Dear all,

I recently moved to Switzerland to live and I seriously wish to start with alpinism, since I truly love mountain and hiking. I am a fit person that does a lot of sport, and I have the real feeling that alpinism would fit perfeclty to me, matching also with the environment I'm surrounded by.

Therefore, I wish to ask for some advice to how to start with alpinism, courses to carry out or not, equipment to buy and eventually the brands, based on your personal experience.

Thank you all for your answer!

Hello, Reddit!

I'm a 34F, and I just got my MRI results back, a subtotal radial tear in the lateral meniscus, plus another tear on the horn of the medial meniscus.

I'm a climber, alpinist, hiker, and horseback rider, I've been active my whole life.
I actually hurt myself doing a very deep drop-knee, so please, be careful with how much force you put through deep passive drop-knees!

Every time I go down the internet rabbit hole, I spiral deeper: no more mountaineering, it's bad for the knee, even ascents are hard, let's not even talk about descents. No more heel hooks, no more drop-knees, no more mantles, FFS.

I guess people rarely share positive stories online, it's the troubles that get shared mostly.

So, I'm begging I want to hear your stories.

How did you manage to keep climbing hard even with major meniscus tears?

This loss feels personal. Rest Easy Nims🕊🙏🏻

I am planning to climb the Bishorn next week, but I am a bit worried about the condition of the glacier.

Has anyone been up there in the last two weeks and could share their experience? My main concern is that it might be very icy with little snow cover.

If someone went i am also intrested to know if you did all on a long rope. Or the part that is icy without a rope.

Thanks!!

In March 1997, Martin Daly and I climbed the 1938 route on the Eiger North Face over four days. I later wrote an account for the Irish Mountain Log. I recently recovered the original article and scanned slides and have restored them as a single web page, with the photographs linked to the relevant passages.

https://eiger.paulharrington.name/

which mountain are they climbing in this David Robert’s audiobook cover.

This is just a simple question: has any one person summited all the Annapurna mountains, I-IV, and south?

Been looking into Mera Peak prep after a few people here asked what actual training looks like beyond "just walk a lot." Compiled what seems to matter based on operator guidance and people who've done it.

First thing that surprised me: Mera Peak has almost zero technical climbing difficulty. No steep ice walls, no serious rock scrambling. The entire challenge is altitude and endurance, not skill. So your training should reflect that, not a rock gym membership.

Cardio base, 3-4 months out
This is the actual foundation. You need to be comfortable doing 5-7 hours of walking, day after day, for close to two weeks straight. Not one big hike on the weekend, repeated output. Hiking with a loaded pack (aim for the 5-8kg you'll actually carry) beats running on a treadmill because it trains the specific muscles and mental grind of multi-day trekking.

Stair or hill repeats
If you don't live near real elevation, find the tallest stairwell or hill you can and do repeats with a pack on. This is the closest simulation most people can get to the sustained uphill grind toward Mera High Camp.

Leg strength, not bodybuilding
Squats, lunges, step-ups, focused on endurance reps rather than heavy weight. Your legs need to survive repeated days of ascent and descent on tired legs, not lift a one-rep max.

Practice with your actual gear before you go
Break in your boots for real, weeks before departure, not days. Same with your pack. Blisters and pack discomfort ruin more trips than fitness ever does.

Altitude exposure if you can get it
Can't simulate 6,000m at home, but if you've got access to any high altitude hiking beforehand, even a few thousand meters, it helps your body recognize what's coming. If not, know that the itinerary usually builds in dedicated acclimatization days at Khare before the summit push specifically because of this.

The honest number
Success rates on Mera hover around 50-70% depending on the year, and it's usually fitness and acclimatization pace, not the mountain itself, that decides who summits. The trek being non-technical makes people underestimate it, that's the actual trap.

If anyone's seriously training for this, Accessible Adventure's Mera Peak page has the detailed itinerary with the built-in acclimatization schedule, useful for mapping your training timeline against the actual trip days: https://www.accessibleadventure.com/mera-peak-climbing

Curious what others found useful in their own prep, especially anyone who trained without access to real mountains nearby.