Before we get started...
You have to MANUALLY PICK EACH TILE to travel on if you want to succeed in this game. I was letting auto pathing do the job on my first few runs, which turned out was getting me killed. Zig-zagging up a set of stair-formed tiles (6 tiles) is much more energy efficient than climbing up a tile 5 tiles high (2 tiles). Like-wise, it is also advisable to avoid risky tiles by manually going around the tile.



NEW 2.0 INFO (on normal diff)

1. There are three types of missions
1 - Climb the summit -> then head down to an exit tile below
2 - Scan and find anomaly -> Then (maybe) backtrack to leave
3 - Head to to location -> mission ends (The best type, only happens on final mission)

I had a bad habit of using all my gear/stats on the last leg of the climb, thinking the run might end at the top, it never does. Make sure to have some reserves after completing the first climb part of the mission.


2. Missions and Exp - When a mission has a colored backpack on it, completing it with that character awards bonus exp. Don't be like me, I never noticed this until I was on the third and final mountain and missed out on some sweet points. Get whatever team upgrade you want, they are so weak and the amount of points you get to spend are so few that it won't matter what you get in the end really.


3. My winning climber - Scientist
Starting gear - Tent, rope, food (trade for another tent), flashlight (cave search event), and 2 equip (read belows)
Strategy - Rush the two abilities - Research (3hrs for exp) -> Tinker. Tinker lets you make a tool/equipment or upgrade an existing one for 5 hours and energy. My strategy is to bring a helmet (reduce health loss) and climbing picks (reduce energy during 2+ high climbs) at the start of each run and upgrade those two ASAP. Really, pick the gear that best works with the mission modifier (Cold, stormy, eerie). The goal is to survive as many bad tile events with the helmet by reducing hp damage, and when combined with the Scientist perk that gives him energy/exp per bad tile event you can chug through a horrible Death Zone path a little longer than other climbers.

If you have the luxury during the run, also craft warm gloves v2 and a grappling hook. Activate both grappling hook (-energy during climb) and safety rope (ignore hazard tile) makes reckless climbing safe and economic for a few hours, best for a Death Zone hustle.


OLD STUFF BELOW

My winning strategy

1. Journalist - Has the best starting skill in the game which lets you ignore both weather and danger tiles. Best used for unavoidable night exploration with bad weather.

2. Rush consumable specialization + gain sanity on consumable use. This perk lets you ignore herbs (freeing inventory) and easily maintain the sanity bar at the same time.

3. Energy saving passive + Hiking stick + 2 types of boots = Most efficient energy saving on flat terrain & 1 tile climbs. I was on the 3rd mountain and was able to climb for 2 days straight thanks to this fuel economy build.

BONUS. If you don't have an oxygen tank by the time you tackle the DEATH ZONE... your chances of survival is very slim. This is the most RNG reliant part of the run.
My winning strategy