Most employees will be claiming vacation leave for summer get-aways alone, with family, friends or lover. For those with their noses buried in work for most of the year, it would be best to prepare yourself physically for the exertion of activity.

I recall the movie City Slickers (Billy Crystal, et al), they were a group of yuppies who bit more than they can chew by going on an adventure at a hee-haw ranch. After calloused butts and some bruises falling from horses and a bull (if memory serves me right?), they get to appreciate getting down and dirty in manual labor.

If you're a pencil pusher and have been dreaming of peace on a mountain top, be informed that not all semblance of peace comes without a fee. Remember the phrase 'blood, sweat and tears'? Well that's just the cover charge, you are bound to get 'taxed' if not acclimatized. Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) is a common effect of climbing to high altitudes too fast. When defined, this is a high altitude pulmonary edema or altitude anoxia (National Institutes of Health). A speedy climb up a mountain hastens the lessening of air pressure, as this happens air is denser and has less Oxygen to breathe up. Depending on how stubborn you are, symptoms can be just the mild kind or the life-threatening type : brain, heart, lungs and muscles malfunction.

When told by a guide or your companion to slow down, it is for your own good and not a dare o go faster. BY the way, have I mentioned that mountain climbing requires maturity and responsibility (to self and others)? Keeping pace and being aware of the importance of it keeps you safe and healthy, it also makes the trip hassle free.

Half the treat of getting at the summit is getting an eye-load of whats around you on the way up (and down). Relaxation starts on the first step out of your vehicle, keep it easy with caution and you'll have the best mountain climbing memories you can ask for.