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Entries from Mountaineering Fitness & Training
November 30, 2016
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Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
Thanksgiving marks the beginning for many of a busy holiday season filled with visiting family, kids home from school, shopping and errands to run, and delicious meals. Busy days entertaining, traveling, or preparing can put pressure on your training time, and the changing weather doesn't always help either. Your training plan is important, but during the often stressful holiday season remember that adapting, changing, rescheduling that plan is ok. A missed workout won't affect your performance six months from now (though missing a week might), and shortening a workout is always better than canceling it completely. Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind during the festive times:
Involve your family, friends, and guests: It's easier to stick to your routine if you can involve others. Find a hike to make a group outing to, and make a day of it. Your guests get to have a nice adventure, stretch their legs, and get a few photos. You get some endurance base training in. If you have to slow the pace a bit, it's ok; you're still getting the miles in and improving your endurance base. You can increase your workload by offering to carry the group's water bottles, jackets, cameras, and other odds and ends.
Use the mornings: Vacations often mean sleeping in, dawdling over a cup of coffee and breakfast, and enjoying time off. Try waking up 45 minutes earlier than you would and getting out the door for a run, hike, bike, or strength session. If you go to bed with a plan for the morning, it's easy to get your workout done before anybody else has even gotten out of bed!
Have a few quick go-to workouts: Some days get busy, and the workout you may have planned just doesn't fit. Having a few 30 – 45-minute workouts in reserve can be the difference between skipping your training entirely, and getting out the door. A couple of ideas are:
Remember to enjoy it: We head to the mountains because they bring us enjoyment, we spend time with family and friends because it brings enjoyment, and hopefully our training brings a measure of enjoyment as well. If your training regime becomes a chore that you feel like you have to get done, but dread doing, switch things up and spend a couple of days doing activities because you enjoy them rather than for their training benefits. When you find enjoyment in your training, you'll train harder and more effectively, and it will be easier to get out the door. Similarly, don't let the stress of fitting in training take away from enjoying the time you spend with friends and family. It is that time of the season after all!
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
New to skinning flatlander Canadian skis east NA.
Great articles for second year older skier. Thanks T
Posted by: Tim murphy on 1/16/2017 at 2:40 pm
November 7, 2016
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Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
This is the second of a two part series looking at the benefits of improving rates of fat metabolism to prevent or delay bonking in endurance sports. For week one of the series, click here.
Last week, we introduced the idea of training or developing fat metabolism to preserve glycogen stores, utilize our body's largest energy store, and ultimately prevent "bonking" while climbing. This week we'll look at how to accomplish it!
There are two main components that we can alter to affect our body's use of fat: diet and training. The two work hand in hand – a change in diet without a focus on aerobic training volume is of little use, as anaerobic workouts require glycogen by definition, and aerobic training volume while continuing to eat a high carbohydrate diet will cause little change in your body's metabolic pathways.
The key to training fat metabolism is to adjust your diet to take in more calories from fat than carbohydrates. This doesn't mean you need to take in more calories overall, but instead, shift the nutritional balance of your diet. These diets have taken on the moniker LCHF or low carb high fat in studies and the media. There are a number of specific diets out there that align with this description (the paleo diet, the Atkins diet) but the specific diet is less important for the purposes of an athlete than the nutritional balance. Some articles suggest about 15% of your daily calories coming from carbohydrates, which is a significant shift for those of us that have trained under the paradigm of carbohydrate loading!
Changing our diet to make carbohydrates more scarce, and fats more plentiful accomplishes several things that will ultimately help our fat oxidation rates. The first is that when sugar is present in the bloodstream at high levels, insulin is released to control rates of blood sugar—extremely high rates of blood sugar are treated as a toxin by the body—and consequently insulin is a fat oxidation inhibitor, as the body wants to burn off the excess sugar and uses the opportunity. If we keep our levels of blood sugar lower with diet, our body releases less insulin, and fat oxidation rates are not suppressed.
Second, while sugar is easily transported across cell membranes and into cells, fats require transport by specific enzymes. Reducing our blood sugar and allowing fat oxidation to take place stimulates the production of these fat transport enzymes, so that fat can be brought into the cells at higher rates and utilized.
Finally, mitochondria are responsible for oxidizing fat and producing the ATP that fuel our cells. By reducing our carbohydrate fuel and relying more on fat, we stimulate the growth of mitochondria in the cells. Studies of athletes that are efficient fat oxidizers vs. sugar burners show a significant increase in mitochondrial density in the muscle cells.
Training Type
Our body is able to burn fat as fuel during aerobic exercise – those workouts and efforts that stay at level 3 or below. Once we cross the anaerobic threshold into lactate production, glycogen is the only fuel source that the body uses for energy production, so the stimulus to oxidize fat is gone. Thus fat oxidation is best trained during an aerobic base or volume phase, when the preponderance of workouts focus on relatively lower intensity, higher volume (hours or miles).
This isn't a process that can be changed overnight. The cellular development that is required to shift your metabolic pathways takes time and sustained stimulation to change. With dedication to diet and training, studies show marked improvement in rates of fat oxidation after 8 to 12 weeks, so stick with it!
It's often tempting as athletes to take things too far: if more of something is better, even more of it must be better still. Fat oxidation alone isn't enough to keep up with our energy demands when we are training heavily for a climb. Therefore, maintaining some carbohydrates in your diet is important. Think of it as replenishing the fuel you spend: a workout of harder intensity will deplete your glycogen stores more; a 4 hour workout will require some carbohydrate fuel intake during the workout to prevent depleting glycogen stores as well. For those who want to really dig into the numbers, Alan Couzens has a calculator for balancing your nutritional intake depending on the phase of your training plan, hours, etc. It is designed for ironman triathletes, but can provide some interesting numbers for us as climbers as well!
For more reading Alan Couzens has a number of interesting blogs on the subject. A good one to start with is Improving Fat Oxidation.
Also see Deborah Schulman's Fuel on Fat for the Long Run.
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
I know this was posted some time ago, and it's a good reminder get back to the low carb/ no sugar diet that I have done a few different times over the last couple of years. However, I have a major question and challenge which is:
How to sustain this type of diet in the backcountry?
I've had a few different foods that work, but the limitation of boiling water for heating/reheating food is a pretty big obstacle to doing this in backcountry settings (I've yet to do an actual ski mountaineering trip but it's coming up). Any tips there would be very welcome.
Posted by: Zachary Richmond on 1/16/2017 at 11:50 am
Regarding training for fellow
Find a hotel or office building that has a minimum of 10 stories but preferably 20-30 or more. Ask the manager for permission and train!
I will carry a weighted pack up the stairs and take the elevator down. I often wear my climbing double boots to simulate the real thing!
Posted by: Eli Berko on 1/15/2017 at 5:40 pm
October 25, 2016
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Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
Climbing is a long and demanding endeavor, with a typical summit day on Rainier or Denali stretching for twelve to fifteen hours. Every time you take a step, your muscles require energy in the form of ATP to be able to fire. ATP is created within the muscle cells by mitochondria from two main nutrients: carbohydrates and fat.
For many years, athletes have focused on their carbohydrate intake as the key to performance. Carbohydrates provide a readily accessible and easily digestible energy source for your body, which is the reason that they are the main content in most sports foods; just look at the labels of shot blocks, Gu's, bars, energy drinks, and the like, and you will see a heavy focus on sugar. There is a good reason for this: your body has a limited ability to digest food while exercising (digestion requires energy of its own), and carbohydrates and sugars are the easiest to digest, requiring little to be done to the glucose components before they enter the bloodstream and are carried to the cells.
The main issue with a reliance on carbohydrates is that your body has the ability to store a finite supply of glucose in the muscle cells and the liver in the form of glycogen. For trained athletes that are efficient with their energy usage, that store still only lasts for about 2 hours of sustained hard effort. If you aren't familiar with the term "bonking," it's that feeling when your performance drops off a cliff; you don't feel like you are working that hard aerobically, but you can't possibly go any faster or harder. You've run through those glycogen stores and your muscles are out of fuel. Eating while you exercise can help to delay bonking, but your body can only process about 250 Kcal of sugar per hour, far less than you expend over the same period. Even though we are replenishing our sugar fuel, we dip further and further into those reserves as summit day goes on. At the same time, even the leanest among us carries over 24 hours of energy in the form of fat stores. Wouldn't it be nice to recruit those stores while you are climbing?
Fatty acids are the most energy dense nutrients in our diet and our body stores them readily. They create more ATP per unit than sugars, and our body's ability to store them can leave us with a huge reserve energy supply. The problem is that when fatty acids and sugars are both present, our metabolisms preference burning the sugars for energy. Julia Goedecke is a sports scientist who has been examining the influence of fat oxidation (metabolism) in endurance athletes. In examining rates of fat oxidation in athletes at different intensity levels, she found a vast difference in overall rates of fat oxidation. Some burned nearly no fat at rest, while others metabolized nearly 100% fat at rest, but while there were differences in overall rates of fat metabolism, those who metabolized more fat at rest derived more of their energy from fat at all intensity levels too. This would suggest that if we can train our metabolism to derive a greater percentage of our energy from fat, it will continue to do that as we up our intensity climbing, and we will use our sugar reserves more slowly, and hopefully avoid the dreaded "bonk!"
Now that we've introduced the idea of developing your fat metabolism, stay tuned next week as we get into the details about how to accomplish it.
For more reading Alan Couzens has a number of interesting blogs on the subject. A good one to start with is Improving Fat Oxidation.
Questions? Comments? Do you have experience applying LCHF nutrition to endurance sports? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
Where do I find part 2 of this article? Thanks.
Posted by: Doug on 8/8/2017 at 2:32 pm
April 12, 2016
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Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
Heart rate monitors are a useful tool for planning, executing, and tracking your training. By tracking your heart rate throughout a workout, you can get a more accurate idea of the real intensity of the activity versus the perceived, and can adjust your current or future workouts to accordingly. Not all heart rate monitors are the same however, and they aren't anything more than a tool to be more informed about the progression of your training.
Smartphones can do almost everything now and indeed, some of the newest phones include a small finger scanner that can detect your heart rate. Watches have also evolved to track your heart rate from your wrist without the chest strap that used to be required, though the top models still use a chest strap, albeit with improved technology. The difference between the three styles really lies in the accuracy of the measurement. While it's nifty to be able to see what your heart rate is on your phone, it can't track your heart rate throughout a workout, only at discrete points in time when you choose to scan it and to be effective for training, it's best to have a picture of what your heart rate looked like throughout the workout.
Watches that measure your pulse through your wrist generally use reflected infrared or LED light to measure changes in the size of capillaries as an indication of a heartbeat. While these watches will track your heart rate throughout a workout, they tend to not be as accurate as the models that use a chest strap since you move and bounce while you exercise. Ultimately it offers only a rough picture of your pulse throughout. For an accurate idea of your training intensity, newer dedicated heart rate monitors with chest straps use conductive fabric and microprocessors that analyze your EKG, giving a detailed and accurate picture of your entire workout.
