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View Full Version : Up. Down. The Debate



The Weasel
11-01-2003, 18:13
Why is it always further up than down? Please answer, 20 words or less. Anyone off topic will be hurt, fairly badly, but not crippled.

The Weasel

LBJ
11-01-2003, 18:17
I generally would rather go up than down - anybody else feel this way?

brian
11-01-2003, 18:43
Becuase you want to get to the top badly, but you cant force yourself to get there any faster.

Brian
Future Thru Hiker 2013

DebW
11-01-2003, 19:07
It is further in time, but not mileage. And we unconsciously measure things by time. Takes longer to get up.

Footslogger
11-01-2003, 21:36
I always thought it was becasue I was hiking northbound.

...just kidding, of course. But it does seem at times as if there are more ups than downs. Dunno, maybe it's because the ups are just more memorable

Kerosene
11-01-2003, 22:51
One word...Gravity.

Oh yeah, and a spare tire doesn't help.

smokymtnsteve
11-02-2003, 12:53
I like a good climb...one that gets you sweaty, breathing hard, and your heart pounding...

It's even better than sex!

Doctari
11-03-2003, 10:34
I dont know, sometimes the ups are longer and sometimes the downs. It seems to depend on how I feel at the time, and the condition of the trail, my knees, the weather. etc.
I prefer going down hill, but only when I'm going up.
I prefer going up hill, but only when I'm going down.
I'm not hard to please, I just want a level trail :D

My favorite descent: In to Erwin.
My favorite ascent: Albert Mt.

kt_lyn
11-03-2003, 11:15
i'd take up before down any day- jelly knees and toe slamming are not my favorite things

The Weasel
11-03-2003, 18:17
Lest there be questions (at least more of them), the short statements above are precisely what I hoped for: Brief, to the point, and educational about whether "up" or "down" is better, since 90% of the AT goes one way or the other, and that means that direction is always on our mind.

Albert Mountain as a fave? Damn. I was SO proud I made that one, 1 year to the day of my 3x bypass!

The Weasel

Cabo
11-03-2003, 19:03
Gravity, shorter steps and get-there-itis.
The first two need no explanation. The third was worse as a child, but still occurs. I can't wait to get somewhere, which makes it seem much longer than the return trip. (even if it takes the same amount of time, which in hiking up takes longer)

tribes
11-03-2003, 21:34
I will take up over down any day of the week. My knees don't try to mutiny on the ups. The downs on the other hand.......:eek:

RedneckRye
11-03-2003, 23:41
What about side-hilling? I'd rather do that than a big up or a big down.

Kerosene
11-04-2003, 10:47
Side-hilling, or slabbing, is great as long as the trail bed is level. I hate it when I have to walk at a slant for several miles, since my weak ankles tend to roll over and get very painful.

icemanat95
11-13-2003, 12:00
Uphill hurts my knees less, but my muscles more. When I was hiking every week or thru-hiking, I much prefered the uphills...except Mahoosuc Arm and Bladpate Mountain in the rain and wind...that sucked. Mahoosuc Arm was contrived by either a sadist or a Marine corps Drill Instructor...same thing really.

Mahoosuc Notch was the slowest downhill in my entire trip, followed by the Beaver Brook Trail down the north side of Moosilauke.

The Weasel
11-13-2003, 13:11
Side-hilling, or slabbing, is great as long as the trail bed is level. I hate it when I have to walk at a slant for several miles, since my weak ankles tend to roll over and get very painful.

One of my personal funniest moments - totally in retrospect - was the day before I came into Hot Springs. I had incredibly painful tendinitis in my right ankle/Achillies tendon, which hurt so badly I could not walk when my right side was on the "outside" of the trail, i.e. slabbing with the drop-off to my right and a slant to the trail in that direciton. I had to lay up for a half day at the last shelter. The next day, I made it in to HS by walking backwards on every slant that was painful. I passed a sectioner who asked me, with a puzzled look whether I was a "NOBO" or a "SOBO", since I was facing south and moving north.

Another reason to do serious stretching each morning.

The Weasel

Skeemer
11-13-2003, 15:20
Am I the only one who feels better climbing out of town (especially after a zero and eating like a pig) than limping down hill into town after several days on the Trail? I swear, even with a full pack and water I had more energy my first day out than I did coming in. :confused:

Nightwalker
11-21-2003, 15:28
I will take up over down any day of the week. My knees don't try to mutiny on the ups. The downs on the other hand.......:eek:

Bent knees and trekking poles help on downs. Having said that, I always groan when I see a steep down, only because I know/think an equally steep up is on the way afterwards. :)

Frank

micromega
11-22-2003, 13:03
IMHO it's all about perspective. When you get to the top and start going down, even if down is just as hard, you've already made the top and the supreme effort is behind.

