Martin Zhor - Mountain Athlete&Coach

15/11/2025

Brazil.
So far pretty awesome.
As every year me and Fer spend some time in the southern hemisphere to recharge and connect to nature. And nature here is something else.
Work, study, read and train. Simple.
More to come.

08/09/2025

Autumn rolled in.
Training. After some injuries i am trying to keep race fitness. Vertical kms, VAM speed, nutrition, thresholds, heat. Interesting to see how each factor contributes.
Otherwise routine of work and studying for different projects.
Some clients are moving to Nepal for their expeditions. Good memories of my Manaslu speed climb last September. Makes me dream of future projects.

29/07/2025

Full gas at
From Courmayeur-Dolonne parking lot all the way up to the top of the Helbronner lift at 3,469m! 2,200m+ of vertical over 10km in 2h03min.

I really wanted to give it a proper go this year after the 2021 sufferfest (thanks, stomach infection…). But it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing this time either.

Three months ago, I injured my knee—so no running since. ‘Just’ uphill hiking and a lot of biking. I ended up doing the biggest cycling volume of my life: averaging 8–10,000m+ of vertical per week. Then, 10 days ago, I had my first serious bike crash—ripped skin, banged my head, and badly bruised my hip. Honestly thought the season was over.

But after a couple of days of rest, I decided: screw it. Just go for it. No expectations. Just for the love of it.

The first 3km are flat road running—I kept it easy, careful not to burn out too early. Once the climb to Pavillon started, I felt strong—kept a good VAM and pace. The final stretch up to Helbronner is steep and technical (my favorite part), in spicier -7°C temps, snow, and icy wind.

I was close to the top 10 but lacked that final kick—and, well, not much running! 14th among strong local beasts. Always inspired by the mountain running community here 💪

PS: Turns out I actually tore my gluteus medius in the crash. So yep… running’s going to wait a bit longer. But I’m super grateful I could still race. Onward

05/07/2025

🚴‍♂️🏔 FKT: Genoa to Mont Blanc Summit
Huge congratulations to my athlete Joe Petrowski, who just broke the fastest known time (FKT) from the Italian coast (Genoa) to the summit of Mont Blanc (4,808 m) – only two months after setting the same kind of record on Monte Rosa.

We’ve been working together for 6–7 months, translating Joe’s elite-class cycling background into a multidisciplinary challenge that combines endurance cycling, high-altitude mountaineering, and extreme pacing strategy.

This project posed unique physiological and logistical demands:
• From sea level to the highest peak in the Alps.
• Continuous effort over 14 hours and 28 minutes.
• Overcoming storms, crashes, gear failures, and relentless terrain.

Joe rode through the Piedmont plains, battled wind and rain in Aosta valley, and transitioned to mountaineering in Val Veny, climbing through the Miage Glacier and up to the summit of Mont Blanc—supported by strong Italian runners to stay safe on the glacier above Gonella hut.

To prepare, we combined:
✅ Specific bike and mountain endurance
✅ High-altitude training at home (hypoxic tent)
✅ Strength and heat adaptation
✅ Strategic tapering despite unpredictable weather

⚡️He beat the previous record by 15 minutes, despite a crash and losing time early on. He made it all back during the climb.

These hybrid FKTs are hard to categorize, but they showcase the future of endurance sport: fast, self-powered, altitude-specific, and complex.

Time to rest, reflect, and recover. Huge effort, Joe 👏

📸 Joe for images and full recap on his Instagram: Joe Petrowski Uphill Athlete

29/06/2025

Fun climbing Dent du Geant with my friend .optimista
Long walk from Midi. Crazy heat in 4000m. And catching the last lift back to Midi.

08/06/2025

Adapting to Altitude: The Physiology of Acclimatization

We need oxygen in the air we breathe to stay alive. At altitude, there’s less of it — and your body must adjust fast.

What happens when you go to altitude is that the barometric pressure drops and density of oxygen molecules decreases. Less oxygen is available.

