The summit is a bonus; the process is the job. Learn why shifting from outcome goals to process goals is the key to high-altitude success. I’m stripping my mountaineering strategy down to three rules to train my brain for the big peaks.

Can you train for a 6,000m peak in the Midwest? Following advice from my coach, Steve House, I headed to Munising to find out. I went for the crampons, but I stayed for the community.