Preparing for Ojos del Salado has to take account of more than the height of 6893 m: the character of the high Atacama matters just as much. The route calls for endurance over many hours, resilience to cold and wind, experience of living in a tent, and basic skills with crampons, an ice axe, a helmet and a harness.<\/p>\n
Driving between several points reduces how much you have to carry, but it does not reduce the physiological load. So your training plan has to prepare you to move at high altitude after several nights in cold camps, not merely for one long day.<\/p>\n
There is no universal test that guarantees the summit. A practical guide is being able to move at a steady pace for several days in a row, recover by the following morning and keep your technique together on broken ground. A fast time over a short run is no substitute for long aerobic work.<\/p>\n
If you already have a base of fitness, several months of consistent work is a convenient span. Anyone coming back after a break, or without experience of multi-day mountain trips, should start earlier. The exact period depends on your starting point, your health, the time you have and any previous injuries.<\/p>\n
Build the load gradually. Trying to double your volume just before the trip is more likely to leave you tired or injured than ready. The last days before you fly are for recovery, sleep and checking your kit, not for a test marathon.<\/p>\n
The foundation comes from walking uphill, easy running, cycling, skiing and stair machines. Most of the work should be at a controlled intensity where you can keep your breathing even and your technique intact.<\/p>\n
Squats, lunges, step-ups, pulling movements and work for the calves and core are all useful. The aim is not a personal best but stability in the knees, hips and back under repeated load.<\/p>\n
Regular climbs with a pack let you test your boots, socks, poles and food. Add weight gradually. There is no need to carry the whole expedition load in advance: duration, terrain and a good walking technique matter more.<\/p>\n
Sleep, food and easy days belong in the plan alongside the training. Persistent tiredness, worsening sleep and pain that changes the way you move all call for the load to be reconsidered.<\/p>\n
A previous night spent high is more useful than one quick touch of a summit. In your application, state separately the highest point you reached in a day, the highest you have slept, how long you were up there and how your body responded.<\/p>\n
Altitude experience loses its currency over time. A climb several years ago confirms that you know the mountains, but not your current acclimatisation. For how adaptation works on this particular route, read our article on acclimatisation on Ojos del Salado<\/a>.<\/p>\n Practise all of this before you fly. The final rock section is climbed according to the actual state of the route, so there is no time on the day to work out the system for the first time.<\/p>\n A two-day outing a few weeks before the trip is worth doing. Day one is a long climb; day two is a repeat effort without full recovery. That pairing shows you not your speed but your ability to keep moving, eating, sleeping and working.<\/p>\n Reduce the overall volume, keep short maintenance sessions and get some sleep. Check your documents, your insurance, that your boots and crampons work together, the comfort rating of your sleeping bag and that your torch works. The full list is set out in the equipment list for Ojos<\/a>.<\/p>\n An injury you have not got over, marked fatigue, no experience of multi-day effort, trouble with the cold, no experience at all with crampons or a significant change in your health are all reasons for an honest conversation with the operator. Sometimes the best plan is to add a preparatory route or choose a later date.<\/p>\n Check your readiness against the current 15-day programme<\/a>, read the full overview of Ojos del Salado<\/a> and the Mountain Guide expedition options<\/a>.<\/p>\n What follows is neither a medical prescription nor a universal calendar. The volume has to be matched to your current fitness, your injuries and the time before the expedition. Consistency without big gaps matters more than a few heroic sessions before you fly.<\/p>\n Increase the weight of your pack and the vertical gain gradually. Combining a heavy load, a long route and a fast pace all at once raises the risk of overloading your knees, feet and back. First get to the point where you move steadily and without pain, then add terrain, and only then add weight.<\/p>\n On your test outings, use the boots, socks, poles and pack you intend to take. The point is not to wear the kit out before the trip but to find the rubbing, the pressure points, the awkward adjustment and the items you cannot reach on the move.<\/p>\n Fitness does not solve mistakes in camp craft. You need to be able to change a damp layer quickly, keep your sleeping bag and spare clothes dry, pack in the dark and not lose small items in the wind. It is worth doing at least one training trip with a night out and an early start, rather than testing the system for the first time at Laguna Verde.<\/p>\n By the end of the cycle it is too late to build fitness with a sudden increase in volume. Use the last weeks to consolidate the long sessions and to work on descending, sleep and recovery. Reduce the load so that you arrive without accumulated fatigue or minor injuries.<\/p>\n At the same time, finish sorting out your equipment. New boots, new food or a new glove system are not left until the day you fly.<\/p>\n Honest information makes it possible to choose between the standard and the short programme. A gap in experience that is concealed will surface at altitude, where there are fewer ways of putting it right.<\/p>\n You can move at a sustainable pace for several hours, recover normally after a long day, use your own equipment without prompting and stick to a food plan. You understand that the summit is not guaranteed and that the guide’s decision to turn back is binding.<\/p>\n Being ready does not mean feeling no nerves. It means the main tasks are already familiar, so you are not learning everything at once in cold and at altitude.<\/p>\n Ojos del Salado combines vehicle logistics, camps in a dry high-altitude desert, long days on scree and snow, and a short technical section near the top. The drives reduce the carrying, but they create a transition from sitting for hours to working at great altitude. Your training plan has to allow for both sides of that.