Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mental toughness

It seems like everytime I go to climb a mountain, the night before I dont sleep too well. Excitement turns to nervousness, nerves turns to excitement...etc. You guys know the scenario.

I have read tons on how to prepare for Whitney, the physical side (exercising, climbing other peaks, acclimating, etc)

Any secrets on how to prepare mentally?

Do you repeat climbers still go through this?

As of late, I have been focusing more on ENJOYING the journey as my #1 goal......the summit is the added icing on the cake!

Any thoughts??

Sleeping pills. Seriously.

I travel a lot which requires me to change timezones all the time. I used to just struggle with it. Now I take sleeping pills for the first couple of days and all is well.

The same is true of big events where I can't sleep. That includes hikes. I often just take 1/2 and it's enough to help me get to sleep. I also often take 1/2 a pill while in the mountains as I used to not get much sleep up there either.

Talk to your doctor. S/he can give you a small prescription assuming you don't have any issues (like liver problems) that would prevent you from taking them.

Nervousness and excitement are part of the beauty of hiking. Embrace it, you'll like having that energy on the trail. The nervousness may be the cautionary voice in your head that prevents an accident. Being mentally tough also means being mentally prudent when conditions dictate. It's a good thing. Now if you can't sleep the entire night, a headlamp and a really boring text book should do the trick...zzzzzz

Being well rested in advance is probably more important than the night just before. Focus on getting plenty of sleep the prior 2-3 nights- especially with an alpine start where you won't get much sleep in the best of circumstances. Don't stay up until midnight packing!

Sometimes I take 1/2 a Benadryl tablet to help me sleep. I need to take it about 3-4 hours before bedtime (maybe 10-12 hours before wake-up) to avoid being drowsy the next morning. It has a twofold effect- makes me drowsy and helps keep minor allergies at bay.

Agreed, sleep (and allergy prevention) are very important. Just don't get drowsy on the trail.

If I know I'm going to have to be well rested for a big day then I have taken over-the-counter Tylenol "Simply Sleep" before retiring and it usually does the trick. Sometimes only half a pill is enough and it doesn't have any side effects when I wake up. Of course it probably affects everyone differently so what works for me may not work for you, but it may be worth a try. It's definitely awful to have to try to put out maximum effort on minimum sleep, and of course all these other strategies people are talking about are helpful, but if nothing else works, sleeping pills usually do.

I always have a strange feeling somewhere between uneasiness and nervousness approaching the trailhead, but a half hour into the Sierra those feelings are replaced by a sense of place - happiness in being embarked on an adventure; awe in being surrounded by the mountains; and a sense of wonder in being so lucky to do it again and again.

A lot of it is mental. Assuming you are in good shape etc, your body is capable of more than you think it is.

One approach I had a friend use on her first Whitney ascent was to split the route up into segments rather than thinking of it as one big bite. If I recall correctly we divided it into five segments, with a food, hydration, refocus at the end of each segment. Enjoy the views, breathe the air, take pictures and appreciate the fact that you get to be there.

I psych myself up every time I do Whitney (or any big dayhike). If you have ever played a competitive sport, you can relate. Ultimately you are only competing with your self. There is you and the mountain. Keeping in mind the mountain is not going anywhere, the goal is a safe return to the parking lot...not the summit itself.

Many nights of poor sleep take a huge toll, but one night isn't that big a deal. If you can lie down, close your eyes, rest your tired bones, and relax for a while, you should be OK. Who knows? You may fall asleep if you stop worrying about sleep.

I listen to music (or oddly enough NPRs Car talk) on my iPod to calm me down and usually fall asleep. The key for me is to get to bed and relax and hopefully sleep early (7 hours before getting up).

sierragator and Bob, well said.
BioBrit, also well said although Car Talk would have me laughing all night but laughing is great for calming.

Visualization, and the breaking up of a climb into parts as Jim suggested above. At times, if I am really struggling the parts can become incredibly small: where is the next hand/foot hold, committing to a move, where to put my next step in the scree or snow so I don't slip so far.

I recently read The Rock Warrior's Way, which has some wonderful insight into focus techniques.

High Anxiety...

Ditto, happens to me a lot. Thought always running through my head...did I pack this? will I need that? did I set my alarm? will my alarm go off? will I hear my alarm? will the weather hold?...on and on and on.

