TIPS FOR DESCENDING: Your Hike Isn’t Done When You Reach the Summit – by Joe D’Amore

As hikers many of us have set personal goals to climb summits and experience outdoor adventures in various terrains and parts of the country. We proudly claim that we “climbed” a mountain.  Descending is simply assumed and, at most, considered a minor aspect of the accomplishment. (Not the case for mountaineering and hiking in the bigger ranges such as the Himalayas where climbers are well aware of the rates of injury and death on descent).   Yet good  down-mountain conditioning and technique is equally important to personal development, safety and enjoyment on many hikes. 

Many of us focus on building stamina, balance, strength and aerobic capacity required to hike long distances up steep trails.  After all, going up is hard work.  Few of us give thought to what is required to enjoyably and safely descend mountains. 

Unless dropped off by a helicopter, we all start our summit adventures by climbing first and then descending.  Recovering from the ascent is never 100% but you can train to have more reserves and recover faster to get you back to the trailhead with minimal pain and less risk of injury. 

When I am not hiking, I swim and work out in the gym. I’ve learned that the leg machines that I’ve used over the years have done a great job in building my “climbing” muscles.  These are the lateral, and inner thigh muscles, calves and even my core muscles.  Leg muscles for descending, barely used on the ascent are best strengthened and conditioned with squat machines.  Routinely doing squats with or without light weights, often neglected in regular fitness routines, need to be integrated into the workouts to work on those leg muscles that are called upon on the descent. (Particularly those grumpy “quads” used to resist gravity on descent.  And yes, it helps to be lighter.  Remember your high school physics – Work=M (mass) x A (acceleration) x Distance. Reducing your “mass”, reduces the work of the quads).

Is it any wonder that we are more prone to muscle aches and, of great concern for many of us, susceptible to muscle cramps on the descent?   It’s not just because we’re tired from the ascent, it’s because we are exercising muscles that are not as strong because we’ve not conditioned them.

If I rated myself on a scale of 1-10, for ascents I am at a 7.  I’ve steadily built my ability to climb and go greater distances.  Steepness, requiring more work per unit of time more rapidly depleting energy sources and using more anaerobic processes, is also something I’ve focused on signing up for summit climbs with challenging steepness and scrambles. 

But yet on any hike I rate myself at a dismal 4 on the descent.  All three injuries I’ve suffered on the trail in the last year occurred on the descent. I know a few people who have suffered injuries and some extremely serious and life changing ones which all occurred on descending a summit. 

Technique matters too by reducing work and minimizing risk of accidents. I think most hikers have a “split capability.” We’re better going up and not as skilled in coming down the mountains. 

The center of gravity is lower on the ascent. When climbing we’re leaning our bodies forward lowering our upper body towards earth . For most of us our bodies are heavier in the upper half than the lower half.  Therefore, balance and steadiness is more apparent on the ascent. 

The exact opposite applies on the descent. Add to that the fact that we’re tired from ascending and have done little to isolate and train “ descending” muscles creates a recipe for disaster. 

For me, I am generally a mess on the descent. I have less confidence and seem quite unsteady in many situations such as stepping on knotty roots, loose rocks and walking steeply downwards on open ledges. 

By observing more experienced hikers, asking lots of questions, experimenting and reading up on this topic I’ve begun to build an inventory of skills that I am working towards perfecting. 

In a year, I hope to be on a scale of 9 on ascending and at least 6 on the descent. I am not sure if I will ever achieve parity (i.e. 10:10).

TIPS FOR DESCENDING

• Tie and retie your shoelaces on the descent. (Steadier going and your toes and feet will love you back)
• Stop talking/ radio silence. I love my hike partners and hiking for me is a social activity. However, I’ve respectfully announced to hike friends I won’t talk on declines. Why? I really need to “ plan every step”.  My mind is very active studying the terrain and making a commitment to step on a rock, root, mud or whatever is within my step range.  That commitment if miscalculated can cause a spill. All my injuries occurred not only while I was descending but also while I was yapping away, eliminating my ability to concentrate
• As a poet and writer I really do “stop to smell the roses”.  Now I do so by firmly planting my feet , stopping completely and taking in nature, snapping a photo, fumbling for my notebook for a journal entry – before I resume my steps. 
• Slow down.  Descending often is done with a higher adrenaline flow. That coupled with the weight of upper body quite literally falling towards the earth causes a dangerous acceleration.  I am still learning to pay close attention to my speed and forcing my legs to move with a deliberate gait to control acceleration. 
• Lean back. Dig in your heels. All of us know this from since we were children descending a giant mound of snow ( snow forts).  Heel first, roll forward to toe.  It works in most situations in various terrain and conditions. 
• Slalom!  On open ledges and rocks, especially if wet, cross the area laterally so that you dramatically reduce the grade.  In other words, employ the zig zag.  Experiment with this and see how easy and more safely it becomes to descend steep rock faces.  Closely related to this is side stepping.  Move your body from one side to another sliding your feet too when appropriate.  
• Butt slide!  Yup, works in our youth and it surely comes in very handy on many descents. Don’t be embarrassed. It works because of a dramatic lowering of your body mass towards the earth. There’s nothing more stable when negotiating space on a steep surface. 
• Use root and tree handles. Always first test a root or tree if it can hold your full committed weight.   Be sure to offset the opposite side of your body with a trek pole or rock. I have written poetry that recalls roots that look like handles created by nature in the most convenient places.  Look for them.
• “stopper” rocks can be helpful.  I plan each placement of my foot with a stopper rock if it is steep–I place my toes against a rock  to stop my foot from sliding forward if the ground is slippery.  That helps me to move faster as I know my footing is more secure
• Increase the length of your poles when descending as the ground is further away when you are going down
• If it is really steep, try going down backwards.
• Poles absorb some of the impact of each step make the going so much easier on the knees going down. Impact absorbing poles are nice on the hands (spring loaded made by leke). 
• Trek poles to the sides, not in front.  By doing so you spread out your body mass and create a triad for stability.  The more linear your body, the more you’re prone to slipping to one side and another
• Loose knee joints. Stay loose, lean back like sitting a bit and this prevents you from locking knee joints which  for me has been the number one contributor of falls. 
• Train.  Unless you hike every day supplement your training in the gym with weights safely. Get advice at the gym and seek out the wise counsel of hikers more experienced than you. 
• Nutrition: I take magnesium and B-12 complex vitamins in addition to being devoted to a truly “Mediterranean Diet”.  I manage my weight (otherwise,  another contributor to descending woes in years past). I’ve been experimenting with coconut water and supplements on days of hikes to boost potassium.  I drink pickle juice and eat pickles before I descend( there’s real science behind this). I “graze” on both the ascent and descent. And I never consume a large meal at the summit which can cause a glycemic spike and crash lowering energy at the worst moment when it’s time to descend.  Grazing also consistently fuels your body which is especially important over many miles and hours.  Learn about these concepts and see what works for you.  The overarching goal is to eliminate the risk of debilitating aches, physical exhaustion and most dangerously muscle cramps. 
• As always, make sure you hydrate throughout the hike to reduce risk of cramping.
• Push your limit, but sensibly.   I’ve developed myself into a hiker slowly over time  by operating slightly outside my comfort zone. In doing so, my descending experiences, which initially were fraught with anxiety, have improved and I’ve greatly boosted my enjoyment of the total experience- both climbing and descending!