Trek Power Calculator


Trekking involves power. Although you generate this power by hauling yourself, your backpack, etc., up the mountain, the power you generate is universal and can be quantified in the same units that the power of electric motors and lights are measured, ie, in Watts. Use this handy calculator to find out what you are capable of in terms of trekking power.


Before you actually calculate your trekking power, here's some background on this tool:

Firstly, this tool measures the long duration average power during the trek, as opposed to instantaneous power. One example to illustrate this difference is when you sprint up the stairs. You may be able to climb a few flights of stairs at this pace, but you won't be able to maintain this climb rate over hundreds of feet of stair climbing. What matters more in trekking is long duration average power and not instantaneous power, since this is a more useful measure of power in a typical trek.

Secondly, this tool measures your output power. The actual power generated by your body is significantly greater, but not all of it is converted into output power because, as any mechanical engineer knows, the body is a heat engine and heat engines are not too efficient. We wont bother about actual power generation here because many factors go into it, including the season you are trekking, the outside temperature, the effect of direct sunlight and even if you are yakking all the way to the summit.


Here are some details on the inputs required:

Firstly, you need to find the total climb (elevation change) involved in your trek. If you do not have this information available, you can find it from the Sahyadri GPS Database available on this website ( click here to access the Sahyadri GPS Database ). Remember to enter the elevation change below in feet.

In addition to the elevation change, you also need the total weight involved in the trek, which is your weight plus the weight of everything else that you are carrying. Enter this weight in kilograms in the calculator below.

The last piece of information is the time interval corresponding to the elevation change. This is to be entered in minutes, even if your climb lasted several hours. The longer the time duration, the better. Any interval below 30 minutes should be avoided, because it would correspond to instantaneous power, rather than long duration average power.


Example:

On my trek to Lohgad and Visapur, it took us a total trekking time of two hours to reach the top of Lohgad from the vicinity of Malavli. The change in elevation from the Sahyadri GPS Database is given as 1400 feet. My backpack, including a tent, was 15 kg and I weigh 80 kg. Based on this, the input to this tool consists of a elevation change of 1400 feet, a total weight of 95 kg and a total duration of 120 minutes. These values show up in the form below (you can change these values to anything you want).

When I click the 'Compute' button, the results are displayed, consisting of the long duration average power of 55 Watts.

Input Values:

Elevation Change (feet)


Total Weight (kilograms)


Total Duration of Climb (minutes)



Trekking Power Results:

Power (Watts)


Power (Horsepower)


If you need to change any of the input values, simply edit them and click on the "compute" button again to obtain results.

Once you determine what you are capable of in terms of trekking power, you want to ensure that future treks do not demand greater power than what you are capable of. When planning your next trek, spend a few minutes using this tool to find what is demanded from you in terms of power. If this tool indicates that your limits are being exceeded, then adjust your trek duration or backpack weight accordingly.

Note that the power values are given both in Watts and Horsepower. Although both are units of power, the latter is commonly used for more powerful engines (such as those used in automotive, marine applications, etc.). In other words, if you are wondering why your trekking power is so small when measured in Horsepower units, it is because you "ain't no horse"!