The mountains don’t recognize your ambitions. They’re indifferent to your plans, unmoved by your hopes, and unconcerned with your success.
This harsh reality demands preparation beyond conventional training methods. Through years of field experience, I’ve discovered that to develop mental fortitude, you must seek discomfort during preparation.
Realistic, persistent training builds the psychological resilience required for success in uncompromising environments. The modern world cultivates comfort that weakens our ability to tackle adversity. Breaking these patterns of comfort is essential for mountain performance.
Training Your Mind Through Physical Discomfort
Cold exposure is one of the most accessible ways to develop psychological hardiness.
Take cold showers daily in the month leading up to your hunt, denying yourself warm water until you’ve achieved your objective. This practice creates a robust mental contract with yourself while strengthening your tolerance for discomfort.
The gym is another venue for cultivating mental toughness. To turn ordinary workouts into mental conditioning sessions, turn off your music during challenging workouts, forcing yourself to manage difficulty through internal dialogue alone, and feel the cold sting of a barbell by training in an unheated space in the winter.
Make sure your field preparation mirrors the actual conditions you’ll face. Limit food and water during training hikes to simulate realistic backcountry scenarios.
This approach creates physiological stress your mind must overcome, preparing you for the inevitable restrictions you’ll face in remote environments.
Realistic Conditions Expose Weaknesses
Practice making fires during winter with slushy ground conditions or in steady rain. Building fires in ideal weather doesn’t develop meaningful capability or confidence — successfully overcoming environmental resistance does.
Set up your tarp shelter in the dark, alone, with wind whipping across your position. This exercise reveals deficiencies in your equipment, techniques, and decision-making process that remain hidden during fair-weather practice.
Practice the rewarming drill — it’s the most valuable discomfort-seeking exercise. It forces you to manage core temperature after deliberate exposure to challenging conditions, building both technical skill and psychological resilience.
Building Capability Through Consistent Practice
Seeking discomfort isn’t about punishing yourself without purpose.
Each uncomfortable training session prepares you for the harsh realities of remote terrain. The mountains will test your resolve regardless of your preparation. The only question is whether you’ve developed the mental fortitude to withstand these challenges.
Regular exposure to calculated discomfort creates confidence based on demonstrated performance rather than wishful thinking. You’ll approach challenging situations with the calm assurance of having already overcome similar obstacles.
Incorporate one difficult, music-free workout in your weekly training schedule, and add one or two outdoor training events monthly in adverse conditions: darkness, cold, merciless rain, etc. This deliberate approach to discomfort builds psychological hardiness gradually without risking injury or burnout.
So, like I said, the mountains are indifferent to your preparation. But through deliberate discomfort, you develop the mental toughness required to face their challenges with earned confidence and proven capability.
by John Barklow, Special Operations Survival Instructor and a valued partner of MKC
