Forum: outdoors.stackexchange.com
Tags: <hiking><preparation>
Title: How much vertical distance is it possible to make in a day?
Question: Are there some numbers on how much vertical distance can people make in a day’s hike? I know that greatly depends on fitness and other factors, but I’d be happy with some statistical curve that would say something like 80 % of people should make 1000 meters up and so on.

Answers:
sents: text: Here's one data point , also based on the Grand Canyon.
text: I'm a 40 year old male, of average fitness and slightly overweight (5'10", 215 lbs.), and ascending the Grand Canyon (4320', ~1300 m)
text: took me almost exactly one day.
text: By contrast, the descent took me 3 hours.
text: (The rule of thumb at the Grand Canyon is that every hour down takes two hours up.)
text: Later that same trip, an elevation change of 2100' (from the base of Zion Canyon to past Observation Point, ~640 m), took me a little less than 4 hours - from 4:30 in the afternoon until just before sunset around 8.
text: In my 20s, I trekked from Pokhara to Jomsom (in Nepal), and ascended Poon Hill (elevation gain = approx 1200m).
text: The climb up took a day, the climb back down, about half a day.
text: (The stairs at Ulleri are killer!)
text: The elevation to Tukche is then about the same, but the straight line distance means that it takes another two days.
text: In my 30s, it took about 4 or 5 hours to climb to the top of Yosemite Falls, approximately 3000'
text: (~900 m) to the top.
text: It then took about 2 hours to climb back down.
text: I give these data points not as an average, but to illustrate a few points:
text: Heat is a huge factor.
text: Grand Canyon took me all day, because it was 122 degrees (~50°C).
text: I had to take frequent rest breaks.
text: Elevation is everything, and altitude is something.
text: Parts of the Jomsom trek take you high and get you winded quickly.
text: Age, Gender, Fitness Level, what you are carrying, etc...
text: all play a part.
text: The "average" is meaningless - the real question is, what is 'your' fitness level.
text: Finally, its mostly about how much you want to cover in a day.
text: On every single one of the hikes I mention, I asked myself, 'Can I do this in a day (or do I need my sleeping gear?)?'
text: and then did it.
text: Just about any National Park will have guidelines for the duration of just about every 'hike.'
text: I wouldn't plan on climbing anything for more than 8 hours a day - or even straight-lining for that matter.
text: The point is that's good enough for your planning.
text: Any extra time is gravy.
answer_details: author: outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/169/Affable Geek
score: 11
sents: text: Since people's capabilities vary enormously, I'm going to answer in terms of AMS - altitude sickness.
text: Although susceptibility to AMS also varies, there are some general rules of thumb for how much a person "should" climb in a given day which are worth knowing.
text: For starters, at up to about 3000 meters, you don't have to worry about it too much.
text: What I mean by this is that theoretically, you could ascend from 0 to 3000 in a day and not be at excessive risk.
text: An example of this would be hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up - 1700 meters each way - which, if you're in great shape, is possible without risking AMS (but crazy for all the regular physical reasons).
text: At higher altitudes you pretty much have to go gradually to let your body acclimate.
text: If you're planning a trek to the Everest Base Camp (5380 meters) in Nepal, a rate of 300 meters per day is generally suggested.
text: Less than that means that though you might be fine for a while, eventually the change will catch up to you and then you'll need to stop until you're better.
text: I know that some people climb Mount Whitney (4421 meters, in the US) in a single day, but I wouldn't recommend it - at 4000 meters changing altitude rapidly is very likely to make you sick.
text: They manage to do it because they both ascend to the summit and descend in a single day (AMS symptoms usually begin after a few hours delay) and therefore are back at lower altitudes before the symptoms kick in.
text: I'll close with some personal experiences.
text: On the way to the Everest Base Camp, I decided to "skip" a day and walk to segments back to back- 600 meters change, at around 4200 meters
text: altitude-
text: and I became sick that evening, although my companion was fine.
text: In a later trek (a few years later) my companions and I averaged about 500 meters/day to a maximum altitude of 4000, and all of us were fine.
text: Like many other things in the "Great Outdoors", it's best to plan conservatively until you feel comfortable with the subject and have more experience.
answer_details: author: outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/483/Eyal
score: 6
sents: text: It Depends.
text: Actually, it depends on pretty much everything: Weather, terrain, fitness, group size, and of course, how long a day is.
text: It's better to think of 'How much can I do in an hour, and how many hours do I want to walk/climb for?'.
text: I'd start using Naismith's Rule .
text: But, as you get experience about your own group's speed and fitness, adjust it up or down as appropriate.
answer_details: author: outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/492/Roddy
score: 6
sents: text: Figure how much this guy covers in a day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vx7GKAUDC0 :-)
text: Here's one I didn't know about until today: Alex Honnold solos
text: Mt. Watkins, El Capitan, and Half Dome in 18 hours, 50 minutes. Speechless. O_O
answer_details: author: outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/133/Mr.Wizard
score: 3
sents: text: In good terrain, I use the thumb-rule: 10 minutes per km of distance + 10 minutes per 100m of altitude.
text: This works on easy trails in moderate conditions (no heat, no high altitude, etc.), and often translates to roughly 400m/hour.
text: This does not include breaks; at this pace, I need a ~15 minute break every two hours.
text: I've never done more than 2000m in a day, though.
answer_details: author: outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/566/gerrit
score: 3

Summary of the answers:
This depends on many factors: weather, terrain, fitness, group size, and of course, how long a day is.  Finally, it depends how much  you  want to cover in a day.   The "average" is meaningless - the real issue is your own fitness level.  Most National Parks will have guidelines for the duration of every hike. A rule of thumb is 10 minutes per km of distance + 10 minutes per 100m of altitude.
You can follow National Park guidelines. Also, altitude, weather, terrain and fitness can determine the distances you can cover.