---
product_id: 245229
title: "Training for the New Alpinism: A Manual for the Climber as Athlete"
brand: "steve house, scott johnston, mark twight"
price: "AR$230772"
currency: ARS
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.com.ar/products/245229-training-for-the-new-alpinism-a-manual-for-the-climber
store_origin: AR
region: Argentina
---

# Science-backed training protocols Alpine-specific fitness focus Year-round periodized planning Training for the New Alpinism: A Manual for the Climber as Athlete

**Brand:** steve house, scott johnston, mark twight
**Price:** AR$230772
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Summary

> ⛰️ Elevate your climb, outtrain the rest — become the alpine athlete you were born to be!

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Training for the New Alpinism: A Manual for the Climber as Athlete by steve house, scott johnston, mark twight
- **How much does it cost?** AR$230772 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.ar](https://www.desertcart.com.ar/products/245229-training-for-the-new-alpinism-a-manual-for-the-climber)

## Best For

- steve house, scott johnston, mark twight enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted steve house, scott johnston, mark twight brand quality
- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Key Features

- • **Strength That Matters:** Targeted strength routines designed to toughen muscles for real alpine demands.
- • **Motivation Meets Science:** Inspiring insights from elite climbers combined with actionable, expert guidance.
- • **Optimize Your Alpine Endurance:** Transform your aerobic capacity with proven, climbing-specific training methods.
- • **Train Like a Pro, Peak Like a Champion:** Master block periodization to hit your summit goals at peak performance.
- • **Smart Nutrition for High-Altitude Success:** Evidence-based fueling strategies that keep you energized on and off the mountain.

## Overview

Training for the New Alpinism is the definitive manual for climbers seeking to maximize their physical potential through scientifically grounded, alpine-specific training. Authored by experts Steve House and Scott Johnston, it delivers comprehensive guidance on aerobic conditioning, strength training, nutrition, and periodized planning tailored for serious mountaineers aiming to conquer challenging alpine routes and expeditions. With a 4.8-star rating from over 900 reviews, this book is the go-to resource for turning climbing skills into peak athletic performance.

## Description

In Training for the New Alpinism
, Steve House, world-class climber and Patagonia ambassador, and Scott Johnston, coach of U.S. National Champions and World Cup Nordic Skiers, translate training theory into practice to allow you to coach yourself to any mountaineering goal.
Applying training practices from other endurance sports, House and Johnston demonstrate that following a carefully designed regimen is as effective for alpinism as it is for any other endurance sport and leads to better performance. They deliver detailed instruction on how to plan and execute training tailored to your individual circumstances. Whether you work as a banker or a mountain guide, live in the city or the country, are an ice climber, a mountaineer heading to Denali, or a veteran of 8,000-meter peaks, your understanding of how to achieve your goals grows exponentially as you work with this book. Chapters cover endurance and strength training theory and methodology, application and planning, nutrition, altitude, mental fitness, and assessing your goals and your strengths. Chapters are augmented with inspiring essays by world-renowned climbers, including Ueli Steck, Mark Twight, Peter Habeler, Voytek Kurtyka, and Will Gadd. Filled with photos, graphs, and illustrations.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Dimensions | 7.5 x 1.6 x 10.2 inches |
| Edition | Illustrated |
| Isbn 10 | 193834023X |
| Isbn 13 | 978-1938340239 |
| Item Weight | 3.4 pounds |
| Language | English |
| Print Length | 464 pages |
| Publication Date | March 18, 2014 |
| Publisher | Patagonia |

## Images

![Training for the New Alpinism: A Manual for the Climber as Athlete - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81nW+2St3jL.jpg)

## Available Options

This product comes in different **Format** options.

