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Note 44.501 MOUNT-L 501 of 517 CUPIDO::STRITAR "Andrej Stritar, IJS,(61)-1885-450" 96 lines 16-JAN-1995 08:04
CUPIDO::STRITAR "Andrej Stritar, IJS,(61)-1885-450" 96 lines 16-JAN-1995 08:04
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From: STENAR::STENAR::MRGATE::"X400::1=de::2=d400::3=tr::5=edu::4=metu::4=cc::4=knidos::6=mountainee
To: CUPIDO::STRITAR
CC:
Subj: Re: advice on RMI,Inc.

From: FUNC: edu
NAME: mountaineering <6=mountaineering@4=KNIDOS@4=CC@4=METU@5=EDU@3=TR@2=D400@1=DE@X400@STENAR>
To: NAME: Multiple recipients of list
FUNC: edu <6=mountaineering@4=KNIDOS@4=CC@4=METU@5=EDU@3=TR@2=D400@1=DE@X400@STENAR>

RFC-822-HEADERS:
Errors-To: metin@knidos.cc.metu.edu.tr
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Date: 12-Jan-1995
Posted-date: 12-Jan-1995

> As for Rainier, I have to remind you that moiuntain sickness causes about
> a third of attemptees to turn back and of course it's preventable Don;t
> get sick on Rainier or any other mountain. You don't need to.
>
> charlie
>

This is a very good point. I have been very lucky on most of my trips
not to have the trip screwed up because of someone getting altitude
sickness. Just this last month, I wasn't so lucky.

Three of my friends and I rendezvous in Boulder CO at 6000 feet
elevation, on the Dec. 26th. The weather was so warm that we went
rock climbing on the Flatirons the next day instead of going to
directly to Rocky Mountain National Park, like I intended we do. I
was hoping that we would drive to RMNP Long's Peak Trail head at 9400
feet right away and car camp at least one night, preferably two before
hiking into a camp very close to the Diamond at 12300 feet.

Anyway, the next day we spent nearly all day getting stuff ready in
Boulder before driving to RMNP. We wound up driving from Boulder at
3:00 PM and hiking in at 6:00 PM in the dark. We settled for a camp
just below Chasm lake at 11600 because all but myself were tired. It
didn't occur to me at the time that it could be altitude sickness that
was making my friends less than full strenght. I don't think it
occured to them either although they all know about it, and Alex
certainly should have spoken up (3rd year medical student, and well
experienced in getting altitude sickness). So the next morning when
we intended on climbing Long's everyone but myself was more or less
apathetic lumps in sleeping bags. Now, no one had altitude sickness
bad, just either mild headaches or some digestive discomfort, but
motivation to do much of anything was near zero. I then realized that
the day was shot because my friends had altitude sickness. So the
plan was changed to climb the next morning.

That night it started snowing and it continued all the next day, so
the technical climb was off. At least 6 inches of snow was at our
campsite and more than a foot at 13300. Everyone was energetic, but
our window in the weather had expired. So, we had fun doing some
non-technical climbing reaching 13300 that wound up getting a bit too
technical without gear. It was a fun day and we hiked back out just
after dark.

In hindsight, I don't know if spending 24 hours at 9400 feet instead
of at 6000 feet would have made the difference or not, but it could
have. Even though I personally didn't have a problem, I felt that a
day was wasted because I couldn't climb without my friends, and they
weren't having fun having minor altitude sickness. The moral here is
that it does take time to acclimatize, and it's time well spent,
because once acclimatized you feel much better and will enjoy the
climb.

This reminds me of summiting Cotopaxi in Ecuador at 19384 feet in just
80 hours from sea-level. Even though I didn't get sick (headaches,
nausea, vomiting, other nice things), I was fighting severe hypoxic
effects. The climb between 18000 and the summit was the most draining
experience I have every had. Within the last 500 feet of the summit
I beginning to wonder if I was going to make it or not. Our ascent
rate had dropped to below 500 feet/hour. I was ready to cry, when I
reached the summit. The sigh of relief was overwhelming. My partner
Alex was in worse shape, so we took a few pictures, looked around
quickly and descended rapidly. I guess I am glad I had this
experience, but it is one I don't care to repeat. Two weeks later, we
both summited Chimborazo at 20703 feet, but since we were well
acclimatized, we both felt worlds better. So, back to the moral of
the story, if you want to feel good climbing up high, acclimatize, it
really does work!

Willie Hunt

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