What does using a heart rate monitor get you? First and foremost, a heart rate monitor gives you the ability to track your training more accurately. Heart rate monitors use versions of the 5 training zones that most athletes utilize, so you can begin to build an accurate picture of how much time you spend in each zone and how effective a given period, week, or workout might have been for you. A heart rate monitor can also help you to hit your target intensity zone for a given workout. This works in both directions; it can help you to tone it down on your long level 2 endurance training if you start to push a little hard, or it can let you know that you need to push even harder to make it to your target L4 zone on a set of intervals. Tracking your heart rate over a period of time can also give you a picture of your overall fitness. As your training pays off, your resting heart rate should drop, and you will find yourself covering more ground and going faster, but at the same intensity. Conversely, a sudden spike in your resting heart rate may indicate that your training load is adding up and that you need to focus a bit more on recovery. A heart rate monitor won't make you fitter, but it can give you a lot of valuable information that allows you to create a more informed training plan.
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
March 30, 2016
Posted by: Zeb Blais
Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
Alpine climbing requires a lot of different skills. Alpinists are constantly route finding, assessing hazards, protecting exposed areas, and moving efficiently in the terrain. If you're climbing with a qualified guide, they'll take care of the big picture and you'll just need to focus on the movement skills. Moving efficiently in technical terrain is what makes climbing challenging and fun - there's always something to learn and ways to improve. The better you move, the less energy a climb will take and the more you'll be able to focus on what's going on around you and enjoy the climb.
On classic alpine climbs, like Forbidden Peak's West Ridge, Sahale's Quien Sabe or Shuksan's Fisher Chimneys, basic rock climbing skills are the key to moving efficiently on summit day. These skills only get better with practice, and adding some balance and rock movement skills to your training regime can give you a big leg up. With a few pointers and some practice, you can develop your rock movement skills so that you stay on your feet, use less energy and are more confident on rock before you arrive in the mountains.
Basic rock movement is similar to how you walk already, with a little more attention paid to the physics at your feet. Here are some techniques that you can use to effectively move on rock:
Climbing with your eyes
I constantly remind my clients to "climb with their eyes." Look around the terrain, find the easiest path, and plan it out a few steps ahead of time. Finding the easiest way up takes a good deal of focus while you climb, but it's a great way to stay engaged and it saves a great deal of energy over the course of a long day.
As you climb, look for features that resemble stairs – level platforms that you can get your entire boot on. This allows you to use a minimal amount of energy for balance and makes it easy to use a technique called the rest step. If you can find a natural staircase up the mountain it's just walking!
When you can't find large stair-like features in the rock, you have to lower your standards. Instead of using a perfect stair, you may be reduced to placing the edge of your boot onto a tiny feature. This is called edging. The smaller the features you are edging on, the more effort and balance it takes to keep from slipping off. Keep climbing with your eyes and look for the biggest features possible!
Edging allows you to climb very steep, relatively blank rock faces. It's tougher physically and much less secure than stepping onto boot-sized platforms. With some practice you'll be able to get up steep, technical rock and begin to feel comfortable on it. The more time you spend practicing on different sized edges and on different types of rock (granite, limestone, sandstone, basalt, etc) the more you'll recognize how secure you are on those features.
Check out this video from Eastern Mountain Sports on edging skills!
Smearing uses the friction and adhesion between your boot soles and the rock grip surfaces that are too smooth or sloped to edge on. To get maximize your grip you need to do two things:
1. maximize the contact area between your soles and the rock
2. make sure the force you're exerting is perpendicular to the rock surface.
This means putting the rubber to the road, or in this case, the boot sole to the slab. Articulate your knees and ankles so that the sole of your boot matches the angle of the rock. By putting as much rubber on the rock as you can, you increase the adhesion of the rubber soles to the rock and can grip some surprisingly steep slopes.
Make sure to apply your body weight as close to perpendicular to the rock as you can. This boils down to keeping your weight directly above your feet by keeping your posture upright. With your back straight and your head high, your weight will naturally rest directly above your feet. This keeps the normal force of your bodyweight pushing into the rock, which increases friction. The more friction, the better the grip and the more you can relax and look around to plan your next moves.
This body positioning is counter-intuitive for most people. Climbers that are unaware of their body position often lean forward, putting their body weight uphill of their boots, changing the direction of the normal force towards parallel with the rock, and reducing friction, resulting in a slip. It's very common, especially when terrain gets steeper, to want to lean in toward the rock – resist the urge and climb strong!
Here's another EMS video showing smearing skills.
With both edging and smearing, the more practice you get the more comfortable you'll be on challenging rock. You'll develop a more realistic assessment of how secure your foot placements are and that will make a huge difference in how efficient you are. Being more confident with your foot placements will allow you to relax on difficult terrain and you will save a ton of energy.
You can practice these techniques at home. Get started at your local climbing gym or sniff out small rock outcroppings if you don't have access to a rock gym. Keep your practice low on the rocks so that you don't get stuck on top of something- it's always easier to climb up rock than it is to down climb!
Zeb Blais is a senior guide at RMI Expeditions. Zeb splits his time between the Sierras in California and the North Cascades of Washington. He guides worldwide for RMI, from Aconcagua to Mexico, Rainier to Alaska. A passionate skier, Zeb spends his free time pursuing personal adventures around the world, including an attempted traverse of the Fedchenko Glacier of Tajikistan.
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
March 1, 2016
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Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
As athletes, we tend to preference the training activities that we enjoy doing and are also best at. It's entirely natural for these tendencies to crop up, but often they do so at the expense of those workouts that we don't enjoy as much or struggle with. This can affect both the quality and quantity of those less enticing activities. For instance, as people that enjoy spending time in the mountains, your weekend five-hour hike with a pack may be the highlight of your whole week and you may find yourself pushing those five hours to six or seven, seeking out new destinations. The mid-week weight room or interval workout that you dread however may be the first item on your calendar that is expendable, pushed out by the sudden schedule conflict that arises.
Cross training is a great way to find new ways to accomplish the workouts that you don't enjoy, and to focus on an underserved portion of your training. In general, while we want to keep the bulk of our training focused towards mountaineering (walking up and downhill with heavy weight), some training outside of that goal will still bring benefits. If you have been training a lot of cardiovascular, working on leg strength is going to help you carry your pack. Flexibility will help to prevent injuries, and keep your muscles working optimally. Thus, seek out opportunities for interesting new ways to accomplish your training goals.
Anaerobic: Nearly all ball sports have a heavy anaerobic interval component to them. Think about the last time you watched or played a soccer game: players spend a good portion of the time walking or jogging up and down the field without the ball, interspersed with flurries of dead out sprints to or with the ball. Pick your favorite and try to find a pickup game or league nearby. Similarly, tennis, racquetball, and squash all will get you to that anaerobic zone. Mountain biking is another great natural interval sport, as it boosts your heart rate on nearly every climb, with a recovery roll afterwards.
Strength: Rock climbing gyms and yoga studios are a great place to seek out alternative core strength options. Both activities engage a large part of the core and upper body, and have a great community component to them. While it has a strong cardiovascular focus, swimming also trains the core and upper body in a low impact way.
Flexibility and balance: Yoga is probably the most common flexibility activity that most people do today. There are lots of different classes with different focuses. If a class you tried wasn't working, check out a different type. Often, studios offer a "yoga for athletes" class, where the focus on flexibility in the key problem areas for most athletes is increased. You can also jump outside of the box and join a gymnastics class.
Endurance: If you dread the long workouts, there isn't a great substitute for them, but you can vary your activities. Start a rotation of running, cycling, hiking, swimming, and rowing. Give yourself another goal and boost by periodically signing up for races so that you have immediate goals that you are working towards. Ultimately though, there is no substitute for long endurance training.
Cross training won't fully prepare you for your next mountaineering adventure, and it shouldn't make up the bulk of your preparation, but it can add some spice and give a boost to a neglected portion of your overall training. Seek out the fun opportunities and figure out how they fit into your plan.
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
February 17, 2016
Posted by: Pepper Dee
Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
The vast majority of climbers that come climb Mt. Rainier with us live in decidedly unmountainous places. As a former fellow flatlander, I can sympathize. There is actually a surprising amount of training literature out there targeted at folks living in mountain towns (think gaining 3,000 feet twice a week), and recently, folks training for high end alpinism (think Steve House). But when it comes to "Joe Climber" living in Kansas hoping to be strong on Denali or Mt. Rainier, in my experience there is a real gap in available resources. I don't claim to be an expert on the subject, but I certainly have strong opinions as to how best to go about this type of training, based on my own personal experience. And so, without further ado, I present to you the 4 principles of the flatlander's guide to mountaineering training:
Diversify your training. Face it. You live in the Midwest. The terrain that directly simulates your mountaineering objective does not exist in your backyard. Therefore no single exercise or activity can adequately prepare you for that objective, which means that you must pursue a wide variety of training activities. If all "Joe Climber" does to train for his Rainier climb is run, he will be in great shape for running. But he will not be in great shape for Rainier. Which leads me to the second principle…
Emphasize strength training. When we say you need to be strong for the mountains, we mean that quite literally. Carrying big loads uphill and downhill day after day requires a significant amount of muscle recruitment, and you can't recruit it if it's not there. The majority of my time training in the flatlands is actually spent in the gym, performing exercises that emphasize muscular and core strength. I'll save my personal lifting program for another article, but I'm a big believer in free weights and olympic lifting, rather than machines. Performing a squat using perfect technique not only builds strength in your butt, quads, and calves, but also strengthens your core/low back and improves your balance. No single machine can do all this, and machines can even lead to injury by over-strengthening certain muscle groups at the expense of others.
When it comes to cardio, think long duration/low intensity. As a mountaineer, we work best in our aerobic zone. This is why we pressure breathe, rest step, and do everything we can to conserve energy in the mountains. So when we train, it makes sense to maximize our output in what Steve House and Scott Johnston refer to as "Zone 1." To quote their book, Training for the New Alpinism, "Improving [Zone 1 fitness] will pay bigger dividends in alpine climbing than time spent improving any other quality because it allows you to sustain higher submaximal climbing speeds for longer times" (58). And to reiterate my first principle, mix it up! I'll run, I'll swim, I'll bike, I'll run up stadium stairs if available. But when I do, I'll shoot to be moving for at least 90 minutes.
The best defense against altitude is hyper-attentive self care before and during the trip. Altitude weighs heavily on most climbers' minds pre-trip (particularly those climbers living in the flatlands), and for good reason: more than any other aspect of a mountaineering trip, how your body responds to altitude is the one factor you can't fully control. But you can stack the odds heavily in your favor. Before the trip leaves, be sure you are on a consistent and complete sleep schedule. Be sure you are eating well. I've talked to guides who swear by airborne, or probiotics. Everyone's a little different, but if you find a supplement that consistently keeps you healthy, go with it. On the trip itself, dealing with altitude becomes even more straightforward. Never let yourself get too cold. Force yourself to eat. Force yourself to drink. Force yourself to breathe. The climbers that take these four concepts to heart, nine times out of ten, are the climbers who summit.
So what do you do with these principles? Well, you construct a training schedule. My schedule, as a college student in Massachusetts training for Denali, looked something like this:
PM-water jug hill repeats
PM-circuit training/lift
PM-long run (90 min+)
There are a lot of ways to construct a solid training schedule. I was limited that year by classes, other obligations, and going rock and ice climbing whenever I got the chance. But keeping in mind the four principles, I was able to train my way into comfort on Denali, all while living in a flat location.
I'll continue another week with my specific lifting regimen, so keep you eyes open. For now train hard, rest hard, and I'll see you in the mountains!
Pepper Dee grew up in Missouri, but found his love for the mountains at an early age. Based out of Bozeman, he guides trips on Mt. Rainier, Denali, and abroad to Aconcagua. A long time flatlander, Pepper knows what it takes to prepare for a big climb without the luxury of mountains in his backyard.
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