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Training Manual Mountaineers Needed
*by  on Reviewed in the United States March 18, 2014*

This is an outstanding, thorough, well done training manual for the mountaineer/alpinist. I've read it twice now, and it was even better the second time. It is not a "how to climb" book, that teaches you the knots, steps, and moves, or even a "climbing training" book, in the sense of teaching how to do on-the-rock or on-the-ice training the local rock gym or crag. There are several superb books on those subjects (Gadd's, Houston & Cosley's, Horst's, Long's, Leubben's, and more). House & Johnston is different: this book teaches you how to optimize your fitness for climbing, alpine climbing in particular, i.e., to put "more climber" behind the skills you have. The orientation is for both mountaineering and technical alpine projects - whether your goal is winter 14ers, classic alpine routes, Ruth Gorge classics, Andean or Himalayan giants, or anything within that general spectrum of casual outdoor recreation, this is your state of the art training Bible.And Lord knows, they deliver the gospel and deliver it well. House and Johnston know their stuff, from the theoretical and biological underpinnings of fitness They dispatch the tired and too-often said "just go climbing" - no athlete interested in maximizing performance "just goes climbing/running/riding." It takes more. But "more" does not just mean more often, or harder, or longer. This book tells you what "more" means - it is a thorough explanation of what the physical demands of alpine climbing actually are, what the science tells us about the best ways to train those capacities, and how to put all that together into an executable program. What, when, how much, how often, how long, how heavy, how hard . . . ALL the information you need to get in the best conditions your genes and environment allow is all there. Their treatment of aerobic capacity - why it is so crucial for what we do, and how and how NOT to organize your training to improve it - is worth the price alone.The book has many more real gems that you can put to use immediately: an "Alpine Combine," ala the famous NFL player evaluation combine,that serves as a handy means to assess and grade general fitness; a terrific, do-anywhere core sequence that lives up to its "Killer" name; weighted pullup, hill sprint, and loaded hiking cycles that are worth their weight in gold for the "bang for the buck" they deliver. Even the strength training information is stellar. I say "even," because, as a strength coach myself, I'm often disappointed or shaking my head at the mediocre, phoned-in strength prescriptions in most training-for-a-sport books. I shake it just as often at the currently popular "Crossfit" and its various knockoffs, all of which will make an unfit person much fitter, but all of which, at the same time, amount mostly to "working out to get better at our workouts," which is a far cry from working out to get better at climbing mountains. Not a deficiency here - the strength training information and advice in this book has a clear purpose (strengthen and toughen your musculoskeletal system to execute and withstand the demands of alpinism). House & Johnston lay out the stuff that works, the stuff that is relevant to our game, without cool but ultimately useless gym tricks. You don't have to do Olympic squat snatches, muscle ups on rings, or anything else that would make you ask yourself "Why am I doing this again?" You will be box stepping, leg raising, pulling on tools, etc. - if you have ever climbed anything technical and hard, you will know exactly why you are doing what you are doing. House & Johnston include a very solid menu of general strength exercises, good, clear instructions for those exercises, and some atypical movements that are highly climbing specific. Their strength programming guidance - the loads, sets, and reps that produce specific kinds of strength or strength endurance - are dead solid perfect. No lazy "three sets of 15-20 reps" drivel: they understand, provide, and explain the full complement of strength work needed (depending on the phase of training or goal), including circuits for preparatory or work capacity development, max strength sessions, and strength endurance work - all useful, all of which must be trained in very different kinds of workouts.Planning and programming information is similarly good, but has a distinct "major race" focus. House and Johnston are strong advocates for block periodization - spending sequential blocks of 2-5 months on specific components of fitness, leading to an overarching, major climb. The premise and prescribed approach is similar to, for example, the ideal training one would do for an Ironman, the Boston Marathon, or a championship meet in any similar sport - basically organizing the entire year toward one big audacious goal. That makes their specific planning prescriptions most suitable to climbers who build toward one or perhaps two major climbs or expeditions each year. If you are going to a big range for a bucket-list climb, this is exactly how to be in the best shape of your life for that trip - and why you need to begin that training about a year out. The book is less specific for one whose goal is closer to "high fitness year round." The authors point out, accurately, that it is impossible to be in your absolute best shape all the time - you have to build to that, and peak for it, and they show precisely how. But it would be a mistake to regard this book's value as limited to "training for an expedition." The concepts and workouts can easily be modified and used, in my opinion, by people who are less oriented around some huge annual or semi-annual project, and instead need to stay at a high level of fitness for various climbs and tick lists over their summer rock, shoulder alpine, and winter ice seasons. The authors' base and strength-endurance periods, for example, can be melded into an undulating periodization scheme that varies emphasis and exercise mode by the season, with transitions and 2-3 month builds toward the longer or more important climbs on the calendar. Some of us know how to do that, but I suspect others don't, and I'd like to see House & Johnston in the second edition include at least a chapter for the climber who isn't necessarily preparing for THE BIG CLIMB, but wants to stay in great shape over the course of a typical year and knock out a couple or three dozen significant alpine, ice or rock climbs during that year. Those folks, too, can be much fitter, and climb much better and more safely than if they "just go climbing" and practice random acts of exercise. Would love to see these authors comment on how they would organize the training of the avid weekend or twice-a-month alpinist across the seasons.Climbers will also appreciate their solid, no-nonsense nutrition section, which provides solid guidance on performance eating during training and on climbs. What they say works, every time, as opposed to "diets with names," which are hit or miss at best, and may work for Jill but not for Jane, and many of which border on stupid for an alpine athlete.Bottom line: Terrific book, well written, well organized, given the breadth of subject covered, and lavishly "iced" with relevant stories and sidebars from many of alpinism's leading lights and superb action photos. If you train to climb mountains, especially big challenging ones, where superb conditioning is a necessity more than a luxury, buy this book.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The definitive work on the subject.
*by  on Reviewed in the United States April 3, 2014*

