I did Grizzly Peak today via the Loveland Pass route and it could have ended real bad. This is now my 3rd day in CO and yesterday I did Grays and Torreys and felt really good. I also felt really good and strong on my way up Grizzly today. I had no headache, I was well hydrated and I was making good progress until I got pretty close to the summit. I did see some weather moving in but it was moving over to Grays and Torreys and the skies over Grizzly were still clear. I decided I was going to try to get to the summit quickly, take a picture and go back down immediately. I guess I was pushing it real hard and maybe 50 feet below the summit I completely hit the wall and turned into a dribbling mess. I guess I was hyperventilating and my fingers and face had this sensation of electricity going through. I got kind of scared and rested a little bit, then started to move down again slowly but I felt really bad still and got very scared. I never felt anything like this so I took out my cell and found that I had good reception. I called 911 and they put me through to a mountain rescue team. They told me to stay where I was and they were going to come up there to get me down. By that time crappy weather was moving in and I felt a little bit better, so I moved down to the sattle just below Grizzly. I did not have any headache or nausea and was hydrated well, so it was kind of weired to me. I drank some more water and ate a Clif bar, when it started to hail. I started to feel a little better and took all my energy to try to make it back towards Loveland Pass where my car was. I made it over two more false summits until I finally met the mountain rescue team. I was very glad because I started to feel really crappy again. They took my pulse, pressure and I believe some kind of oxygen value with a sensor on my finger and those values were actally quite okay but my breathing was very hard. They put me on oxygen and made me get my breathing rate down. Finally, I was well enough and we started walking down slowly the last bit to Loveland Pass. Back at the car I felt okay, maybe a little bit beat up, but all my value were back at normal too, so I told them that I did not need an ambulance and drove down to Georgetown where I am now.
This whole episode really scared the hell out of me and the strange thng to me is that it probably was not AMS (according to the medic rescue guy), but some kind of hypoxia. I really have to thank Joe's Summit County Rescue Group and all the guys on his team. Thanks guys!
I decided to write about this because I hope it will make think about everythng and help me get over this. A trip report should follow once I get back home.
Did anybody ever have an encouter like this as well?
Matt