<\/p>\n The length of the preparation is not the same for everybody. Start by assessing your health, your current volume, the terrain available to you and your past altitude experience. After a break, the base phase takes longer than it does for someone who trains steadily all year.<\/p>\n Record the duration, the height gained and lost, the surface, the weight of your pack, your sleep, any pain, your food and how you felt the next day. Compare speeds only on similar terrain and in comparable conditions.<\/p>\n The log helps you tell ordinary tiredness from a decline that is building up. If your technique changes over several sessions in a row, your sleep goes, or pain persists in everyday life, stop increasing the load and look into the cause with a professional.<\/p>\n Routes with a loose, uneven surface are useful for Ojos, but choose training ground that is safe and matches your experience. On scree, a short stable stride and good body position matter more than trying to hold your speed on the flat.<\/p>\n Prepare for the descent gradually. Tired thighs, unstable knees and rubbing feet all show up after the turnaround. Stairs and an inclined treadmill help when there are no mountains, but they do not replace practice on natural ground.<\/p>\n Crampons are not just an item on a kit list. Fit them to the boots that are going to Chile, check they stay on and learn to walk without catching yourself. The ice axe is used for support and self-belay, within the technique your instructor demonstrates.<\/p>\n Online instruction is no substitute for practice. If there is no snow near you, arrange a session on suitable training ground in advance.<\/p>\n On a training trip it is worth practising a short warm-up after the drive, the order in which you change and how easily you can reach water, goggles, sun cream and windproofs. Do not count on laying your kit out comfortably for the first time at the start of the route.<\/p>\n Distribute your equipment so that the important things are not deep inside a communal bag. The vehicle helps with the logistics, but you remain responsible for your own clothing, water, food and medication.<\/p>\n The summit day starts at an unfamiliar hour. Practising an early departure a few times is useful, but there is no need to deprive yourself of sleep chronically in the name of adaptation. The point is to know the order of things and your torch, not to arrive tired.<\/p>\n Test your torch in the cold, keep spare batteries within reach and do the small tasks in gloves. Before the trip you should be able to assemble your personal kit without a long search in the dark.<\/p>\n Dry air does not cancel out the cold. On open ground, protection from ultraviolet, from wind and from heat loss all matter at once. Test your goggles, mask, sun cream, neck gaiter, gloves and layers together, because items that are fine on their own can get in each other’s way.<\/p>\n Rehearse your drinking and eating on long days out. This article sets no medical fluid target: needs vary, and drinking excessively can be dangerous too. Discuss anything personal with your doctor.<\/p>\n On the standard programme, San Francisco is not a decorative training day. It tests your ability to keep going, your clothing, your food and your recovery before you go higher. So your preparation has to leave you able to work after it, rather than being built around a single summit.<\/p>\n Judge a successful long day by how you are that evening and the next morning. If you got there at the cost of complete exhaustion, the tick in the box does not confirm you are ready for the next phase.<\/p>\n The standard route builds its own sequence of acclimatisation. The short format is for someone with recent, confirmed altitude of at least 5000 m. The preparatory summit is assessed together with the nights slept, the interval between the two programmes and the recovery.<\/p>\n Training at sea level does not satisfy that condition. If the preparatory climb fell through, if you were ill, or if the gap has grown, acceptance is reconsidered before the trip, not after you arrive in the Atacama.<\/p>\n On a test weekend, check the food you can actually eat while working and whether you can eat properly once you are back. What matters is not only the calories you burn on the route but whether you are ready to repeat the work in the morning.<\/p>\n After a long day, note your sleep, your appetite, any pain in your feet and knees, the state of your skin and whether you feel able to move. Those observations are more useful than a general “the session went well”.<\/p>\n A runner with good endurance<\/strong> usually needs to add terrain, descending, a pack and technical skills. A fast pace on the flat says nothing about how efficiently you move on scree in boots.<\/p>\n A walker with camping experience<\/strong> needs to confirm their current fitness and their work in crampons. Being familiar with a camp does not make up for a long break in training.<\/p>\n A climber coming off another high mountain<\/strong> needs to weigh not only the altitude reached but the fatigue. Fresh acclimatisation is useful, but illness, lack of sleep and damaged feet can make the pairing worse than two separate expeditions.<\/p>\n Someone with no altitude experience<\/strong> gets a fuller profile from the standard programme, but that does not turn Ojos into a first test of every skill at once. Before the trip you need a training mountain, an introduction to crampons and some multi-day effort.<\/p>\n The check consists of two consecutive days, not one maximum session. On the first day you walk a long route with a working pack, managing your clothing and your food. On the second you go out again without full rest and judge the quality of your stride, not a record.<\/p>\n Do the test weekend early enough to fix what it finds. If it goes wrong, you cannot simply declare the first day “a good session”: the reason the second day failed belongs to your expedition readiness.<\/p>\n Before the programme is finally chosen, pass on the dates of your high-altitude days, the nights you slept, any symptoms, your technical experience and the actual volume of your training. Establish separately what weight you carry, which personal equipment is compulsory and where the harness is used.<\/p>\n For the short programme the operator checks the basis for acceptance. For the standard one, they note the gaps to close before the start. Medical decisions stay with your doctor, technical instruction with a qualified instructor and route decisions with the expedition leader.<\/p>\n The core remains one long session on terrain. The other days are for steady aerobic work, strength, short hill sessions and recovery. Two consecutive walking days come in once a single long day stops disturbing your sleep and your ordinary activity.<\/p>\n Not every session is done with a pack. Increase the weight, the vertical gain, the duration and the intensity separately, so that you can see how your feet, knees and back respond. Do the technical practice fresh, not after a maximal strength session.<\/p>\nTechnical skills<\/h3>\n