if you have any west Virginia climbers a good training location is the Kaymoor Miners trail in Fayetteville WV on the New River Gorge. About 900 ft elevation over all. the bottom 1/2 is a stairs of 821 steps. great workout!
Posted by: rob dunn on 3/14/2017 at 11:39 am
December 15, 2015
Posted by:
Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
In a busy world of managing work schedules, family, and training, sleep is often the first thing to suffer. As we pack more and more into our day, we try to get away with less and less sleep. While it's difficult to manage schedules and sometimes a last minute crunch demands heading to bed late for a few nights, athletic gains from your training are a sum of your training load and your recovery from that load. This means that simply putting in the training hours and effort are not enough; you need to give your body the time and ability to recover from those efforts as well. Additionally, studies of sleep and performance have shown a significant cognitive effect from continual sleep "debt" or sleep restriction. This all leads to the conclusion that you need to hold your sleep time just as sacrosanct in your schedule as you do your training time. If you can stick to this, you will find yourself much more productive with your waking hours as well! To make sure that you are giving your body the recovery it needs from your training load, studies suggest you follow several principles:
Set a consistent sleep schedule: To get quality sleep and maximize your recovery, it's important to stick to a consistent schedule. Try to head to bed at each night and wake up at the same time. Your body develops a rhythm to sleep, and when your schedule is altered it can make it more difficult to fall asleep, or the sleep you get to be more fitful. Similarly, try to match your sleep schedule to your circadian rhythm. If you are a night owl, embrace it. Heading to bed at 1 am, and trying to wake at 5 am for a pre-work workout is a recipe for sleep deprivation. Recognize your circadian tendencies and try to design your schedule around them to accommodate.
Create a constructive sleep environment: Light pollution and excess noise can prevent you from entering the deepest stages of sleep, in which the majority of recovery from your training load occurs. Consider using fans or white noise machines to drown out excess noise, and consider blackout curtains to create an environment for truly restorative sleep.
Disengage from your screens half an hour before bed: Try to put your screens down at least a half hour before you head to bed. That includes your phone, Ipads, kindles, and televisions. All of the electronics in our lives create stimulation that can make it difficult to fall asleep, keeping us up longer and upsetting our rhythm.
Get 8 hours of sleep: Studies show that while many of us may think that we can operate on less, 8 hours of sleep is the magic number to maximize recovery in athletes. This number creeps up a few hours for teenagers and younger children. While a single night of less sleep will probably not affect your training appreciably, consistently shorting yourself on sleep will reduce your recovery, and reduce the efficacy of your training.
Try a nap! In studies of elite athletes' recovery, a half hour nap between 2 and 4 pm was shown to dramatically improve recovery. Furthermore, a cup of coffee consumed before that nap helped athletes to wake from it alert and ready to go. While it may not be practical for everyone's schedule, see if you can sneak in a quick catnap; it may be the performance boost you've been looking for!
The Canadian Sport for Life organization has published a detailed explanation of sleep studies as they pertain to long-term athlete development. Find it here: http://canadiansportforlife.ca/sites/default/files/resources/Sleep_Recovery_Jan2013_EN_web.pdf
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
December 8, 2015
Posted by: JJ Justman
Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
It is that time of year. Here in Ashford, my hometown, it seems like the rain never ends. While that means snow—a lot of snow on Mount Rainier—and I really should be heading on up and take advantage of some amazing backcountry skiing, there are three things I am absolutely passionate about: one is high altitude mountaineering; two is road cycling; and three goes hand in hand with the first two: suffering! If I cannot ride my bike outside, I ride indoors on my trainer. Today, I want to share with you my epic, indoor, high intensity interval-training workout that pushes my anaerobic and aerobic capacity to the max.
To start, many people see my BMC road bike and ask me, "What does BMC stand for?" The Bicycle Manufacturing Company or BMC as it is known is a Swiss company that builds what I believe are the best bikes in the world. However, I refer to my BMC as my Big Mountain Climbing Machine! So here is my "go-to" indoor cycling workout.
Before you get started:
• Make sure you have one, or more realistically, two water bottles.
• Have a towel at hand. You are gonna sweat!
• A television will help. I'll explain later.
• Obviously your own Big Mountain Climbing Machine, a.k.a. a bicycle and an indoor trainer
This interval session takes about 40 minutes total and is extremely simple, yet so powerful. To help motivate me, I cycle in front of the television on which I play a recorded stage of The Tour de France. That way I can pretend I am beating Philippe Gilbert (one of the pro peloton's strongest cyclists). Yes, I beat him every time!
The Workout:
Pain Scale: Use a subjective pain scale. 1 is Super Easy; 10 is "oh my gosh, I can't take this!"
6:00 warm up (Pain Scale: 6): Pedal at an easy and fast cadence
15 Intervals as follows:
1 minute all out interval (Pain Scale: 9 to 10): Place your bike's gearing so that you are pushing hard and fast!
1 minute rest (Pain Scale: 3): Spin easily and recover.
Do 15 intervals: One minute all out hard and fast followed by one minute of recovery and repeat it 15 times totaling 30 minutes.
4:00 Cool Down (Pain Scale: 3): With all 15 intervals complete, spin easily to move lactic acid out of your tired legs. If you are like me, your last or 15th interval will include that sprint where you beat Philippe Gilbert at the finish line of the Champs Elysees in Paris! Remember: beat him every time!
Fast, hard intervals like these serve to increase your anaerobic threshold. There are times in the mountains, say the fixed line section on Denali above 14,000 feet, where it gets steep and the climbing becomes very demanding at times. Interval workouts like these give me an extra gear to push with before I redline and become anaerobic, which at altitude is unsustainable. Mentally, I need to dig deep and push it to the top where I know the terrain mellows out again and I can relax, and the challenge of pushing through 15 sets of intervals helps me develop that frame of mind as well. Climbing isn't always easy and at times you have to suffer a little bit before it gets easier. This interval training session not only allows you to push physically harder, but also develops the mental ability to push harder.
Incorporate this workout into your training plan, and you will begin pushing through those physical and mental barriers where you stop saying, "I think I can" to "I KNOW I CAN!" Now go out…or in this case in, and jump on your Big Mountain Climbing Machine and break through those barriers!
JJ Justman is a senior guide at RMI Expeditions. He guides expeditions to some of the highest mountains around the World. JJ just arrived in Mendoza to lead an Aconcagua climb (the first of the season), and will head north in May to Denali's West Buttress. Based in Ashford, WA, JJ is a passionate road cyclist and can be seen on his "Big Mountain Climbing Machine" pushing the pace to Paradise and back down.
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
August 12, 2015
Posted by: Billy Haas
Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
As climbers we make every effort to be as lazy as possible. We seek to accomplish our goals and objectives with as little effort as necessary, and will cringe at the idea of making something harder than it needs to be. This may seem contrary to the image of climbing as an extreme activity during which many people find their physical and mental limit. However, a we often choose objectives that are at the peak of our abilities and thus we are required to maximize efficiency in our effort if we are to succeed. What I refer to tongue-in-cheek as laziness is in reality efficiency: efficiency, which can be found in every aspect of mountain existence. Whether it be the way a rock climber positions their body on a route or an alpine climber packs for an expedition, success in the mountains involves high levels of efficiency.
There some methods of efficiency that don't directly involve the physical act of climbing but rather things you can do prior to and while climbing that can give you a leg up. I refer to these as "putting money in the bank." I think that saying came from a high school teacher referring to gimme questions on an exam, but for me "money in the bank" means any techniques or tricks that can give you an efficiency advantage in the mountains. I would like to share some of the things I've learned from my time in the mountains with a specific focus on climbing Mt. Rainier:
- A great place to start improving your efficiency in the mountains begins with your equipment: what equipment are you using and does it work for you? Place a high priority on critical items such as boots and or packs, and worry less about items such as a fancy headlamp or spork. For me, a well-fit boot that is designed for the type of climbing I am doing is imperative. A good boot can mean the difference between a successful summit and a failed attempt; blisters and cold feet should never thwart a climber's chance at the summit. In addition, find a climbing pack that carries weight well and fits you properly. Forget all the fancy features and pockets; a simple and minimalist pack that fits and carries weight well is what I look for. You might be able to get by with an old pack or a warm weather climbing boot, but why chance it? Having the right gear for the task makes for one less thing that could slow you down.
- Maintaining your gear makes a big difference too. I regularly spend a few hours taking care of small issues that have cropped up with my equipment to make sure that everything is going to work well when I need it to and not fail when it really counts. I trust my life to my equipment and so do others. For example, I frequently re-waterproof my gloves and Gore-Tex jackets. A headlamp is no good if your batteries run out, and a boot will not work as well if the laces snap. Not every piece of equipment needs to be new, but it does need to work properly. Climbing is too much fun to be hampered by equipment issues!
- With the right gear and everything dialed in, you need to pack it all up. As guides, we seem to have a magical ability to pack 50 liters of gear into a 30 liter pack, but what may seem to be magic is really just some good common sense. My favorite metaphor for packing is "brick and mortar." Some of your items are going to be bricks (eg: sleeping bag in stuff sack) and some are going to be mortar (eg: puffy jacket). When packing, also consider multi-use items. A 1/2 liter nalgene makes for a great coffee mug and can also carry an extra 1/2 liter of water when you need it. You want to maximize space and value in your pack. Crampons don't need a crampon case, since quite often wrapping them in your gaiters works just fine and saves space and weight. Putting some time and thought into a well-packed kit can often fit in a smaller pack. Smaller packs equal lighter packs, giving you a little more money in the bank.
- With packing complete, there are still a few more things you can do before a climb that will get you ahead. For me this starts with my nutrition and hydration. On Mt. Rainier, I've found that from the time I leave home in the morning to the time my team is hiking out of Paradise (approx. 1.5 hours), I can easily sip down a liter of water. Don't chug water, but slowly sip a liter in the morning and on the bus ride to Paradise. This will help make sure that you are hydrated for the beginning of your climb. Pre-hydration, which can start as early as the night before, allows me to bring less water during a climb (less weight), and helps prevent dehydration. I can recover more quickly, and can focus on other aspects of the climb instead of staving off dehydration.
- With regards to nutrition, my best suggestion is to learn your own body. I know how much fuel my body needs at a high level of activity, which is less than some of my friends but definitely more than others. For two-day trips such as Mt. Rainer, I try to be as precise as I can with the amount of food I bring. Start by factoring around 200 calories per break and then adjust from there to your specific needs. In addition to that, bring foods you enjoy eating and can eat while exercising. I love pizza, but definitely wouldn't want a slice in the middle of a climb. Remember; when we climb at altitude the effort is roughly similar to how our bodies feel during a slow jog. Focus on foods that hold a lot of caloric value. By bringing the right food and bring only the food you'll need, you'll save space and carry less weight.
- Lastly, be efficient with your time. When taking a break, maximize your time resting and recovering. Get your self-care chores done early and quickly so that you get as much time off of your feet as possible. This applies to getting to camp also. Take care of business first so that you spend a maximum amount of time recovering later. Use momentum to your advantage: we take short breaks so we do not lose our momentum, and when you roll into camp use that same momentum to set up and settle in before you are too tired to do the things you should have done. This might be setting up camp or dealing with a pesky blister; the sooner you get it done the sooner you can rest. Keep in mind that even if we feel great we still need to recover!
These are just a few theories on how to be more efficient while climbing. Climbers are constantly in opposition with gravity and time, so a light pack will allow us to expend less energy, and quick recoveries will make us stronger for the next day. Every bit of money in the bank you can save will give you a better chance of success on the mountain, and will be one less issue to worry about. Learn from others, and learn what works best for you. Take the time to find the right gear, pack well, eat and drink right, and maximize your rest because the climb is not getting any easier and the mountains are not getting any smaller!
Billy Haas guides trips on Mt. Rainier, Mt. McKinley, and abroad for RMI Expeditions. When not traveling to mountains around the world to climb or ski, Billy guides backcountry skiing and teaches avalanche courses in Salt Lake City, UT.
Questions? Comments? What are your suggestions for staying efficient in the mountains? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!


