elevation unwellness can make you dizzy , sickening , and , in extreme cases , can even kill you . All of us at IndefinitelyWild have experienced it . Here ’s what we ’ve learned and how you’re able to minimize its symptoms .
What is altitude sickness?
ALT Sickness , which is formally cognize as Acute Mountain Sickness ( AMS ) , is the impression on a somebody make by speedy exposure to low insistency at in high spirits height and the subsequently lower volumes of oxygen that fragile zephyr arrest .
Happy to be on the summit of the highest peak in the continental US , but more excited to go down . Mt. Whitney digest tall at 14,508 feet .
Our atmospheric state is made up of 21 % Oxygen , 78 % Nitrogen , and less than 1 % of other gasses including Argon and Carbon Dioxide . This is the same no matter where you go regardless of EL ( for this article , we will brush off the effects of city and pollution ) . When you ascend in elevation , the atmospheric pressure lessen because there is physically less standard atmosphere above you . At the beach , elevation 0 feet , the atmospherical pressure is 1 standard atmosphere = 14.7 psi , 101.325 kPa , 29.929 in Hg . At 10,000 feet in lift , that pressure drop down to .69 ambiance = 10.11 pounds per square inch , 69.681 kPa , 20.584 in Hg . If we bear that temperature remains constant ( even though we know it decreases as you climb up ) , that is a huge 31 percent diminution in atmospherical pressure sensation , and correspondingly 31 percent less oxygen . Up at the tip of Mt Whitney , 14,508 animal foot , the pressure decreases even further to .58 aura = 8.52 psi , 58.743 kPa , 17.347 in Hg . If you are crazy likeChris and mount 20,000 - animal foot peak , you will be breathing in oxygen that is has less than half the oxygen , 46 % to be exact , than that at ocean degree .
What do the symptoms look like?
At high-pitched altitudes , your soundbox is skin to render your vital variety meat with all the atomic number 8 it needs because there is physically less oxygen available in every breathing time you take . This is why people often to set about breathing faster and hyperventilate when at higher altitudes . The most vulgar symptoms include :
A headache
Fatigue or extra weakness
unorthodox breathing
Difficulty stay asleep
Loss of appetite
sickness or dizziness
Rapid Pulse
The Mt Whitney track is a main road in the summer months . 6 switchbacks down , only 93 more to go .
While 10,000 feet is considered high ALT by most , these symptoms are unparalleled to each and every somebody and can show themselves as low as 6,500 feet . It is passing important to mind to your own body .
How do you prevent AMS?
The estimable and easiest thing to do if you know you are go to be going into high-pitched altitude is to acclimate . This is a process where you slowly increase your elevation , day by mean solar day , allow your eubstance to bit by bit aline to the increase in elevation and decrease in oxygen . When we climbed Mt. Whitney this preceding calendar month in a individual day , we entrust the beach at high noon on Friday and were on the summit of Whitney by noon the next day , this is not right acclimation , and we endure because of it .
Sleep at EL and you ’ll usually be blessed with the clearest sky you ’ll ever see . Hey there big dipper !
Sleeping at altitude has been show to have the same effect on the body as being dynamic at 2,000 metrical foot above . It is a sound idea to venture eminent and sleep low .
This is the manoeuvre that most climber on Mt. Everest will do , jump frog their way to the top by pretend up to the next camp above , then returning to the camp below to sleep . This is forcing your dead body into the next uttermost surround , but also give up it metre to get used to it by come down back down at night .
The small lake next Trail Camp at 12,000 , shown below , is the last blank space on the trail to get water before heading for the height of Whitney .
Staying hydrated during your rise is one of the individual most important thing that you may do . Because you may quick fall behind your appetite and thirst from AMS , you will just as speedily become desiccated .
Mt. Whitney can be seen poke up in the back , these two critters were unfazed by us . If only it were deer time of year …
Some people begin taking acetylsalicylic acid preemptively before ascending . There are also other prescription drugs that have been shown to help with AMS like Diamox , Oradexon , and Procardia . You should consult your MD to see if any of these may help you .
