Don't Try This At Home

How a professional mountaineer trains for a 6,800m free solo climb in the Himalayas.

This October, professional mountaineer Dominic Douglas will free-solo Ama Dablam, a 6,812m peak in the Himalayas.

Dom’s career arguably started at 14 years old, when he snuck out of his family home and summited Mt Cook. The stunt earned him a headline in the local news, title of one of the youngest people to scale Mt Cook, and a well-deserved clip around the ear from his mum.

Since then, Dom has travelled around the world. He’s climbed in New Zealand, Nepal, North & South America as well as throughout Europe. Having savoured views from iconic summits from every major mountain range, Dom is no stranger to high-altitude adventures.

Ama Dablam is known for its striking shape and technical sections. Dom will need to be in good form both mentally and physically to complete his free solo mission without ropes, snow pickets, or ice screws.

The expedition will take over four weeks, requiring Dom to summit Ama Dablam twice. The first ascent will involve climbing with ropes and safety gear to assess conditions and cache emergency gear for the free solo attempt. The second ascent will be the free solo attempt: no ropes, though Dom will use essential equipment like ice axes, crampons, and a helmet. During the descent, he’ll retrieve the cached safety gear, relying on ropes for a safe return – no need for a fast, gravity-assisted journey down the mountain!

Climbing and descending a peak over 6,000m once is challenging enough. Two climbs with extended time spent at high altitude is even more demanding.

Dom is training from his home base in Christchurch, spending hours running around the Port Hills and whipping off to Central Otago to spend time in the snow.

We asked Dom to share what a week of his training looks like. Below you’ll find an example of a typical week of his regime.

Firstly, we want to emphasise that this training schedule is highly specialised and not recommended for everyone. Dom has a strong fitness base, developed over many years of climbing, running, and strength training.

But, we do hope that you find some of the details interesting – understanding the rationale behind double days and the specific training stresses he aims to replicate to prepare for this challenge.   

Training Notes:

Double days 

Dom trains twice a day to achieve two main goals.

First, it builds mental resilience by mimicking the fatigue that he will experience during the climb. The morning session simulates the fatigue he will experience at high altitudes, where every action is more strenuous. On the mountain it’s difficult to sleep well, your actions feel sluggish, and it feels like you’re breathing through a straw. Regular tasks like staying hydrated and maintaining good nutrition require constant attention. By training in a fatigued state, Dom is preparing his mind just as much as his body to perform.

Second, it promotes physiological adaptations, improving cardiovascular fitness, strength, and technical climbing skills.  

Monday and Friday (Endurance)

Uphill session @ high intensity: This session trains both cardiovascular fitness, and places high demands on the calves, ankles and feet. This replicates the long periods of time that Dom will be spending front-pointing in crampons (i.e. hanging off ice from two prongs sticking out the front of his boots).

Climbing until fail: Dom starts his indoor climbing session on lower grades, progressing to tougher ones. Think about the Rocky training montage, but for climbing. This helps to build insane grip strength, and as Dom’s technique and muscle strength begins to degrade, he shifts to lower graded climbs. This session challenges his mental and physical stamina, ensuring he’s prepared to push through fatigue when it counts most on the mountain.

Tuesday and Saturday (VO2 Max & Strength Endurance)

10k tempo run: This run helps to improve Dom’s cardiovascular fitness by increasing his VO2 Max, which is important for oxygen to be delivered efficiently to Dom’s muscles and organs at altitude, where oxygen levels are low.

Strength (High Reps): This type of session is known as “strength endurance”, combining cardio and muscle endurance. Dom uses achievable weights and performs more reps to build stamina and ensures that he’s not wrecked for Wednesday and Sunday.

Wednesday

A 10k trail run on varied terrain, usually around the Port Hills, including more vertical running at a moderate or relaxed pace. The evening climbing session is similar to Monday and Friday, with a focus on climbing strength and technique.

Saturday

Again, Dom focuses on building cardio fitness with a 10k tempo run. Saturday night’s strength session focuses on building power. Here, Dom lifts heavier weights with fewer reps, emphasising emplosive strength, which will be useful during demanding sections of his climb.

Sunday

Even on his more relaxed day, Dom’s trail run helps to flush out any muscle fatigue from Saturday’s sessions. His evening stretching routine helps to prepare him for the upcoming week.

So there you have it – a bit of insight into a mountaineer’s exercise routine. Of course Dom doesn’t do this every week: there’s some variation in there, and he will schedule recovery time or choose to cross-train if he fancies a change from running or climbing.

A Movember film crew will capture Dom’s journey and the inevitable physical and mental challenges that he will experience, opening up real conversations about men’s mental health.