If you’re contemplating a big adventure this summer, now is the time to start planning. Mark it on your calendar, request work off, and find the team you need to tackle it. Here are 10 things you can do to ensure your trip will be a success.
1. Find Some Partners
Unless you’re going solo, having the right partners is a critical part of any trip. Late winter is the perfect time to start chatting with friends about summer objectives and building a consensus about what to do, whether you like to climb, backpack, or paddle.
2. Pick a Destination
If you’re anything like us, there are probably so many places on your “must visit” list that it can feel overwhelming to pick one. The process gets even more complex when group dynamics are involved. Start having these discussions now to help narrow the options. As you pare down the list, consider which trips have nearby alternatives in case your desired route isn’t “in condition,” the weather doesn’t cooperate, or it proves too challenging, especially when you start planning it this far out.
3. Research
Pick up the guidebook and search the internet for first-hand accounts to get a more complete picture of what to expect. Learning as much as possible about a trip early in the process is important and will influence everything from your training to your planning to your gear choices.
4. Pick a Date
Summer schedules fill up fast. Get your group’s trip on the books so that you’re not left sitting at home wondering what might have been. An added bonus—booking flights, reserving hotel rooms, and renting cars are all way less expensive when done far in advance.
5. Reserve a Site/Permit
Whether you’re hiking, climbing, or paddling, many areas require advanced reservations, many of them in the most popular areas require you put in a request or enter a raffle months early. Since the best zones can get filled up quickly, making all campsite reservations and/or obtaining any required permits now is essential.
6. Start Training
There’s nothing worse than showing up for the trip of your life out of shape. While you still have months to train, develop a plan that will put your fitness on the path to success. Not sure where to start? Between them, Uphill Athlete and the Mountain Tactical Institute have training plans for just about every type of outdoor activity.
7. Don’t Forget About Developing Group Skills, Too
Focusing on individual fitness is important, but don’t forget to practice group-specific skills as well. For example, if you’re going to Mount Rainier, make sure your entire group devotes time to developing critical mountaineering skills like crevasse rescue, avalanche rescue, and self arrest.
8. Do Some Training Climbs
Logging time in terrain is just as important as general fitness training. So if you’re planning a trip to climb something like the Grand Teton, consider tackling some local alpine climbs such as the Northeast Ridge of the Pinnacle or, as an easier option, Henderson Ridge, both in Huntington Ravine. If you’re planning a mountaineering trip to the Cascade’s volcanoes, think about doing the Lion Head Winter Route while it’s still in condition. Similarly, if you’re going to mountain bike the Monarch Crest Trail, you’ll want to start logging miles ASAP.
9. Buy Trip-Specific Gear
Waiting until a couple of weeks before a trip to purchase trip-specific gear is a recipe for disaster. In such a compressed time period, it might be hard to find what you’re looking for, especially if it’s a niche piece of gear not stocked at your local shop. More importantly, you won’t have much time to learn the ins and outs of that new piece of gear or to break in that new pair of boots.
10. Get Psyched
It’s easier to train when there’s a goal, it’s easier to justify buying a shiny new piece of gear when it’s for a reason, and work is more bearable when an epic trip is around the corner. Get stoked to get ready for the best trip ever!
Have another trip planning tip that travelers should be doing now? Tell us in the comments!
