I’ve spent a week procrastinating on an overview of Tough Mudder Toronto 2012, but I think the overall concept of what we did is still too big for my tiny little brain. So here’s some footage of Everest, in which one climbs up a giant quarter-pipe:
This was the second last obstacle of the day, and we’d been climbing Mount St. Louis Moonstone’s hills for something like 14 km before that, so my biggest worry was that I wouldn’t have the legs to make the climb. I remember going into it trying to figure out how many attempts I was going to make before giving up and walking around it.
But I did it in one. Here’s some of how that happened:
Use the help available to you. See all those people at the top with their hands reaching down? They’re there for you. Sure, aim for the top ledge, but be ready to grab a helping hand. For some of us, accepting help is the hardest obstacle to overcome, so this is a great opportunity.
Pick ONE hand. There aren’t too many misses in the video, but a lot of the ones I saw seemed to be people without a clear plan going up. When they reach the moment where they know they aren’t going to make it, a quick decision has to be made among the many hands that are in reach, and quick decisions are not easy after a long day. I think a lot of people tried to grab three hands at once instead of just one. I had mine picked out before I started my approach, and I pointed to him just to be clear, both to me and to him. It was my teammate, but it could have just as easily been someone else. Oh, and as long as you’re picking, choose someone with long arms.
Go fast. High school physics time: your job on this obstacle is to convert kinetic energy to potential energy as you go up the ramp. You’re not going to get much additional acceleration one you start your climb, so bank as much speed as you can and try not to lose too much as the ramp gets steep. And it gets steep really fast – it’s not a gentle slope by any means.
Don’t let go until you’re secure. When I did Everest, I thought I my hand grab was almost a high five and I grabbed the ledge at the same time. The footage shows that I was a mile from the top. Perceptions get messed up on an obstacle like this, so make sure you’re locked onto the top before you let go of the hand that helped you, or you’re going to slide back down. I saw it happen, and I doubt that it was by people who were having so much fun they just wanted to do it again (though it was plenty fun.)
Fun follow up: fresh from our victory on Everest, we all knew we had just a mile or so left to trot out before the electric shocks and the finish line, and we all felt pretty good about ourselves. Plus we were at the bottom of the hill! Smiling confidently, we turned the corner, and saw another uphill. There were a few swears at that point… (See the first “near-breaking point” story here for back up)