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GAITHERSBURG, Md., Aug. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today GenVec, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNVC) announced financial results for the three months and six months ended June 30, 2012.
GenVec reported a net loss of $3.7 million, or $0.28 per share, compared with a net loss of $1.2 million, or $0.10 per share, in the comparable quarter of 2011. For the six months ended June 30, 2012, GenVec's net loss was $6.9 million, or $0.53 per share, compared to a net loss of $3.5 million, or $0.27 per share, for the six months ended June 30, 2011.
"In the first six months of the year we continued to make progress in our collaboration with Novartis to develop treatments for hearing loss utilizing our core technology," commented Cynthia Collins, GenVec's President and CEO. "In addition, our vaccine programs in RSV and HSV are moving forward. We are currently conducting the requisite IND (Investigational New Drug) enabling studies for our RSV and HSV programs that we expect will increase their value and attractiveness to potential partners and could allow these programs to move into clinical development as early as next year."
GenVec recently completed a pre-IND meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to obtain guidance on the development plan for its vaccine against RSV. The goal of the pre-IND meeting was to obtain clarification on the nonclinical, clinical, and chemistry, manufacturing, and control (CMC) requirements that need to be met in order to submit an acceptable IND. "We appreciate the guidance and help we obtained in our FDA discussions. Based on the feedback we received, we believe that we have a solid development plan for our RSV program," said Ms. Collins.
Recent Highlights
Financial Results for the Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2012
Revenues for the three-month and six-month periods ended June 30, 2012, were $2.5 million and $5.7 million, respectively, as compared to $4.7 million and $10.0 million in the comparable prior year periods.
The decrease for the three-month and six-month periods ended June 30, 2012, is primarily due to lower revenue associated with our hearing program of $1.0 million and $2.7 million, respectively. The lower revenue for our hearing program is due mainly to reduced work scope associated with manufacturing activities in preparation for clinical studies under our Novartis agreements in 2012 as compared to the 2011 period. Also contributing to the decrease is a reduction in revenue associated with our HIV program of $0.5 million and $1.2 million, respectively, due to reduced work scope. The animal health program also had decreased revenue of $0.6 million during the three-month period ended June 30, 2012, and $0.5 million for the six-month period ended June 30, 2012, compared to the comparable 2011 periods due mainly to the successful completion of field safety studies in 2012.
Operating expenses were $6.2 million and $12.6 million for the three-month and six-month periods ended June 30, 2012, respectively, as compared to $6.0 million and $13.5 million in the comparable prior year periods. The increase in the three-month period ended June 30, 2012, as compared to the comparable prior year period is due mainly to higher general and administrative personnel costs and equipment costs associated with our hearing program. These increases are partially offset by lower manufacturing costs associated with our FMD program and, to a lesser extent, our hearing program. The decrease in the six-month period ended June 30, 2012, as compared to the comparable prior year period is due mainly to reduced manufacturing costs associated with our hearing program partially offset by higher general and administrative personnel costs. In each of the three-month and six-month periods ended June 30, 2012, we experienced reduced costs associated with the closure of our TNFerade trial.
GenVec ended the second quarter of 2012 with $20.9 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments. "Based on our current operations, we anticipate that we will have sufficient capital to fund our operations for the next 2 years," commented GenVec's Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Douglas J. Swirsky. "That runway is likely to be extended through the end of 2014, subject to the achievement of certain milestones under our collaboration agreements."
Conference Call Information
GenVec will hold a conference call today at 10:00 a.m. EDT to discuss the Company's second quarter financial results. To listen to the live conference call, please dial 877-558-0567 (U.S. or Canada) or 706-643-4980 (international) and use the following Conference ID: 47686784. An audio replay of the conference call will be available starting at 1:00 p.m. EDT on August 9, 2012, through August 16, 2012. To listen to the audio replay, dial 855-859-2056 (U.S. or Canada) or 404-537-3406 (international) and use Conference Replay ID: 47686784.
To access the webcast or the replay, go to www.genvec.com, click on "Investors and Media," and click on "Events and Presentations."
About GenVec
GenVec is a biopharmaceutical company using differentiated, proprietary technologies to create superior therapeutics and vaccines. A key component of our strategy is to develop and commercialize our product candidates through collaborations. GenVec is working with leading companies and organizations such as Novartis, Merial, and the U.S. Government to support a portfolio of product programs that address the prevention and treatment of a number of significant human and animal health concerns. GenVec's development programs address therapeutic areas such as hearing loss and balance disorders; as well as vaccines against infectious diseases including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), herpes simplex virus (HSV), dengue fever, malaria, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In the area of animal health, we are developing vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). Additional information about GenVec is available at www.genvec.com and in the Company's various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Statements herein relating to future financial or business performance, conditions or strategies and other financial and business matters, including expectations regarding funding, grants, collaborations, revenues, cash burn rates, the development of products and the success of the Company's collaborations, including with Novartis and Merial, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. GenVec cautions that these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which change over time. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements or historical experience include risks and uncertainties, including the failure by GenVec to secure and maintain relationships with collaborators; risks relating to the early stage of GenVec's product candidates under development; uncertainties relating to research and development activities; risks relating to the commercialization, if any, of GenVec's proposed product candidates; dependence on the efforts of collaborators and third parties; dependence on intellectual property; currently unanticipated expenses, and risks that we may lack the financial resources and access to capital to fund our operations. Further information on the factors and risks that could affect GenVec's business, financial conditions and results of operations, are contained in GenVec's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which are available at www.sec.gov. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and GenVec assumes no duty to update forward-looking statements.

