Decision making link
December 31, 2009
Best wishes to all in 2010! Be happy, be safe.
Here’s an interesting article from Wired Magazine on the science of screwing up. Since proper decision making is critical at any altitude, I thought you might enjoy it.
Tags: The Altitude Experience
Posted in Exercise and Performance | Comments (0)
The Walmart book/DVD price war
November 9, 2009
I urge you to avoid supporting the Walmart-Amazon-Target price war over books and DVDs. You might save a couple of bucks, but authors lose, publishers lose, and other booksellers lose. Do you really want the big-retailers to control what you can read and watch? Allowing these large corporations to kill off competition is a step in that direction. Please support your local independent book and video stores this holiday season!
Tags: The Altitude Experience
Posted in Opinion | Comments (0)
Farewell Charlie
October 13, 2009
Dr. Charles Houston died recently at the age of 96. I first started learning about high-altitude physiology from his book Going Higher. He was the godfather of high-altitude medicine and climbed in Alaska and Asia. My book wouldn’t have been possible without the research he conducted and inspired over the years.
Read a fitting tribute by journalist Bill Moyers. Watch the 1953 K2 film there too!
Tags: The Altitude Experience
Posted in Altitude science, Opinion | Comments (0)
Does Ginkgo biloba prevent altitude illness?
September 11, 2009
There have been a number of studies that examine the effectiveness of Gingko biloba extracts in preventing acute mountain sickness (AMS). A nice paper by van Patot and others in the spring 2009 issue of High Altitude Medicine and Biology summarizes the results of these studies. They suggest that the main problem is the lack of standardization of extracts, leading to different amounts of the various chemicals being present in the pills. Until the various individual compounds are tested, we won’t really know what benefit gingko might have.
So I continue to suggest that taking gingko is ok, but acetazolamide (Diamox) is still the go-to drug for AMS as long as you’re not allergic.
Citation: Martha C. Tissot van Patot, Linda E. Keyes, Guy Leadbetter, Peter H. Hackett. High Altitude Medicine & Biology. Spring 2009, 10(1): 33-43. doi:10.1089/ham.2008.1085.
Posted in Altitude science | Comments (0)
Injury Report and General Update
August 31, 2009
At long last I’ve finished a report on what happened to me on Mount Everest. You can read the report here. If you have any corrections please contact me at info@TheAltitudeExperience.com and I’ll revise the document as needed.
I’m now nearly 3 weeks out from surgery. I had all 60+ stitches removed last Thursday. It wasn’t fun but now I can wear shoes and socks for the first time in three months. This helps with walking considerably. I’m wearing some lovely Isotoner gloves on my hands to help reduce fluid retention. My knuckles are still swollen and my fingers are very weak; my forearm muscles have disappeared over the months. So I spend a lot of time flexing my fingers and working to get my range of motion back. My thumbs did not undergo surgery but they still have scabs at the tips.
I’m doing a lot of things very slowly. Between the shortened fingers and the gloves I really have to think about what I’m doing. I’m back on the exercise bike and will be doing as much non-impact aerobic activity as I can to get my general level of fitness to where I can put in a full day’s work.
I’m not going to post any photos of my hands and feet; I’d rather deal with my injuries in terms of what I can do rather than how I look. While I will occasionally mention a significant milestone in my recovery, this pretty much ends my 2009 Everest expedition account. I thank you all for your wonderful support and best wishes over the past few months.
Here’s a photo of me with Bernice Notenboom and Walter Laserer in Kathmandu. They found me at nearly 8400m and took precious time out of their ascent to care for me, for which I will always be grateful. See my report for a full listing of those who helped me.
Tags: Everest 2009
Posted in Everest 2009 | Comments (0)
Five days out
August 17, 2009
Still in the hospital. Healing ok, but the chance of infection is too high to take any risks. Every day the dr squeezes the digit tips to expel any fluid containing infectious critters; today, no fluid! I’m given morphine and Versed, which send me to la-la land for a few hours. The biggest problem right now is some swelling that prevents urination so I have to relearn how to pee tomorrow. Otherwise I watch TV. I’m checking email but don’t be surprised if I don’t respond to your emails for a while.
Thanks again for your support. Surgery went as well as could be expected.
Tags: Everest 2009
Posted in Everest 2009 | Comments (0)
Surgery Done
August 13, 2009
Mike had surgery on Tuesday and is now going through a painful healing process. His hands and feet are completely wrapped and he is not supposed to put any weight on them for a few days. Kathy (his wife) is sending this message because Mike can’t hold on to anything from the TV remote to silverware or a pencil to punch out a computer message. We think Mike will come home sometime this weekend and he will send a post when he can.
Posted in Everest 2009 | Comments (0)
Surgery on Tuesday
August 10, 2009
Tuesday is the Big Day. I’m having surgery that morning. I’ll try and put up a post in a few days to confirm that all went well. I’ll be in the hospital for about four days. No more black bits and no more stinky hands and feet!
Posted in Everest 2009 | Comments (0)
Two good books
August 7, 2009
Neil Heil’s ‘Dark Summit’ and Lincoln Hall’s ‘Dead Lucky’ both describe events on the northside of Everest in 2006. Hall’s book talks about his person experiences (surviving a night out high on the north ridge after developing cerebral edema) while Heil covers the entire tragic season (11 deaths I think).
Also, famed Italian alpinist Ricardo Cassin died yesterday at the age of 100. Ciao, baby.
Photos: Namche Bazaar is the capital of Sherpaland This horse had to wait nerly 15 minutes to get into the Danfe Bar, Namche Bazaar
Tags: The Altitude Experience
Posted in Everest 2009, Opinion | Comments (0)
Nothing happening/book recommendation
July 21, 2009
I haven’t posted in a while because nothing new has happened recently. Still healing, still shriveling, still sitting around a lot. I won’t be posting any more about my condition until after my surgery August 11. I do hope to post a preliminary report on what happened in the next few days, so stay tuned.
I do want to steer the blog back to its intended use, which is to talk about altitude-related issues. An important book that I failed to cite in my book is Paul Auerbach’s Wilderness Medicine, fifth edition. This 2300 page monster covers just about every subject you can think about plus a few more. It not only covers altitude issues, it also covers marine issues, deserts, volcanoes, etc. etc. it’s way too heavy to carry on a trip but it should be on the bookshelf of any serious wilderness traveler.
Posted in Everest 2009, The Altitude Experience | Comments (0)