow, in reality, alcohol cools you down by dilating the peripheral blood vessels near the surface of your skin.
BUILD YOUR LEG MUSCLES Walking lunges strengthen glutes, hamstrings, and calves – key muscles to take the pain out of mountain descents.
● Stand with your legs hip-width apart and step the right foot forward.
Strip down. Dress for the actual temperature, not the perceived temperature. If you’re walking uphill on a bright winter’s day, go down to a comfortable layer to avoid making your clothes wet from sweat, even if that’s a t-shirt.
Protect the neck. The standard good advice is to always wear a hat, but there are two main arteries on either side of your neck through which you can lose a lot of heat – the same
● Keeping the knee aligned with the right hip and over the right foot, lunge forwards, so the left knee bends towards, but doesn’t touch, the ground.
● Focus on keeping a straight back and looking ahead. The front leg should be forming a 90° angle. ones you might press to take a pulse. Keep them warm with an insulated buff and you’ll feel much more snug.
Don’t drive in your walking socks in the warmth of the car. If you do, then they’re likely to get sweaty leading to cold feet when you start walking.
Wear gaiters to keep snow and moisture out of your warm woolly socks.
● Press through your right foot, using the left foot for balance and come back up to standing, then step through to do the same with the left foot.
MAKE IT HARDER: Add handweights. Practice on a downhill slope if you can.
Work harder. If you get cold, fast walk the next few hundred metres or do a set of star jumps – anything to get the blood pumping.
Make sure your boots fit. You should be able to wiggle your toes in your boots while wearing winter socks and liners. This might mean going a full size up from your usual size. If you’re buying new winter boots, wear the socks you’ll wear on the hill while trying them on.
FOCUS ON YOUR BREATHING Pay attention to your breath while walking, aiming to keep it at a conversational level on the ascent. On the exhale, huff out as much air as you can before taking a deep breath in.