subset: commoncrawl


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Don't torture me, Operation Kindness.
I am widely known for being a soft touch when it comes to rescue animals. I currently have four in my house, all adopted from shelters, and all, in their way, "special needs," like my one-eyed Chihuahua Popeye and my mentally infirm pit bull mix, Huckleberry, pictured. Most weeks, I'm not even allowed to look at the "Pet of the Week" in the Voice, for fear of breaking down and adding to my brood.
But Operation Kindness is making it very difficult.
From Aug. 31 to Sept. 3, the no-kill shelter is having its own Labor Day sale — $25 off all pet adoptions. That's as much as a 20 percent discount on normal adoption fees. And so many doggies and kittycats need homes, I'm sure even I can't adopt all of them. (My cat Banjo will probably have something to say about that, anyway.)
So please, save me from myself. If everybody adopts one, then maybe there won't be any left for me to bankrupt myself adopting.
Get more details here.


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Our Wedding Suite
Kings Ballroom
Exciting Times….Call to See the Newly Refurbished Kings Ballroom & Castle Lounge
The Kings Ballroom is resplendent in its new look and feel and has played host to many prestigious occasions. It is also the ideal room if you are looking for a Wedding Venue Kilkenny.
The elegant Ballroom is entirely self contained with its own bar, dance floor and smoking area. A versatile room with unique ceiling and a range of mood lighting for you to choose from.
The ballroom benefits from a sliding partition allowing this suite to host a smaller wedding or weddings up to 280 guests comfortably. The large bar that is situated at the back of the room is perfect for your special occasion.
Our attention to detail and sheer professionalism ensure that every wedding reception is well remarked and fondly remembered.
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com or call our dedicated wedding planner Yvonne on 056-7750208


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The sharemarket has finished lower, weighed down by banks as investors locked in profits after an ''almost unstoppable'' run so far this year.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 closed at the day's low, down 13.6 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 4907.5, while the broader All Ordinaries lost 12.8 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 4929.1.
The market got off to a positive start as miners enjoyed an increase in base metal prices, with iron ore moving up to $US153.20 per tonne, but the gains were shortlived, as soft building approval figures took away a bit of confidence.
Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed home approvals fell by 4.4 per cent in December, while economists had expected a rise of 1 per cent.
''The soft building approval numbers were a little bit of a wakeup call for investors after the market's almost unstoppable run,'' said JBWere executive director Mike Kendall. ''It was a little bit of a sobering reminder, this isn't a bull market yet."
Financials were a considerable weight on the market, with Westpac leading the losses among the big four banks, down 1.3 per cent to $27.94. Minor bank Suncorp fell 1.4 per cent to $10.71.
After leading much of the charge up on the ASX this year, investors may have been looking to lock in some heavy profits in bank stocks, said Mr Kendall.
Rio Tinto shares rose 1.2 per cent to $67.99, after the miner's $3 billion Pilbara mine expansion was approved by the Western Australian government. BHP ended 0.3 per cent lower at $37.81.
Aquila Resources' shares lost 3.9 per cent, falling as much as 9.6 per cent during the session after the company put postponed its $7.4 billion iron ore project in West Pilbara.
Linc Energy dropped 4.7 per cent to $2.05 after a report in BusinessDay continued to place doubt over the company's claims that it could produce ultra-clean fuel for around $30 a barrel.
The Australian dollar remained relatively flat against its US counterpart at $US1.0436. Against the yen, the dollar continued its strong run, trading around its highest levels since August 2008, at 96.70 yen. But the dollar continued its struggles against the euro, fetching around 76.6 euro cents, close to its lowest point in 14 months.
Australian 10-year government bonds fell to nine-month lows, triggered by a selloff of US treasuries and an improving outlook in Europe, reaching 96.435.
Reporting season kicks off tomorrow, with Transurban and Cochlear two of the bigger companies posting half-year earnings. Both lost ground today, with Transurban falling 1.1 per cent to $6.10 and Cochlear ending 0.8 per cent lower at $80.46.
''There could be a few fears that maybe the earnings aren't quite at the lofty levels that the market has managed to push itself to over the last five or six weeks,'' said Mr Kendall.


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Young people from Devizes are being offered the chance to join a street performance or circus act, thanks to Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts (DOCA).
The organisation, which now runs Devizes Carnival, the August Bank Holiday Monday street festival and the Christmas Festival, has received funding from Corsham's Pound Arts Centre for workshops to teach 12 to 18-year-olds circus skills such as stilt walking, juggling or trapeze.
It is not the first time local youngsters have been given the chance to take part in the town's international street festival, which attracts thousands of people from all over the UK.
Two years ago the Bath-based Natural Theatre Company taught youngsters how to be Coneheads, the famous aliens who descend on towns and see everyday things as astonishing.
Now young people are being invited to take part in a project with Bristol's Circomedia circus school, learning the skills needed to perform in a real circus.
Alternatively, they can learn all about street theatre with the Natural Theatre Company.
Jo Beal, formerly arts officer at Kennet District Council and now returning as outdoor arts manager at DOCA, said: "There will even be a chance to do some shows with the Naturals at festivals including Devizes International Street Festival and the Bath Fringe."
Workshops will take place during the spring and summer, starting in May with a free taster.
To sign up, email info@devizes carnival.co.uk or call Ms Beal on 07880 239598. Find out more at www.devizescarnival.co.uk DOCA has also appealed for more volunteers to help it organise the three big events in the town.
Volunteer work includes liaising with the performance artists during the street festival and assisting Santa at his grotto during the Christmas Festival.
Anyone interested can make contact through the details above.


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Johnson, Escobar form keystone combo
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- The Rays are likely to become the third different team to feature a double-play combination of Kelly Johnson at second and Yunel Escobar at shortstop. The pair started 191 games together for the Braves from mid-2007 through '09 and started 131 games together for the Blue Jays from mid-2011 through '12.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last duo to start together at second base and shortstop for three different teams were second baseman Jeff Kent and shortstop Jose Vizcaino, who did it for four teams: the Mets, Indians, Giants and Astros.