I will be honest that as a bit of a skeptic I was put off by the title from the start. “Training for the New Alpinism” immediately brought to me a flurry of questions such as what is the new alpinisim? Was the old way wrong? Has it changed all of sudden and who gets to redefine what is new? Surely, no one would call Messner the old alpinist since so few could repeat his works. Then when I saw who had written the book I knew immediately that both of authors where in a position of authority on the topic.Steve House, who claims not to be a genetically gifted athlete, is considered by many to be one of the greatest American alpinist of our time. House has no shortage of great climbs to his name but his marquee work is “The Central Pillar” (M5 X, 5.9 WI4) on the Rupal Face of Nagat Parbat (8,126m). For his efforts he and his partner were awarded the coveted Piolet d’Or. Scott Johnston has a well-established career as a climber and World Cup cross-country skier. With his own spectacular resume of climbs in the greater ranges Johnston now coaches many of the country’s top athletes. With authorities such as these the skepticism had to be put aside for intriguing dive into the book.Much like the process of training this book requires a fair amount of discipline and commitment. It reads more like an old college science text book rather than the overly simplified light read that you might find in the pages of Climbing or Men’s Health. With a deep push into the actual physiology of the physical fitness training it may take multiple rereading of sections to really fully understand and incorporate many of the concepts. This is not a book for the half-hearted two week New Year’s resolution crowd. It is for those who are willing to ingrain themselves with commitment towards an actual long term training regime.For those who are up to the challenge what they will find is perhaps the highest level of knowledge and expertise on the topics of training as they apply to the alpine climbing world. House and Johnson drive home what seems to be a mantra of gradually building through purposeful planned training. The book is not a system or gimmick and makes clear the importance of hard work over a great period of time to achieve the optimal results. What they are attempting to do is simply educate the reader on the tried and true methods of training world class athletes and apply them to the realm of alpine climbing.While I found it sometimes overly dense in information the authors made a considerable effort to break up the pages with poignant stories of success and failures from many of the World’s top alpinists. Supporting essays from Vince Anderson, Ines Papert, Mark Twight, Caroline George and other greats athletes bring home the importance of the concepts and yet another tier of legitimacy to the book. Everything in the book including the color photography and print quality are reflective into the high level of professionalism that these men put into their work.In the end I came to realize that the “New” was not just a change in the style in climbing as the author’s suggested but a ‘new’ approach in the way to think about your climbing. While I cannot recommend it for the ‘average’ lackadaisical climber I can say, for those committed to taking their climbing higher and further, that this book is the definitive work for alpine training. It doesn’t matter how great of climber you are, or aren’t, if you are serious in your commitment towards furthering your alpine career this is a must own book. 5 stars