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A test weekend<\/h3>\n
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The last two weeks<\/h2>\n
Acceptance and checks before the trip<\/h2>\n
How to tell that the programme needs rethinking<\/h3>\n
How to build a training cycle<\/h2>\n
An example of how a training week is structured<\/h3>\n
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\n \nSession<\/th>\n Purpose<\/th>\n The check<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n A long aerobic session<\/td>\n To develop efficient movement<\/td>\n The pace lets you speak in short sentences<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Hill repeats or stairs<\/td>\n To prepare your legs for height gain<\/td>\n Your technique does not fall apart by the end<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Strength training<\/td>\n To strengthen the legs, core and back<\/td>\n No pain, and no reps to failure<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Recovery work<\/td>\n To maintain regularity<\/td>\n The next day does not begin exhausted<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Two hard days in a row<\/td>\n To test your recovery<\/td>\n The second day is done at a sustainable pace<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n How to add pack weight and height gain gradually<\/h3>\n
Preparing for the cold and for camp life<\/h3>\n
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The last four weeks<\/h3>\n
What to report before final acceptance<\/h3>\n
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Signs that you are ready to travel<\/h3>\n
What makes preparing for Ojos different<\/h2>\n
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\n \nFeature<\/th>\n What it requires<\/th>\n How to prepare for it<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n Long drives<\/td>\n Starting to move without feeling completely stiff<\/td>\n A warm-up and a familiar order for getting kitted up<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Dryness and wind<\/td>\n Protecting your face, hands and eyes<\/td>\n Testing layers and accessories on open ground<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Scree and uneven surfaces<\/td>\n Keeping your balance and an efficient stride<\/td>\n Ascents, descents and ankle stability<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Snow or ice, depending on conditions<\/td>\n Using crampons and an ice axe confidently<\/td>\n A practical session before you fly<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n The final section<\/td>\n Following the guide’s instructions in a harness and helmet<\/td>\n Practising with the equipment in gloves<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n The phases of a training cycle<\/h2>\n
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How to keep a training log<\/h2>\n
Climbing scree, and descending<\/h2>\n
A separate technical session<\/h2>\n
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Getting ready to set off after a drive<\/h2>\n
Early starts, sleep and your torch<\/h2>\n
Preparing for the dryness, the sun and the cold<\/h2>\n
Preparing for San Francisco<\/h2>\n
The standard and the short programme<\/h2>\n
Food and recovery between days<\/h2>\n
A self-check a month out<\/h2>\n
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\n \nArea<\/th>\n The check<\/th>\n The gap it reveals<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n Two days in a row<\/td>\n The second day is still workable<\/td>\n Recovery is not good enough<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Scree and descents<\/td>\n Technique holds up when you are tired<\/td>\n You need more gradual practice on terrain<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Crampons<\/td>\n Putting them on and moving are confident<\/td>\n You need a session with an instructor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Camp<\/td>\n Personal kit is organised without help<\/td>\n You need a rehearsal of camp life<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Altitude<\/td>\n Experience matches the format chosen<\/td>\n The programme needs reconsidering<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Health<\/td>\n Personal questions discussed with a doctor<\/td>\n This article is not a substitute for a consultation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n How the plan changes with different backgrounds<\/h2>\n
Common mistakes in preparing for Ojos<\/h2>\n
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\n \nMistake<\/th>\n Consequence<\/th>\n The correction<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n Treating the 4×4 as a substitute for fitness<\/td>\n The walking days turn out unexpectedly hard<\/td>\n Train for duration and for repeated effort<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Training only the ascent<\/td>\n The descent destroys your technique when you are tired<\/td>\n Add downhill work gradually<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Putting crampons on for the first time in Chile<\/td>\n Time is lost and the risk of catching yourself rises<\/td>\n Do a practical session in advance<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Training only in the gym<\/td>\n Boots, wind and your personal system go untested<\/td>\n Add safe open ground<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Trying to make up a month in a week<\/td>\n Accumulated fatigue before you fly<\/td>\n Reconsider the date or the format<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Concealing a preparatory climb that went wrong<\/td>\n The short programme rests on a false acceptance<\/td>\n Report the altitude and the nights you actually did<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n The test weekend before the expedition<\/h2>\n
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What to agree with the operator in advance<\/h2>\n
How to put a working week together<\/h2>\n