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Motte unlikely to return before September
ST. LOUIS -- Though right-handed reliever Jason Motte is not attaching a specific time frame to his recovery from a strained lower back, listening to him provide an update on his status suggests that a return before September is unlikely.
Motte, who was placed on the disabled list on Aug. 8 (retroactive to Aug. 2) when he couldn't shake stiffness in his back, said on Thursday that he continues to feel the discomfort and has therefore not resumed throwing. Until that discomfort subsides, he will remain in a holding pattern.
"It's one of those things where I'm just waiting to get back to 100 percent," said Motte, who is eligible to come off the DL on Sunday. "We don't want to go out there and try to push it and then [have a setback]. We're just kind of doing stuff to get it to where it needs to be so we can get it to where I can do more."
Before the Cardinals will activate Motte from the DL, he will have to progress through a throwing program and get in some work during a Minor League rehab assignment. That should take him through the end of August. With rosters expanding in September, the club could then activate him without having to make a corresponding roster move.
"We were hoping everything would be fine before the road trip was over," Motte said. "We're just taking it one day at a time, seeing what we can do to help it that day. As long as we're not going backward, I think it's going well. It's feeling better each day, so that's a positive."
Jenifer Langosch is a reporter for MLB.com. Read her blog, By Gosh, It's Langosch, and follow her on Twitter @LangoschMLB. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Hotel Scandic Vadso
- Terms and facilities
- Useful information
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Show on the map
When you stay at Scandic Vadsø in Vadso, you'll be near the airport and minutes from Vadso Church and Vadso Park. This hotel is within close proximity of Vadso Museum and Gjenreisning Monument. Take advantage of recreation opportunities including a sauna and a fitness center. This hotel also features complimentary wireless Internet access, gift shops/newsstands, and tour/ticket assistance. Featured amenities include a business center, a computer station, and an elevator (lift). Event facilities at this hotel consist of conference space and meeting rooms. Make yourself at home in one of the 68 guestrooms featuring minibars. Complimentary wireless Internet access is available to keep you connected. Bathrooms with shower/tub combinations are provided. Cribs/infant beds (surcharge) and rollaway/extra beds are available on request.
Choose your room
Services and terms: Hotel Scandic Vadso
Accommodation facilities
- Lift
- Bar/Café
- Business Centre
- Meetings Room
- Laundry
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- Restaurant
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Leisure facilities
- Gym
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Useful information: Hotel Scandic Vadso
Other names for Hotel Scandic Vadso:
Rica Hotel Vadsø
Reviews: Hotel Scandic Vadso
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Brewers to participate in Fisher House groundbreaking at VA Medical Center
MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Brewers and Brewers Community Foundation will participate in the groundbreaking of Fisher House Wisconsin tomorrow at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee (5000 W. National Avenue). The ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. and feature appearances from Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy and television announcer Bill Schroeder. Brewers Community Foundation has made contributions to Fisher House Wisconsin over the past few years.
"Brewers Community Foundation has always been supportive of our veterans and armed forces," said Cecelia Gore, Executive Director of Brewers Community Foundation. "Fisher House Wisconsin is a terrific organization that allows us to localize that support, and this will be great to have in our neighborhood."
The Fisher House program is a unique, private-public partnership that supports America's military in their time of need. The program recognizes the special sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, as well as the hardships of military service, by offering shelter and support during a medical crisis. Located on the grounds of VA hospitals and other military medical centers, Fisher House facilities provide a comforting "home away from home" while a loved one is receiving care in an unfamiliar environment.
Fisher House provides an option for military and veterans' families to be close to a loved one during hospitalization for an illness, disease or injury at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee. Nationwide, Fisher House served over 22,000 families last year at its 64 houses.
Currently, 8,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans are utilizing the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center for treatment of their wounds and injuries. Without Fisher House, they must arrange overnight accommodations at area hotels or with friends and family during their course of treatment.
The need is so great that the future Milwaukee home will be one of the largest built in the United States of America, allowing veterans and their families living beyond 50 miles from the Milwaukee VA hospital to stay overnight at no cost. Fisher House Wisconsin is scheduled to open in the Summer of 2015.
Fisher House Wisconsin will be over 13,000 square feet inside with 16 bedroom suites capable of accommodating up to eight people per suite. The warm and comfortable interior of the suites will be professionally decorated and beautifully furnished. Functionally, guests and their families will have access to well stocked kitchens and inviting living rooms, complete with a library and toys for children. Highly-trained staff and caring volunteers are available to assist all Fisher House guests.
The proposed budget for the project is $6 million, much of which will be funded by the Fisher House Foundation. However, fully half of the project cost will require private support from the community. For more information on Fisher House, please visit fisherhouse.org.


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This game was classified by the community with the following category scores - Violence=0/3, Sex=2/3, Mature Content=3/3. Pilot your way through this unique collection of performed short stories. You drive a Moon Taxi and every passenger has a story to tell. Collect dust and words to unlock the next fare and the next tale. Stories were drawn from public submissions at moontaxi.org.
Buy Xbox content on Xbox.com. Your Xbox 360 console will automatically download the content next time you turn it on and connect to Xbox Live.Learn More


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Foot Care Kit
Item# 8586513
This item is currently not available.
Additional Information
Foot Care Kit is a Gift to Pamper Tired Feet
- Relax and rejuvenate winter-weary feet
- Includes nail brush, soap and pumice stone
- Beautifully packaged in a fabric-covered box for gift-giving
This nature-inspired kit includes a fabric-wrapped bar of magnolia-scented soap, a wooden nail brush with embossed hibiscus on top, and a flower-shaped pumice stone for smoothing rough skin. All packed in a pretty, fabric-covered gift box.
Product Details
- Soap, nail brush with wooden handle and nylon bristles, pumice stone, natural dried vetiver grass
- Soap contains vegetable oil, mineral salts, honey, aloe vera, beeswax, pure essential oil
- Box is 5-3/4" L x 4-7/8" W
Reviewed by 1 customer
- Doesn't Have A Covering
Best Uses
The three items in the kit come in a box without a covering or label so it you are going to give it to a gift, the recipient might not understand what it is.


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Well, another nVidia chip bites the dust. So far 2 laptop and 1 desktop IGP and 2 desktop cards, all nvidia... dead.
I think my EVGA card used low quality ram I can boot, but the screen is just garbage.
It had a 10 year warranty but I didn't register within 30 days, so this card is just landfill material.
The interesting part is that EVGA now only carry 3 years on the 6 series, but 10 years on the 5 series.
I like the 660 Ti, but not with a 3 year warranty.
So I might spend an extra $90 and get this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814103210
It seem more future proof then the 660 ti.. or get a cheap second hand 560 ti class card.


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Evil Mad Scientist Windell writes:
Last year David Friedman published on his blog Ironic Sans an interesting design concept for something that he called The Bulbdial Clock. That's like a sundial, but with better resolution– not just an hour hand, but a minute and second hand as well, each given as a shadow from moving artificial light sources (bulbs).
We've recently put together a working bulbdial clock, with an implementation somewhat different from that of the original concept.