First come the immediate compensations: your breathing intensifies, your blood ‘thickens’, your heart rate goes up. There are some changes in lung circulation. But short-term compensations aren’t enough. To truly survive and perform at altitude, the body must adapt - at the molecular level — tuning mitochondria, activating hypoxia-responsive pathways, and maintaining redox balance to protect cells.

So over time, more profound adaptations reshape how we breathe, how our blood carries oxygen, and how multiple systems coordinate to meet the demands of hypoxia. Yet not everyone adapts the same. Genetics, fitness, prior exposure, and environmental factors (humidity, temperature) all influence how well we tolerate altitude.

High-altitude natives like the Sherpas show just how far adaptation can go. More on that soon.

28/11/2024

05/10/2024

MANASLU. Left Nepal after one month.
Spent some time in Kathmandu after the expedition for a school project - physiological testing of people going to Khumbu.
I had time to reflect a bit about the expedition. What did I learn?

✅to my knowledge I did 3rd fastest time (12h49mn) on Manaslu. Happy with that for now. Main goal was to do one push from the basecamp and learn.
✅until C3 I could maintain a good speed. It got very slow above but the ‘threshold’ was higher with every rotation.
✅15 days on the mountain - not enough to be fully acclimatized. But sometimes there is not enough time. Be ready to move when you have a window.
✅summit day for me was still a rotation; ultimate plan was to summit twice and try faster time. The weather got bad. Snowstorm meant the end of season.
✅summit day was hard on the body. I would need ideally a week to recover.
✅gear - I need to get lighter. Boots were too heavy, at least until camp 3. Every gram matters but also staying warm. Clothing was great thanks to 🙏🏻
✅breathing capacity is one of key factors
✅pre-acclimatize!
✅mental training - waiting is the maybe the hardest part of the expedition.
✅lost 5kg. Time to eat.

27/09/2024

MANASLU 8163m

Monday 23rd 1am - start from a Stupa in the middle of BC, 4900m.

Weather - forecasted good - It’s cloudy. No choice now, I have to go.

Crampon point - snowing! Moon is shining through clouds. There is hope.

I do not feel 100% fresh. Just keep going.

I decide to go ‘conservatively’. Summiting is the priority. Other goals became optional today.

C1 Dark, cold, silent. No stop.

C1 - C2 Crevasses, vertical ice walls - move efficiently

C2 - 3 minutes to refill water (only chance I have on the way up)

C2 - C3 Easy and short, still in the cloud. Will it be too snowy above C3?
No news from Matej who started from C3 at midnight.

C3 - Clocking 3h45; changing boots; put on my light RAB gore tex pants.
100m above C3 clouds disappear - hope is ON. Sunrise. Sun warms me up.

Scary part starts. C3-C4 is long and strenuous. I cannot exhaust myself before the last summit part. I also have to get the whole way down after.

I move well. Bettter than on rotation day.

Step by step. Water. Gel/hour + gummy bears. Breath.

7000m.

Cloud layer is moving up. Sh@t. Will this work out?

C4 level. I don’t stop. Moving higher. Summit part visible. Fatigue kicks IN. 7500m. 7,5 hours on the move.

Getting to the first steep section - feeling completely out of power. How am I going to get up this? Desperate.

Moving. One step at a time

Hours and hours of moving, stopping, breathing my lungs out.

8000m - shows on my watch. I can’t believe. But summit is still very far.
Every step costs so much energy.

Seconds. Minutes. Last ages.

Matej passes on skis. We both share emotions, energy. He needs to go - ski down Manaslu!

Carry on. Now. Whatever it takes.

Last section. I cannot go uphill no more. No more!

Flat traverse. Last 15m to the real summit.

Summit flag. I go fast. I have to catch my breath for 2min before rasing my sight and see that I am on the summit.

12 hours 49 minutes. No supplemental oxygen. Just the way I dreamt it.

I smile. I am, just simply am. No more going up.

On top of Manaslu, alone. Views far in all directions.

24/09/2024

MANASLU summit
One push from the basecamp
12h49min