Another sentence from the part explaining the method:
The trip to 2003m high Lanževica was part of the regular program in the Mountaineering subject at the Faculty of Sports. The starting point was at the hut under Bogatin at 1513m above sea level. This means students did 490m relative height up and the same down. The tour total lasted 4 hours and 4 minutes. Of that, 2 hours and 24 minutes ascent and 1 hour and 40 minutes descent. The longer rest at the top was not included in the tour time. The tour was fully done on skis.
For ascent and descent, one would expect differences, as they are completely separate parts of the tour, both in terms of movement and effort duration (ascent 2 hours and 24 minutes, descent 1 hour and 40 minutes), yet there were no differences. Average heart rate values for men were at ascent 142.9 ± 12.6 and at descent 143.8 ± 12.5. These values are very close to the values from the Sevšek (2000) study, where similarly no differences were measured between ascent (145 ± 13) and descent (146 ± 11) in ski touring. The heart rates of our subjects were 2 beats per minute lower, both at ascent and descent, than in the Sevšek (2000) study. If looking at age, one would expect the opposite, since the two ski tourers in the mentioned study were almost 30 years older than our subjects. It is known that heart rate decreases with age (De Vris, 1976). The lower heart rate in our case can also be explained by the group pace. It should be known that in the Sevšek (2000) study, two trained ski tourers participated. They had a fairly fast and even pace for the entire tour, adapted to their physical abilities and technical knowledge. Both were at a high level. Our group consisted of 12 sports faculty students, who are usually well conditioned, but had big problems with the technique of progressing on touring skis. On the mentioned tour, almost all stood on touring skis for the first time. Thus, the pace was adapted to the student who had the most trouble progressing. The result of such a low heart rate is probably a combination of the students' good conditioning and the slow progression pace, which is a consequence of poor technical knowledge of walking on touring skis. That there is practically no difference in heart rate between ascent and descent can be explained by the tour leading tactic, which includes progression pace with breaks and terrain choice. Every leader during ascent leads the group so that the progression pace is as even as possible and fast enough that all participants can follow without trouble. Thus, the heart rate of participants almost does not change. After initial warm-up, it reaches a certain level, which decreases only during short stops. During descent, the pace is somewhat different. During the entire ski descent, skiing needs to be constantly monitored. Changing snow affects the speed of descending the slope. The touring skier must have enough reserve at every moment during skiing to stop immediately. Because of this and the terrain configuration, which is very varied in mountains, there are larger fluctuations in heart rate during descent. In demanding terrain, the frequency rises strongly, even close to maximum frequency, in flat, undemanding parts, it can calm almost to resting state. Precisely because of these fluctuations, the average heart rate is probably similar between ascent and descent.