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We are excited to announce that some of the founding fathers of funk will be coming to Nederland for NedFest's Saturday headliner! George Porter, Jr. has been our guest a few times, but this year he will return with his buddies Art Neville, Brian Stoltz, and Russel Batiste, the funky Meters.
Art and George: Playing together for 48 Years
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How much california sales tax
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California's sales tax is set to increase one-fourth of a percent on January 1. That means your purchases in most of Orange County will be taxed at 8 percent, up from the current rate of 7.75 percent.
In short, you'll pay an extra quarter for every $100 you spend in 2013.
State voters approved the quarter-cent tax hike on the November ballot as part of Proposition 30, although the measure received a 59 percent "no" vote in Orange County. Funds raised by the increase will go to K-12 schools and community colleges.
Consumers can save money by making any major purchases before Tuesday.
"It won't matter unless you're buying a big ticket item like a car," said Dennis Malloy, a salesperson at Easylife Furniture in Costa Mesa.
Malloy said none of his customers have mentioned the tax hike, which won't make much of a difference when purchasing couches and beds that sell for hundreds of dollars. "But if you're getting a car, you better buy now."
Tustin Toyota is using its web site, email blasts and radio spots to urge people to make purchases now and "beat the burden of the tax increase." The year-end marketing blitz has been successful. December sales are up 50 percent compared to the same time last year, said new car director Greg Vernon, speculating that a key reason for that bump is that people want to pay less on taxes.
"Quite a few customers have mentioned the tax hike," Vernon said. The big seller this month has been the Sienna XLE minivan, with a retail price of $33,360. "Even if it's just two or three hundred dollars, that's a substantial savings," he said.
But not everyone is talking up the tax hike to hike up business. Americans face a far bigger financial uncertainty as the "fiscal cliff" negotiations over federal tax increase and spending cuts remain unresolved.
Sean Taylor, member services manager for the Orange County Automobile Dealers Association, said he
hasn't heard of other car dealers incorporating the impending tax increase into marketing campaigns.
Even people who would save the most by making an early purchase are seemingly unfazed about paying more sales tax next year. Acquiring a 2013 Lamborghini Aventador for $397,500 before 2013 would yield almost $1,000 in sales tax savings. "But that only works if you're buying the car in cash," said Pietro Frigerio, general manager of Lamborghini Newport Beach in Costa Mesa. None of his customers have mentioned the tax hike. Most of his clients lease, so Frigerio said they would only save a couple of dollars per month.
In La Habra, where voters approved a 20-year half-cent hike four years ago, sales tax will increase to 8.5 percent. That is still lower than the Los Angeles County, where consumers will pay 9 to 10 percent for retail purchases next year. Los Angeles city voters will vote in March on another half-cent hike.
On Twitter, the social network where consumers often air complaints about companies and government, much of the recent Orange County chatter about tax hikes has centered around the "fiscal cliff" stalemate and national policy, with very little mention of California's tax increases.
Although the statewide tax hike is just one-fourth of a percent, the tax increase still could have a marginal effect on consumer spending, said Scott W. Drenkard, economist with the Tax Foundation think tank in Washington, D.C. "When prices go up, demand goes down. It's just the law of supply and demand."
"I'm more concerned about the income tax hike that was already retroactively imposed," Drenkard said. That increase, also a part of Prop. 30, will affect households that earn more than $250,000 a year, and will apply to income earned during 2012.
Contact the writer: 714-796-3589 or email@example.com
Sales tax savings
Here is how much you can save by purchasing certain items before the new sales tax rate goes into effect.
Cup of coffee: 1 cent
Olloclip lens for iPhone: 17 centsSource: m.ocregister.com
Category: Taxes
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My 2013 California state refund was calculated as being too high. What did I do wrong?
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I'm certainly not going to tell you not to react poorly when your favorite team plays poorly – it's an understandable reaction. The short season makes every game feel important right from the get-go, so losing points hurts. Still, it's worth looking at the big picture here. This season is one tenth over – that means NINE tenths are yet to be played. The problems are many, but fixable. The D has been a train wreck at times, that won't last. The Sabres finally scored some goals without Vanek on the ice, though of course that was because he couldn't play due to an injury. So while I tossed down the remote in disgust at the end of the game today, I also know there's time yet to pick things up.
In other news, I hope Grigorenko sticks around. He hasn't gone all Tarasenko on us, but he hasn't looked out of place. If Lindy is willing to play him as much as he did today, there's no reason not to kick one of the scrubs to the press box and keep him in the lineup. I like Foligno's game today, and Kaleta as well. Saw a few good plays by Myers so I'm hoping he gets things rolling in the right direction. See everyone on Tuesday.


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CINCINNATI Kroger announced that it is partnering with the USO to thank the men and women of the armed forces and their families.
Through mid-August, customers and associates at participating locations of the Kroger family of stores will be able to show their appreciation and gratitude to service members by donating spare change in specially-marked coin boxes at check stands. All of the funds raised will support the broad range of programs and services the USO provides to military personnel and their families, the company reported.
The campaign will run in select Kroger stores in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas; in Ralphs and Food 4 Less stores in California; in Dillon Stores in Kansas and Missouri; and in Baker's stores in Nebraska. Roughly 1,300 stores will participate.
"We are deeply indebted to our service members and their families for the many sacrifices they make on a daily basis on behalf of all Americans. Kroger is honored to partner with the USO to thank our military families for all they do," said Lynn Marmer, group VP corporate affairs for Kroger.


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STAGE TUBE: WICKED Hosts Events and Performs at Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair!
WICKED visited the Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair on Saturday, April 28, 2012. Fans had the opportunity to spin the WICKED Wheel of Fortune, take their photo in Oz and pick up some fun giveaways. There was also a performance of "The Wizard and I." Check it out below!
The annual Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair and Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day, which featured live entertainment and family fun including performances from the casts of nine Broadway shows, visits from New York sports teams, and celebrations by local merchants and community groups took place in the Tribeca neighborhood. Later on the evening of the 28th, a special screening of Marvel's The Avengers closed out the 2012 Festival with 100 real-life heroes in attendance.
For information about WICKED, visit: http://www.wickedthemusical.com.
Click Here to Watch the Video!


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Topic: Going back to a old chemo regimen - experiences anyone?
Hello everyone -
My dad is not doing very well with the current regimen of cisplatin and ironotecan. While the combo has helped reduce the mets and he still has limited tumoral symptoms, the chemo is literally wearing him out. He has lost about 20 lbs and has almost every possible side effect (except vomiting).
I would really like him to drop this for a while and if possible go back to gemzar that also helped for a little while. We would certainly also consider any other alternative (Sorafenib/Avastin/Tarceva).
Has anyone switched back to an old combo? I vaguely remember reading something about this but I'm not sure.
If anyone has experienced this please share your thoughts.
Thank everyone very much and I wish you all a great holiday season!!!


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FONTANA – Some fans sitting in the first row of Auto Club Speedway here said they feel safe despite an accident that took place at Daytona International Speedway that injured fans.
On Feb. 23, driver Kyle Larson crashed his Nationwide car into a fence at the Daytona International Speedway that injured more than two dozen nearby spectators. Larson was uninjured in the crash.
"I feel safe," said Lisa Hernandez, 48, of Highland while she sat in the front row of the speedway while waiting for the NASCAR Nationwide race to start on Saturday. "We're further back (than the fans at Daytona)," she said.
Vince Nauck, 49, also of Highland, sat next to Hernandez and said he had been attending races at Fontana for 14 years.
"I feel safe because of the fence," said Nauck of the large, steel catchfence in front of him. His brother Mark Nauck added that watching races is "safer than flying a plane."
After the race started, all three stood up and cheered with smiles on their faces as the cars roared by.
firstname.lastname@example.com or 909-483-8549


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CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. - The city of Coral Springs is preparing to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
The Coral Springs Community Chest produced the musical celebration of the city, titled "Once Upon a Dream."
"Every single segment in going to be unique and entertaining and informative and fun, really fun for all ages," said show producer Caryl Fantel.
Students from Coral Springs Charter, Coral Springs, Coral Glades, J.P. Taravella, and Stoneman Douglas will be part of the performance at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts.
"I never really realized all the history that Coral Springs had about coming over on a bridge and riding your horse to high school and things like that, so that was really interested," said Kaitlin Alexander.
Alexander and the rest of the Coral Springs High School choir will be dressed in tie-dye t-shirts and used 60s music to tell of the early days of the city when developers tried luring home buyers from Fort Lauderdale.
"I didn't have any idea that Coral Springs was so old," said Carmen Lino. "I had no idea. I never knew that Wiles Road was the first road."
Students at J.P. Taravella High School are singing the names of the city's 50 plus subdivisions.
By the 1980s, years before these students were born, families did move west.
"I didn't realize how many creeks and isles and glens we have for neighborhoods," said Ross Granick.
Coral Springs has a history of unique anniversary celebrations. In 1988 for its 25th, the city set a Guiness Book of World Records for the largest hamburger.
The money raised from the performance goes to the Coral Springs Community Chest, which supports non-profits in the city.
The performance is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are $10.
Copyright 2013 by Local10.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Scientists classify the influenza strains that cause seasonal flu as A or B strains. Currently administered trivalent (three-strain) flu vaccines help protect against the two A virus strains most common in humans and the B strain expected to be predominant in a given year. But since the year 2000, two B virus strains (Victoria and Yamagata) have co-circulated to varying degrees each season. Various degrees of mismatch have occurred between the B strain included in trivalent vaccines and the B strain that actually circulated, causing an increased risk of influenza-related morbidity across all age groups children, adults and the elderly. Fluarix Quadrivalent helps protect against the two A strains and adds coverage against a second B strain.
"Trivalent influenza vaccines have helped protect millions of people against flu, but in six of the last 11 flu seasons, the predominant circulating influenza B strain was not the strain that public health authorities selected," said Dr. Leonard Friedland, V.P. and Head, GSK North America Vaccines Clinical Development and Medical Affairs. "Fluarix Quadrivalent will help protect individuals against both B strains and from a public-health standpoint, can help decrease the burden of disease."
GSK will make Fluarix Quadrivalent available in time for the 2013-14 flu season and and also plans to fulfill orders for its trivalent vaccines. Healthcare providers traditionally order flu vaccines about a year in advance of each flu season.
Fluarix Quadrivalent is not currently approved or licensed in any country outside of the U.S. The full U.S. Prescribing Information will be available on http://www.gsk.com/products/index.htm.
About Seasonal Influenza
Seasonal influenza may cause three to five million cases of severe illness and up to 500,000 deaths per year worldwide. Vaccination against influenza is considered one of the most effective ways of preventing mortality, complications, and hospitalisations. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that children six months of age and older and adults receive a flu shot annually. More information about seasonal influenza can be found at http://flu.gov and http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/flu-season-2012-2013.htm.
Important Safety Information for Fluarix Quadrivalent
Fluarix Quadrivalent is a vaccine indicated for active immunization for the prevention of disease caused by influenza A subtype viruses and type B viruses contained in the vaccine. Fluarix Quadrivalent is approved for use in persons 3 years of age and older.
About GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines
GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines, a division of GlaxoSmithKline group, is the world's leading vaccine company and a leader in innovation. The company is active in vaccine research, development and production with over 30 vaccines approved and 20 more in development - both in the prophylactic and therapeutic fields. Headquartered in Belgium, GSK Vaccines has 14 manufacturing sites strategically positioned around the globe. In 2011, GSK Vaccines distributed 1.1 billion doses to 173 countries in both the developed and the developing world. Through its accomplished and dedicated workforce, GSK Vaccines applies its expertise to the discovery of innovative vaccines that contribute to the health and well-being of people of all generations around the world.
GlaxoSmithKline one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For further information, go to us.gsk.com, follow us on twitter.com/GSKUSor visit our U.S. company blog.
Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statementsUnder the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, GSK cautions investors that any forward-looking statements or projections made by GSK, including those made in this announcement, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Factors that may affect GSK' s operations are described under 'Risk factors' in the 'Financial review & risk' section in the company's Annual Report 2011 included as exhibit 15.2 to the company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2011.
Registered in England & Wales:No. 3888792
Registered Office:980 Great West RoadBrentford, MiddlesexTW8 9GS
SOURCE GlaxoSmithKline