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ READ this book if you are embarking on a fitness program!!!
*by  on Reviewed in the United States May 30, 2014*

I wish I had....About 8 months ago I decided to "get healthy and fit," and embarked on my own program which simply consisted of eating better and starting to walk/hike regularly. I started of doing 1 hour per day at a moderate pace--covering about 2 miles over pretty easy ground. I started noticing the benefits--weight loss and a much better feeling of well-being almost immediately. It wasn't long before I had upped the hiking to 2 hours 5-6 times a week and a good portion of the hiking was climbing up and down hills. Feeling better, losing weight consistently. Started hiking even more difficult terrain including "timed hikes" in which I pushed myself to my limits for an hour at a time--hiking up difficult hills at the best pace I could muster. I improved at this to a certain point, then I noticed that I had plateaued, or even dropped off some. I still continued, figuring that I just needed to keep on my "program." About 6 weeks ago I started on a moderate hike with a group of friends and noticed that I really wasn't looking forward to the ordeal of climbing near the top of my ability for an hour or more. About 1/8 mile up that hike, I experienced a sudden feeling of lightheadness, which passed, but the hike "leader," who was a friend of mine, insisted that he and return to the trailhead. I walked back to the parking lot with him, carrying on a conversation that I still recall. Next thing I was aware of was being loaded into an ambulance and being transported to the emergency room. My friend and other witnesses have told me that when we reached the parking lot at the trailhead, I said I was going to go to urgent care and see if anything were wrong. Then I collapsed. After some thrashing around I apparently stopped breathing and had no pulse and started to turn blue. Luckily for me, an off-duty policeman just happened off the trail and administered CPR and revived me.A couple of days in the hospital undergoing tests were all negative--no heart attack, no stroke, no embolism--nothing they could pin down. I was also suffering from fairly intense vertigo in the aftermath. I did an echo-cardiogram/treadmill test in the hospital and passed with flying colors. They discharged me with a diagnosis of "syncope"--or "fainting" -- duh...Since then I've seen several more doctors, including another cardiologist and no one really offered any more information. Obviously it's been bothering me since, so I decided that before re-embarking on my exercise/fitness quest, I'd better get some help and more information. That led me to finding and locating a local trainer/coach and to this book.According to the trainer, and backed up by the data in this book, what happened to me is not at all surprising. I had been spending months pushing my body past its limits--feeling like I was making progress, when I was actually just depleting my fitness "reserves" to a point where something had to give. I imagine that lots and lots of people do the same thing, although hopefully without such catastrophic results.There is a SCIENCE to training/fitness and there are rules which if not followed will lead to little or no progress and sometimes to far worse consequences. The dangers increase if you are not in good shape to start with. I'm also older, which makes respect for limits even more important. This book is an amazing compilation of what's known about training. It has an emphasis on training alpinists (mountain/rock climbers) but there is a lot of basic information, especially in the beginning chapters, that explain the underlying principles of fitness in general. The authors know what they are talking about.So before you start "getting in shape" get some guidance from this book and hopefully a COMPETENT trainer and FOLLOW THE RULES. In the end you'll end up actually fit and hopefully not dead ;-). I'm looking forward to starting again and doing it right this time.Hope this helps!STP

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*Product available on Desertcart Argentina*
*Store origin: AR*
*Last updated: 2026-10-10*