The night before my first time up Mecca West, I think I slept a total of 2 hours if that. We stayed at the Dow Hotel. It was hot, the swamp cooler wasn't working, we were waiting for a third member of our party DRIVING TO LONE PINE AFTER WORK FROM ORANGE COUNTY THE DAY BEFORE THE HIKE! BTW, that large rock to the right just before the Whitney Zone, we named it "Lawrence Murphy Rock," because we paused to take a breather, and he fell asleep during our rest break on that rock. Snoring mind you...rasping snore. He made it as far as the SB before DRIVING BACK HOME TO ORANGE COUNTY. Those who hiked with me that day know what I am talking about.

My wife and I take melatonin (Trader Joe's has the chewable kind). Valerian root tends to upset my wife's stomach, but not mine. If camping in the Portal area, I put in ear plugs for the running water, the coughs, the banging of pans, the talking, the slamming of car doors, etc.

Sounds like a great game plan. Have fun up there! Break it down into "segments" if you have to. Heck, I even counted the dang switchbacks going up and coming down.

From TC to the summit, and at altitude, I try to step off 100 steps, stop, breathe mountaineer, recompose, continue, step off 100 more.

However for me, from Lone Pine Lake to the TH, it is the hardest to break down into segments. I believe I counted 26 switchbacks (#11 is that lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng SB starting from the old stock trail going up.) Just get me off this trail!

When I can hear the cars and the generators and smell what's cooking then I know I am almost there. Just get me off this trail!

And when I "get off this trail," I sigh, "There, I did it."

And I did it to...

Have fun.

Not unusual to get excited the night before. I think Bobpickering has the key, and I've heard it before from others who also should know - one night of poor sleep is not a huge deal and in fact your body is getting a lot of rest just laying quietly, even if you do not sleep. Maybe knowing that can help you relax a bit more.

With all due respect to other posters re sleep aids, I personally would be very wary of anything like that. I tend to err on the other extreme, even knocking off morning coffee and wine with dinner for as many days before the hike as the hike itself will last (e.g., 2 week climb = no wine or coffee for 2 weeks prior). Maybe more of a psychological boost than physical, but it has always worked for me. Perhaps experiment with both strategies and stick with the one that gives the best results.

Thanks to all who have posted.
I love the idea of breaking the trail into segments and doing one segment at a time. Also, I think I will look into some form of sleeping aid.

dingdingdingdingding!!!! We have a WINNER!!!

As for sleep aids, if you are going to try that out, make sure you know how your body will react to them LONG before you head for the trailhead. You wouldn't want to oversleep or feel like garbage due to drowsiness when you start out your day. Kinda the same deal as food: what you like at sea level is not necessarily what you're actually going to eat up high.

As for feeling sleepy or drowsy on the trail, of course you want to be on the lookout for symptoms of AMS, but I haven't yet found the hiking law that states you cannot stop and take a nap along the way...

Here is a way to deal with the can't-sleep-the-night-before syndrome...

this is one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite mountaineering authors:

That virtue is its own reward we were beginning to learn, for in the matter of early starts we found there was no other.
Eric Shipton

IMO,the secret to mental toughness is hard work. The more you know about your trip, the less surprises you will have. It's what you don't expect that wears you out mentally.

I know my first time here was my worst time here. By my second trip, I knew what needed to be done...and got it done before heading up trail. The process started again with my first backpack trip to this mountain. The same trip a year later was so much easier mentally and physically.

It seems to me, you are on the right path.

No. You cannot be serious. That is such a dangerous practice. If Whitney is as high as you want to scale then I will bite my tongue but if you want to climb at altitude you must know that taking sleeping pills before a climb is a self-defeating habit to get into.

Sleeping pills are dangerous to take at high altitudes. Sleeping pills are depressant. "These depressants further decrease the respiratory drive during sleep resulting in a worsening of the symptoms" of acute mountain sickness.

http://www.basecampmd.com/expguide/sleepingpills.shtml

rob..I take a short acting sleeping pill zolpidem 10mg(gen.for ambien) when i'm on the mountain portal, trail camp,iceberg if I go to bed early and wake up at midnight or 1 in morning i'll take 1/2 or whole depending on when I want to get up. I wake up fresh on this one...

My long lasting capsule flurazepam 15mg, I will take before 10pm
this one if you get up or take it to late it does make you drowsy.

this works for me and have been using these for some years now on the mountain ,some people wont agree with this , but this works for me...

mark