HopperUK posted:

Olympus Mons is huge, the size of Italy, but it's a very gentle slope. You could trivially walk up it and barely be aware you were on a mountain. If it weren't on Mars.

I know you might know this but I think it's interesting!

Outrail posted:

I don't think I could trivially walk across Italy. I'd be too distracted by all the food and wine and people.

Platystemon posted:

The way to go, for those who can swing it, is to sleep and otherwise live at high altitude, but descend to near sea level for exercise.

Training in thin air is counterproductive for anything but mountaineering. You can’t push the rest of your body as hard when you’re starved for oxygen.

Captain Toasted posted:

I used to hear about people training at altitude way back in the day and then competing at sea level events. Seemed like it could work, but I'm a moron

Jamsque posted:

It does work, top level pro cyclists have been going to training camps at altitude for at least a couple of decades and now more and more of them are moving to Andorra (tiny principality between France and Spain) because the capital city is at 1000m/3300ft and the average elevation is almost 2000m/6600ft.

ilmucche posted:

What does that have to do with mountain climbing

ilmucche posted:

What does that have to do with mountain climbing

wheatpuppy posted:

I thought this thread was about billionaires gaining or losing altitude for clout?

wheatpuppy posted:

I thought this thread was about billionaires gaining or losing altitude for clout?

Captain Toasted posted:

You could create a new sport where you purposefully limit your oxygen supply while doing normal hikes to simulate everest altitude. Just program in some sort of failsafe so if you pass out it goes back to normal air

quote:

Joel Naukkarinen, 30, started an unimaginable experiment in 2017, and there is no end in sight - already over 200 000 euros in debt


Joel Naukkarinen, 30, is a man with a difference. He's not the only top athlete in the world who is totally dedicated to his cause, but probably no one else does things the same way. Naukkarinen is an athlete, doctor and PhD researcher who has been living his life in a "high altitude camp" since 2017.

Naukkarinen answers the phone in the middle of a bike ride at an altitude of just under 4,000 metres. In the middle of the interview, he changes from cycling to skiing. All this is happening this time in Kouvola.

At home in Kuopio, Naukkarinen lives constantly in high mountain conditions. He sleeps and trains in his own alpine hut, a room where he can adjust the oxygen level to match his desired altitude above sea level. He also has an alpine room in his original home in Kouvola.

Over the years, there have been a variety of tweaks. Naukkarinen has had an entire apartment converted into an alpine tent, and a smaller setup on the end of a double bed on his side, where he stuck his head when he went to bed.

All of this is aimed at one goal. Naukkarinen wants to get the most out of his athleticism - and win Olympic gold.



NAUKKARINEN hit the headlines on Sunday as the new world record holder. He broke the world record in the indoor rowing marathon (42 195 metres) with a time of 2.20.06,9. In indoor rowing, Naukkarinen is now a double world champion, as he also holds the world record for the 100 km.

- It was a good performance. I've been preparing for it for a long time. In 2015 I set the Finnish record, and since then I've had a reasonably clear idea that one day I might win the world record, Naukkarinen says happily.

The maximum rowing time of two hours and twenty minutes is quite an achievement. To an outsider, it also looks rather monotonous, because the scenery doesn't change when you're working on the rowing machine.

Although there are virtual models available for indoor rowing, which, like cycling, can be projected on a TV screen to help you visualise yourself on the water, Naukkarinen does not use them on long rides. He relies on a different method.

- I try to sink as deeply as possible into my own space and thus reach a state of flow. That way you can tolerate surprisingly heavy loads and feelings of discomfort, such as pain and monotony," Naukkarinen explains.

He says he likes to listen to music during her performances, but finds other "extra" things more distracting. Usually, metal music is in the ears, but for the marathon he likes softer Finnish rock.

- I believe that in a marathon, mental performance is my biggest strength. The ability to ignore any feelings of fatigue and unpleasantness. No matter what the body sends me, which in a normal situation would make a person stop, I manage in a way to disconnect the body from the brain and stay in the mental landscape of my choice for the whole run.



However, the wild world record task did not go off without a hitch. Around the halfway point, he felt really bad for about four kilometres, when the muscle pains became severe. It passed, but there was another moment of truth at the finish line.

- The rest of the half marathon was quite numb. I was so far out of my depth that with a kilometre to go I realised I was going to pass out. I've lost consciousness a few times in my sporting career, so it was a bit frightening to think that I might wake up from the floor and not finish.

- I said to my caretaker - who is my wife Iida Niemi, also a rower - that now I need psychic help to stay in this world for the last kilometre. She knew what to do, we have done a lot of hard performances together.

The couple met when they were 17 years old on a rowing team in high school, and their courtship has continued since then.

Naukkarinen, who has a degree in medicine and an interest in neuroscience, is studying what happens in the brain when people get tired. His medical expertise plays a big part in how she has constructed her extreme training and living conditions.

In his alpine room, the rower can reach the heights of Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world. And it's not just that he visits them occasionally or holds brief camps. The room he has developed through various experiments and the various oxygen masks are part of his everyday life.