How do you treat AMS?
Go down ! It can be a hard thing to do , specially when the peak is in mess , but if neglect , the effects of AMS can promptly escalate in to something more serious likeHigh Altitude Pulmonary Edema(HAPE ) or even something as black asHigh Altitude Cerebral Edema(HACE ) where your brain swells with fluid . If you do not have too terrible of symptoms , you may be able to rest at your current ALT and acclimatize .
Aspirin may be capable to help alleviate some of the symptoms like a headache , but should not be relied on . If you have any oxygen available , this is what your organic structure is craving . Breathing from an oxygen cooler may help your consistency recover but is potential not an alternative for most .
The individual most true matter you may do is descend . It often times take up to 3,000 feet before the effects of AMS wear off .
Personal experience
TheGarmin Fenix 3kept cart track of my vitals and confirmed what I thought , we require to get the heck out of here !
I have in person never had a problem with altitude until I climbed Mt. Whitney . I had hiked and backpacked up to 12,000 feet and skied in the 12k foot range in Colorado . I believe I would be fine , but I was incorrect .
Once we ventured above 13,500 feet , I could order that I had AMS . I had zero appetite , and I could not even drink . My respiration was extremely inadequate , my warmness rate would not strike down below 105 , and I feel like I was going to fuddle up . We ultimately made it to the top , and this may not have been the smart affair to do . It was so difficult touch like a zombie while so many other the great unwashed on the trail appeared to be hunky-dory . Valerie had to force me to drink every 5 minutes because I just was that out of it . She too had some symptoms of AMS , but did much better than me .
This is the kicker with AMS , it does n’t count how upright of shape you are in , or if you are the bad tough bozo out there , amplitude modulation affects each and every person otherwise . Ultimately , no elevation is worth your lifespan . It will always be there , patiently waiting for you to come back and bag it if you ca n’t make it this time .
A family unit affair , Val ’s brother Kyle ( left ) , dad Mark ( middle ) , and mom ( not on this trip ) have each summited Whitney before . We were the last of the family to make the slip but well-chosen that we could do it with them . They both powered to the top this time .
Valerie and I are headed up to Whitney again this weekend . This time , we will be camp at Trail camp at 12,000 feet and let our bodies acclimatize more , hopefully I wo n’t feel like a walking piece of crap this prison term as we lead for the crest .
I am attempting to go up Mt Whitney three dissimilar ways this year to show you the best way to do it , fall out our adventures here on IndefinitelyWild !
I havesome experience with altitude sickness too . Everyone is affected by elevation otherwise ; my personal experience has shown that acclimatization can create drastic differences in the dead body ’s performance . For example , the first time I rise Mt. Whitney was in the wintertime . We spent about three days acclimating , training , and sleep between 9,000 - 12,500 ’ . By the fourth day when we summited , I could n’t feel the difference between the highest point in the immediate United States and the ocean level elevation I live at in Los Angeles .
In constrast , this past April , my buddy Gil and I drove up from LA with dream of tackling the 13,711 ’ Mt. Abbot ( located in the easterly Sierra about an hour Second Earl of Guilford of Bishop ) in a day . At over 10,000 ’ , the parking mass and trailhead for Mt. Abbot are the high in the Sierra . We grabbed a few hours of sleep before beginning the climb .
Gil made it all the way to the peak , but I stopped a few hundred feet below . Why ? Because I was experiencing AMS ( concern , nausea ) — the same symptoms I had experienced at 18,000 ’ on my blood line from the peak of Imja Tse in the Himalayas . or else of continue to the summit of Mt. Abbot , I play it safe and reside down below . By the metre Gil and I made it down from the mount ’s slopes my symptoms had receded . — Chris Brinlee Jr.
Top exposure : Chris Brinlee Jr. Other photos : Corey Hass
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