Backpacking Light Podcast

Episode 145 | Backpacking at Altitude

Learn how altitude changes oxygen availability, hiking performance, sleep, recovery, appetite, and risk for acute mountain sickness. In this episode, we reframe altitude as cumulative hypoxic dose shaped by sleeping elevation, ascent rate, workload, and time. The episode translates altitude physiology into practical backpacking strategy: pace conservatively early, sleep lower when possible, protect fueling and recovery, watch symptoms closely, and plan routes around physiological cost, not just elevation over multiple days. To view the shownotes for this episode of the Backpacking Light Podcast, click here [https://backpackinglight.com/podcast-episode-145-backpacking-at-atltitude].

Episode 144 | Trail Steepness vs. Difficulty

Hiking effort doesn't scale smoothly with slope. It shifts across physiological regimes driven by muscle contraction type, aerobic limits, gait mechanics, and safety regulation. In this episode, we explain why mild downhill can be most efficient, why steep grades impose nonlinear time penalties, and how modeling human regulation improves trip planning accuracy. To view the shownotes for this episode of the Backpacking Light Podcast, click here [https://backpackinglight.com/podcast-episode-144-trail-steepness-versus-difficulty].

Episode 143 | Managing Fatigue

This episode presents an operational framework for fatigue management in backcountry travel grounded in a non-circular load–fatigue–capacity model. Load is defined as external demand, fatigue as accumulated physiological and cognitive degradation, and remaining capacity as current ability. Risk is treated as the ratio of current load to remaining capacity. The discussion emphasizes field-relevant behavioral levers that reduce load, slow fatigue accumulation, and improve recovery. To view the show notes for this episode of the Backpacking Light Podcast, click here [https://backpackinglight.com/podcast-episode-143-managing-fatique].

Episode 142 | The 72 Hour Backcountry Reset

This episode explores why time in the backcountry can improve how we function beyond recreation. Ryan Jordan describes how modern life overloads attention through constant interruptions and unfinished obligations, then walks through staged benefits of nature exposure from minutes to months. He argues that 72 hours is the first reliable breakpoint where effects persist after returning, framing backcountry time as preventive maintenance rather than escape. To view the show notes for this episode of the Backpacking Light Podcast, click here [https://backpackinglight.com/podcast-episode-142-72-hour-backcountry-reset].

Episode 141 | Hiking at Night in a Blizzard

What gear do you actually need to hike out safely through a winter blizzard at night, in sub-freezing temps and high winds, when stopping isn't an option? In this episode, Ryan breaks down a focused foul-weather kit: core layers, shells, handwear, footwear, lighting, and navigation that preserve function while on the move. To view the shownotes for this episode of the Backpacking Light Podcast, click here [https://backpackinglight.com/podcast-episode-141-night-hiking-in-blizzard].