Alpenglow Expeditions Rapid Ascent™ Program allows you to conquer your dream mountains in a shorter time by acclimatizing from the comforts of your home.
Summitting Everest is every climber's dream, but carving out three months to tackle the prospect isn't always a realistic undertaking. The Rapid Ascent™ program from Alpenglow Expeditions enables enthusiasts to cross off climbing bucket list items without using up precious PTO. Rapid Ascent™ is an innovative program that combines hypoxic training with precise logistics and small team sizes in order to reduce the overall prep and training time spent away from home, while greatly increasing the chance of success for your high-altitude mountain climbing plans.
Rapid Ascent™ was developed in 2011 by Alpenglow Expeditions founder and CEO Adrian Ballinger, who had the idea after learning of special tents and generators being used to acclimatize endurance athletes. Ballinger started experimenting with the tents and found he was able to acclimatize himself up to 18,000 feet – meaning he could head straight to basecamp with minimal worry of adverse reactions to the altitude. He then launched Rapid Ascent™ with the goal of reducing the overall expedition time, an invaluable innovation for climbers who don't want to give up lofty climbing goals but can't take months to climb due to family and career commitments.
When you join the program, you receive a generator that attaches to an enclosed tent into which nitrogen is pumped in phases. The first phase is sleeping at "5,000 feet," then slowly over weeks, the program builds to sleeping at a "higher" altitudes – all from the comfort of your home. The tents provide the same experience as sleeping at basecamp at a higher altitude, but with the added bonus of being able to go to work when you wake up. Once you've adapted to the desired altitude you simply box up the generator and tent and UPS will pick it up. And you head to the airport.
The program doesn't stop there. Its dialed-in, superior logistics service arranges for you to be picked up from the airport and moved towards the mountain quickly, while you're still acclimatized. From airport pick-up to being helicoptered to the mountain, each aspect of the program is designed to give you the highest chance of a successful climb. By design, Rapid Ascent™ clients are well-rested, energized and prepared to move up the mountain quicker, and safer, with reduced risk of illness.
Customers don't need to be endurance athletes or expert climbers:
Rapid Ascent's™ only requirement is that you have previous experience acclimatizing to 16,000 feet. The program is perfect for people who have a desire to continue climbing but don't have the time for a weeks-long basecamp stay.
Check out some of the offerings below and start planning your next epic high-altitude mountain adventure.
Intermediate climbing experience, 14 Days instead of 21 Days
Advanced, experts only, 32 Days instead of 45-60 Days
Beginner/no-experience, 16 Days instead of 30+ Days
Beginner/no-experience, 5 Days instead of 9 Days
Intermediate climbing experience, 9 day instead of 14-21
Intermediate climbing experience, 9 day instead of 14-21
Advanced, experts only, 30 Days instead of 60+ Days
Intermediate climbing experience, 8 Days instead of 25 Days