[Leica] 12000 feet and no oxygen

[henningw at archiphoto.com (Henning Wulff)]

>>>>>>
>
>>  it's been said that well conditioned folks may actually be at
>>  higher risk for high altitude sickness.
>
>Interesting... altitude sickness hit me pretty hard on my Mt. Whitney
>climb,
><<<<<<
>My understanding is that physical fitness has almost no relation to 
>altitude sickness, but that there are very large differences between 
>individuals.  If necessary and if it fits into the scheduel 
>acclimitazaion is the best way to deal with altitude sickness.
>
>Also as you go up the amount of work you can do will be limited by 
>the amount of oxygen you can get into your blood. You gasp for air 
>and like for an internal combustion engine there will actually be 
>less strain on the internal parts (pistons, heart, turbines, etc). 
>Your max heart rate will be lower at higher altitudes.
>
>Fluid in the lungs, pressure on the brain, etc are serious but not 
>too likely at 12,000'. A rapid descent in addition to the treatments 
>others have mentioned are advisable.


I've done a couple of trips to higher altitudes; one to Nepal and one 
in Peru. For the Nepal trek we would go up a couple of thousand feet 
and then down mayber 500 before going to sleep. None of us (12 
tourists) had any problems at 14,000+ feet (except getting up there 
carrying 25lbs of camera gear, water, some clothing etc). The porters 
carried the heavy stuff, and did all the smoking!

In Peru, we flew into Cuzco from sea level (Vancouver), and our hotel 
was at about 11,500 feet. I got a headache and felt terrible for two 
days. No acclimatization. Then we hiked to 14,000+ feet again, and on 
the trek had no more problems. It was that first step directly to 
11,500 feet that was the problem. I drank lots of water and rested 
(and occasionally had coca tea :-)).


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