It's the same thing that makes a week of vacation zip by so much faster than a week of work...

I prefer uphills, if only because I have a problem with going just a tad bit too fast downhill, which often leads me into trouble. Uphill, I have gravitational-assist braking. :D

Any advice, btw, on maintaining speed on downhills? It's a lifelong habit that I haven't been able to break.

Lugnut
11-22-2003, 20:54
I make a conscious effort to go slow on the downs. I don't seem to have to concentrate as hard on the ups. I used to speed down hill but the constant pounding of the exagerated weight on my knees soon ended that. I once attended a safety class at work and one of the topics concluded that your legs/feet received a 900 pound jolt jumping from a chair. I don't know if that is true but even a part of that multiplied by several miles would take a toll. That's why I try to use smaller and slower steps. Hiking poles have helped too.

Nightwalker
11-23-2003, 12:36
Any advice, btw, on maintaining speed on downhills? It's a lifelong habit that I haven't been able to break.

Adjust the length of your trekking poles to about 15 or 20 centimeters longer, use them further forward than usual, and they make good speed-brakes. You can then FLY down the hills. Remember to bend your knees. :) Here's a duh: Practice on a grassy hill first where it doesn't matter if you tumble a few times.

:-)
Frank

highway
11-26-2003, 05:53
Why is it always further up than down?

The Weasel

I guess it's not but it does seem that way. The energy of motion which our bodies transform by stepping up (going uphill) is the very same as stepping down (going downhill).

Our preference for one or the other one is only a personal one. I prefer downhill.

geoffrey morris
02-15-2004, 06:02
:-? Hi everyone, about the up vs. down thing.First,let me say,I'm a christmas tree farmer in north east tennessee.We have trees on land that is very steep(places you wouldn't want to hike vertically) and sometimes we've had to work it up and down.Often you wear a specially designed back pack to carry and dispence things like granular firtilizer or lime.The pack will hold 80-100 pounds full,but usually around 50 pounds,the weight of a bag of stuff.Anyway having said that,I think it's all about stride,it's harder going up and your stride is shorter.It also requires some effort holding yourself back going down and your stride is increased.So this would get you down faster then going up.Not to metion that going up is exhausting and down is not.Downward should be less strides also.But what do I know?What do you all think?


G.Morris

MedicineMan
02-15-2004, 07:47
at least on the ups you are less likely (uhmm) to trash a joint or rock and roll...you can suffer for hours going uphill but a misstep on the down and in an instant you can be ruirnt (versus ruined) forever so that gives a big fear factor only amplified in wet or ice...and a lot of hikers have the anticipated fear of the downs, their knees, and a lateral release :(

DeBare
02-15-2004, 09:07
When I was a child everything was uphill now that I'm a lot older everything is downhill. :banana

minnesotasmith
06-04-2004, 12:15
:rolleyes: "

"I like a good climb...one that gets you sweaty, breathing hard, and your heart pounding...

It's even better than sex!"

Uh, hiking is seriously cool, and mountains make it better, no question. (I'm planning to NOBO the AT starting at the end of 2005 myself.) However, to say that about SEX? You need to start finding better sex, I think.:D

smokymtnsteve
06-04-2004, 14:02
:rolleyes: "smokymtnsteve says

"I like a good climb...one that gets you sweaty, breathing hard, and your heart pounding...

It's even better than sex!"

Uh, hiking is seriously cool, and mountains make it better, no question. (I'm planning to NOBO the AT starting at the end of 2005 myself.) However, to say that about SEX? You need to start finding better sex, I think.:D


maybe you need to start doing some better Hiking... ;)

Pencil Pusher
06-04-2004, 15:46
Uh, was the author of this thread referring to hiking or male anatomy?:rolleyes:

Saluki Dave
06-04-2004, 21:05
How about sex on the trail? Oh, wait, that's another thread...:>

Kozmic Zian
06-04-2004, 22:46
Yea.....The 'Ole Up & Down'.....Similar to 'In & Out', but not! It's like Newton's 5th Law of Gravitation. 'Everything that Goes Up, Must Come Down'. Either way, really, with totally different sets of muscles involved. The Ups hurt the thighs, calves, hip-flexors and cardio-vascular. The Downs kill the knees, shins, back, and ankles. Both are what Hiking in The Mountains is all about......Guts. The Ups take longer, just can't trudge as fast. The Downs I can run, if I want. I usually 'make time' on the downs. Guess I'm what's known as a 'Downer', then. KZ@

Deerleg
06-05-2004, 15:18
On the 4th or 5th day out the knees are screaming so bad I sometimes walk backwards down the hills…and when I train I walk backwards up the hills to build for walking down. :-?