Naukkarinen says he spends up to 16-20 hours a day in low-oxygen conditions. That's when it really starts to pay off.

- I've tried to make it pretty constant. My high altitude camp started in 2017, we'll see when it ends. Even though 12 hours a day in those conditions is a big effort, it's not really enough," says Naukkarinen.

- I also make a lot of use of my medical expertise. But it's quite delicate when it comes to breathing. That all the laws of physics and the physiological requirements of life are met. There are many things that can go wrong.



The current solution has been developed through experimentation. Naukkarinen has tried to take risks and experiment a lot. This way, as the Olympics approach, he can pick out the best ones that have worked. In alpine rowing, no other rower is as deep, and that's what Naukkarinen's method aims for: a competitive edge that opponents lack.

- If you do everything by research and mimic the best, it's a good way to get to the top. But when you're fighting by small margins to see who wins and who doesn't, it's not enough to do things as well as everyone else. You either have to be able to do some things even better than others or find something completely new. That requires innovation and courage.

Niemi also sometimes sleeps longer periods in the alpine room with her partner, but she is not exposed to extreme conditions as regularly. However, she knows exactly what dedication to sport is all about, which makes life with her partner much easier.

- But yes, it's a very restrictive life. All athletes can do high altitude training, but most don't want to. It's quite isolating to be cooped up in a room for several months. It takes motivation, and I guess it's pretty easy to go crazy.



In addition to indoor rowing, Naukkarinen competes in track and coastal rowing, which, among other things, has no individual courses and is considered an extreme form of rowing. The former is a traditional Olympic sport, while the latter will be included in the programme for Los Angeles 2028.

In Coastal, Naukkarinen is already a World Championship medallist and is aiming for an Olympic place in both singles and doubles together with his spouse Niemi.

Naukkarinen is already aiming for a place in the Olympic waters in Paris next summer. Preparations for the Olympic qualifiers are already underway. In April, the European qualification regatta will be held in Hungary and in May the final qualification regatta in Switzerland.

As the main goal of her career approaches, the stakes are also at the right level. Naukkarinen recently made the biggest equipment investment of his career, ordering four new boats. Equipment is one area of rowing where there is no reason to give your opponents a leg up. The risk is high, as the money for a giant investment is not yet available.

- We boldly put in the order because the Olympic goal demands it. We are confident that we can still find partners to help pay the bill.

- I have already financed quite a lot of this sport with loan money. I owe more than €200,000, my family and friends have paid a lot and I couldn't do this at all without the support of sponsors. There are still a few places open in the team if anyone wants to jump in.

NAUKKARINEN has also put everything on the line financially. He could also work as a well-paid general practitioner, but then living in the current special conditions would not be possible. Nor, for example, a quick trip to Italy when the waters in Finland are frozen.

- Then I would not be competing with the aim of winning the Olympics. It's all or nothing. Even in a relationship, we have agreed that until the 2028 Olympics we will live entirely on sporting terms.

- Is this then a sacrifice? It probably seems like it to many - if not all - but I don't feel that way at all. My eyes are wide open, and I feel that for a brief moment in my life I will be able to do something truly unique. This opportunity will never come again in my life.

Deptfordx posted:

I believe rowing is one of those sports where people skew older, Steve Redgrave was pushing 40 when he won his last Gold medal at the Olympics

ante posted:

The crossfit crew likes to wear gasmasks to simulate low oxygen environments because they're tremendous morons, that's not how it works

hot cocoa on the couch posted:

ive noticed rock climbing also seems that way (outdoor sport and boulder, not necessarily alpine style or indoor competition styles). i think it probably has something to do with the long time required to develop the ligamenture and connective tissue associated with absolute finger strength + endurance, as contrasted with the relatively quick development of skeletal muscle

Oracle posted:

Might have more to do with the old ‘there are old climbers and there are bold climbers but there are no old, bold climbers.’
E.g. the extreme free climbers with sense dial it down after 40.

quote:

British tot Carter Dallas, two, becomes youngest person ever to reach Everest base camp as proud parents say: 'It's way better than holidaying in Tenerife!'

Platystemon posted:

rotinaj posted:

Jesus, where the hell is this? That’s a terrifying sign to find

Captain Hygiene posted:

Classic mistake, and a big reason I only ski at Stayaliveington these days

rotinaj posted:

Jesus, where the hell is this? That’s a terrifying sign to find

orange juche posted:

Killington Ski Resort or some other place close by, the one I think at Killington says that but ends with "Do not ski alone" because often skiiers/boarders would go off path and get lost or injured because they wanted fresh snow and they wouldn't get found for days/weeks.

E: coincidentally a large number of skiiers got lost at Killington about a week ago amid record low temps in the low single digits, and whiteout conditions. They did find them but it took them a while in essentially lethal conditions for people on their own with no real cold weather survival gear (a fluffy north face jacket doesn't really matter, mountain will still kill you in that kind of cold) or any training on cold weather survival.

Oracle posted:

But did they find them alive and unfrozen, is the question.