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Handling the Amazon Pullback
Amazon (AMZN) has seen a healthy pullback recently, so here's the question: Is this a buying opportunity, or is a more important high now in place for the stock?
The good news is that we don't need to know the answer to that question in order to potentially profit from a trade in this stock. All we need is a trade setup, followed by a trigger that tells us it's worth placing an educated bet on the buy side. Let's talk about two trade-setup zones that I am currently stalking in Amazon. If this is a buying opportunity, ideally I'll want to see the price hold somewhere above the Nov. 15 low on a pullback. Those two zones both come in above that prior low....439 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.
There's no substitute for a trading floor to get great ideas, so Jim Cramer created a better one at Real Money and blogs there exclusively. We then added legendary hedge fund manager, Doug Kass, with his exclusive Daily Diary and best investing ideas. Staffed with more than 4 dozen investing pros, money managers, journalists and analysts, Real Money Pro gives you a flood of opinions, analysis and actionable trading advice found nowhere else, and allows you to interact directly with each expert.
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Reproduction and Life Cycle of Ferns and their Allies
J.R. Croft (firstname.lastname@example.com)
|Vegetative Reproduction
The life cycle and reproduction of the pteridophytes or ferns and their allies is characterized by a complete absence of conspicuous flowers and fruit, the production of minute fine spores, often in copious quantities, and by alternating generations of separate spore producing plants (sporophytes) and gamete producing plants (gametophytes).
In these respects they are similar to the structurally less complex bryophytes or mosses and liverworts. In the bryophytes the gametophyte is the dominant more conspicuous and long-lived generation; the sporophyte is almost completely dependent on the gametophyte for support and nutrition for its entire lifespan. In the pteridophytes the sporophyte generation dwarfs and overtakes the gametophyte almost immediately and is totally independent of it for support and nutrition; it is the most commonly observed component that is recognized as a fern or fern ally.
The general cycle involves the production of asexual spores on the sporophyte which are shed and germinate to grow into gametophytes which produce male organs with motile sperm and female organs with non-motile egg cells. Fertilization follows and the egg cell develops into a new sporophyte to complete and continue the cycle.
Figure: Life cycle of a typical fern; illustration by Murray Fagg ©
Some pteridophytes dispense with the sexual aspect of the development cycle entirely in a process know as apogamy whereby a haploid sporophyte develops directly from the prothallus. It is not common but has been reported in a wide range of genera such as Asplenium, Cheilanthes, Pellaea, Pteris, Trichomanes, Isoetes. Sporelings develop directly from the prothallus without fertilization.
Given that pteridophytes produce so many easily dispersed spores, why do not all ferns and their allies occur everywhere and why aren't all land areas covered in them? The reproductive strategy of a pteridodphyte is not particlarly efficient or targeted and is very much a hit and miss affair. Although a mature plant may produce many millions of spores that may be dispersed hundreds of kilometers by favourable winds, a spore must land in a suitable microhabitat in order to germinate into a sexual prothallus. The viability of spores is anything from a few days to a few months; spores that are green and contain chlorophyll are short-lived. The environmental conditions surrounding the prothallus must allow fertilization, and once fertilization is complete, conditions must allow development of the sporeling. As the sporeling grows out of the microhabitat of the prothallus, it must grow into an environment capable of supporting the mature plant, the requirements of which are quite different.
The gametophyte generation, or prothallus, in ferns and their allies is nearly always short lived and inconspicuous. Germination from the spores, the prothallus is mostly only a few mm across, photosynthetic, generally simple in structure, without vascular tissue and often only one cell thick for the most part, tapering to many cells thick at the centre. They may be attached to the substrate by fine multicellular root hairs or rhizoids, and often resemble thallose liverworts. The prothallus has a single set of chromosomes (i.e. haploid) and is the sexual part of the life cycle. The sexual organs are microscopic or nearly so. The male organs or antheridia produce and shed numerous motile sperm or antherozoids. These antherozoids are armed with hair-like or whip-like cilia or flagellae and are able to swim through water; they do not travel great distances and are only released when free water is available. Only a continuous film of water is needed. They antherozoids are chemically attracted to the developing flask-like female organs or archegonia where fertilization of the single egg cell embedded in each archegonium takes place. On a given prothallus in some species the antheridia sometimes mature before the archegonia to reduce the risk of self fertilization
The fertilized egg cell or zygote contains a double set of chromosomes, one from the egg cell, one from the antherozoid, and is thus diploid. It repeatedly divides mitotically, becoming an embryo, developing in to a sporeling, then into juvenile plant and eventually into a mature diploid spore-bearing sporophyte. The embryo and sporeling is initially parasitic and dependent on the gametophye, but rapidly develops roots of its own and becomes an independent photosynthetic plant as the prothallus withers and dies.
Antheridia and archegonia may be borne on the same prothallus (monoecious), or in the case of heterosporus species, on separate male and female prothallia (dioecious).
Gametophytes have an ecology of their own which may be quite different to that of the sporophyte. They may be superficial or subterranean, and in some megasporous taxa, gametophyte development takes place within the spore wall. While the more robust sporophyte may be able to exist in a wider range of conditions, it may be the habitat requirements of the gametophyte that determines the distribution of a pteridophyte species. This is one of the reasons that ferns are most commonly found in moist shady places. Some ferns have adapted to arid environments, but they still need wet periods to produce gametophytes and complete fertilization.
The sporophyte generation in ferns and their allies is long-lived compared to the gametophyte. It is mostly larger and structurally more complex in that it has a vascular system of xylem and phloem, often associated structural supporting tissue and is mostly organized into highly specialized stems, leaves and roots. The aerial parts are protected by a waxy cuticle and are thus able to withstand greater degrees of exposure than the gametophyte; stomata are present allowing the exchange of gases between internal chambers and the external environment. The sporophyte has a double set of chromosomes (i.e. diploid) and is the asexual part of the life cycle.
At maturity the sporophyte develops specialized structures of varying complexity on the leaves called sporangia in which the spores are produced; a number of sporangia may be aggregated into structures called sori. Spores consist of a single cell surrounded by a durable cell wall; they are produced by meiotic divison in which the number of chromosomes is halved and are hence haploid. Spores are minute, non-motile and often produced in large numbers; they are shed by rupturing of the sporangial wall and can be dispersed long distances by wind or water. When mature and under appropriate conditions the spores are dispersed widely into the environment, and if they land in a suitable place germinate to create the next generation of gametophytes, completing the cycle.
Most pteridophytes produce spores of only one size (homosporous), but a significant number of species produce spores of two distinct sizes (heterosporous): minute microspores and relatively very large megaspores. Microspores produce the male antheridia and megaspores produce the female antheridia.
Vegetative reproduction
In addition to the sexual gametophyte-sporophyte life cycle, some of pteridophytes have developed various vegetative means of propagation to increase the extent and number of their population. This is advantageous where seasons are unreliable or the environment is otherwise not conducive to gametophyte production, and in some cases it may just be advantageous to generate numerous genetically identical individuals.
A number of quite unrelated species produce vegetative buds or bulbils that are capable of producing roots and new plants. These bulbils are leaf derive structures and are produced in leaf axils or at various places on the leaf surface. Plants may chain along as successive bulbils take root, establish themselves and produce fronds and bulbils of their own. Proliferating bulbils can be found in Asplenium, Camptosorus, Diplazium, Polystichum, Ampelopteris, Huperzia and a number of other genera.
Some species with long creeping rhizomes can extend over large areas and it may not be obvious that plants on one side of a population were physically derived from plants on another. Large brakes or open areas can be covered by scrambling ferns with creeping underground rhizomes in this manner; Gleicheniaceae genera (Gleichenia, Sticherus, Dicranopteris) and bracken (Pteridium) are good examples. Similarly populations of climbing epiphytes may be increased in extent and mass as rhizomes branch, break and regrow; examples include genera of Polypodiaceae (Pyrrosia, Lemmaphyllum, Microsorum). The floating ferns Salvina and Azolla are striking examples of propagation by stem fragmentation.
Proliferation is possible from root stolons, tubers and similar structures. This occurs in some species of Nephrolepis and Blechnum.
More of a survival strategy than a means of propagation, some ferns of arid areas are able to dry out almost completely without actually dying. Crisp and brittle to touch, they resuscitate rapidly when rains come and continue their growth. A number of species of Cheilanthes behave this way. Commonly called resurrection ferns.