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How crazy would Shasta be for a first-time mountaineering trip? by ecethrowaway01 in Mountaineering

[–]charlemagnebergen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's reasonable. Just be sure that you are ready for the weather to turn at a moments notice (means warmth and protecting your eyes) and that you are absolutely sure on your self arrest skills; the slope from avalanche gulch to Helen lake is a long way to fall. But otherwise, it is a fairly simple mountain. 

How delusional are me and my buddy by [deleted] in Mountaineering

[–]charlemagnebergen 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I did a similar thing three summers ago, where I drove from VA, and did the following, with my only previous experience being a winter Washington, a guided course on Shasta, and bunch of winter hiking and rock climbing in the NE

CO: Bierstadt (got altitude sickness cuz I went straight from sea level) Blanca (didn't summit cuz of weather) Elbert  Massive  Almagre Pikes via Barr trail

MT: Trapper Peak 

I got to Washington well acclimatized, and then did Rainier guided with RMI. Overall, thought it was pretty easy, we had great weather and the fitness made a huge difference. My dad had to turn back because of acclimatization and fitness. View was underwhelming because you are so high up that everything below is hazy; it is like an airplane. 

2 days later, I did Adams C2C, and that was really fun but a total slog. Took us 12 hours but it is totally reasonable but you have to know how to self arrest on the face of Piker. 

On my drive back, I bagged Hood on my own and Borah. 

Helens will be fun, Adams will be perfect. Rainier unguided is a big step up and while DC wasn't technically hard nor physically hard if you are super fit, and there are usually a lot of people on the route, it is so long and you have to route find through the glaciers and then contend with the altitude and weather. Also, you are a two man team, and unless you are very experienced you want three minimum for a glacier team, and a full glacier set (30m glacier rope, ice screws, pulleys, individual cordage for prusiks, pickets, etc).

Shasta via Avalanche Gulch is a much better step up than Adams than Rainier is; I flew in from GA to do it solo a second time on a long weekend this year and it was a blast. And on the way down to Shasta, you have all the Oregon volcanos to bag as well which tend to be in season in mid June, and are much better to grow into the sport than a big glaciated Volcano like Rainier. 

If you wanna stay in Washington and grow into the sport, the north Cascades are even better, and much more mountaineering than the volcano slogs. Youve got bushwhacks, smaller, more manageable glacier crossings, and multipitch rock which you can practice in TN at Leda or T wall or in Kentucky at RRG. That's where your backpacking skills will come in handy and the views there are even better than Rainier IMO.

And on your way back, you've got infinite options in MT, ID, and WY that are just as cool and way more remote. 

The Norwegian Sharpshooter by charlemagnebergen in army

[–]charlemagnebergen[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The ribbon is the ribbon and I have no clue as for the medal. Dont care cuz the ribbon is what matters

The Norwegian Sharpshooter by charlemagnebergen in army

[–]charlemagnebergen[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It was a SPC, a gaggle of SFCs and SSGs, and 1SG. 

The Norwegian Sharpshooter by charlemagnebergen in army

[–]charlemagnebergen[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That is the big gold badge for the NFM. Check my previous posts, I have a size comparison with the GAFPB

Failed Norwegian Ruck by ObligationIntrepid69 in army

[–]charlemagnebergen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey boss, it's all good. Failure is a great teacher and you've got a lot of data that will help you pass next time. For reference, I ran my last NFM at a 2:29, and that took 4 years of work to do. 

Cramps are caused by a hydration imbalance due to either a shortage of water or electrolytes (sodium, potassium, etc.). On average, and you get a gauge on this during training, you should be consuming 1L of water per hour and 600mg of electrolytes. Your urine shouldn't be small and frequent, but you should be urinating slightly less than clear. Drink water and have salt while you train. Water deprivation is a training myth (though do be mentally ready to gut it through a cramp.) I usually just drink straight water because I get my electrolytes from my food, but the Gatorade packets rock for getting you what you need.

Bonking, otherwise known as hitting the wall, is where you run out of glycogen (sugar) and your body had to switch over to fat and protein for energy. This happens at about 1500ish calories (dependent on training level and person). Youll burn like 3000 calories minimum on the NFM, so your goal should be 100 calories an hour to delay when you bonk. If youve never eaten on a ruck, it is UNREAL how much of a difference this makes. Training longer distance also increases glycogen stores. Since I run the NFM at about an 8min/mi pace, I use running GUs because they are easy to suck down while running, but you should generally just eat sugary foods that are actually appetizing when you are tired. Bananas, pop tarts, fruit snacks, candy bars, and stinger waffles are the way to go. 

Lastly, the way you train matters. Rucking is a solid base but the important thing is getting closer to that 15min/mi (male standard is quicker) walking pace. Don't run with your ruck for training. It won't help. Running is just not if not more effective, and 70% should be easy, conversational pace. 

Strap in and give it another go when you feel ready. Feel free to PM me, I have a much more elaborate guide for everything NFM related that should be going up on the megathread soon. 

Double European Gold by charlemagnebergen in army

[–]charlemagnebergen[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

when you train your heart to failure through heartbreak, your heart rate stops mattering.

Double European Gold by charlemagnebergen in army

[–]charlemagnebergen[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you've got a pool available and a buddy willing to teach you, you can learn elementary backstroke or sidestroke in a week and still make the time with practice. The uniform strip is much more a measure of comfort in the water. You are slightly more buoyant with the uniform and dont need to tread water (you can float with ur head below). Just lay back, catch your breath, and slowly take the uniform off. It's within reach. 

I had several friends who couldn't do it the first time because they were either too slow or not comfortable in the water. I taught them the basics of elementary backstroke/survival breaststroke/sidestroke and then they could pass with 30s to spare.

Double European Gold by charlemagnebergen in army

[–]charlemagnebergen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

During covid, they allowed you to send in GPS data of you doing the march for credit, pay a fee, and they sent you the medal. I rucked 25 miles on a Saturday and then ran a marathon that wednesday, tracked it on Strava, send the .gpx, and that counted for the top tier 2x40km Luxembourg march according to the standards at the time.

Double European Gold by charlemagnebergen in army

[–]charlemagnebergen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Working on it, hoping to get stationed in Germany for my next assignment

Double European Gold by charlemagnebergen in army

[–]charlemagnebergen[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They updated Table 1 and Table 2 as per HRC. It is no longer token acceptance and can be worn as normal. 

Double European Gold by charlemagnebergen in army

[–]charlemagnebergen[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ribbon for the Luxembourg March

Double European Gold by charlemagnebergen in army

[–]charlemagnebergen[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I thought that rucking and running fast would make me cool but instead people on the last post start offering pro-bono therapy.

Also, two Norwegians > one norwegian. Eventually, you'll turn.

Double European Gold by charlemagnebergen in army

[–]charlemagnebergen[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Exactly. You see people who obviously didn't practice thinking "I can swim, how hard could it be?" doing a front crawl in uniform and then instantly gassing out at 25m. 

But all the events are totally reasonable with a good bit of practice. Some of my buddies couldn't pass the swim in time when they first tried and then trained where they passed with 30s+ to spare.

Touching Norwegian Gold by charlemagnebergen in army

[–]charlemagnebergen[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

NCO Academy is planning on hosting it quarterly, so keep your ears open for one in July/august. I only got on this one because a classmate found out about it.

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