Who will perform best at altitude?
Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2010 4:03 am
http://www.everester.org/BlogViewer.aspx?Id=ABC9C02F9A8C71CC
A recently published abstract in the journal Wilderness and Environmental Medicine helps scientists get a little closer to understanding who will perform best at altitude. A quick exercise study conducted at the base camp of Aconcagua yielded physiologic predictors that correlated with summit success. Of course, a lot more goes into successful summits than simply performing well at altitude - among the variables that must be considered are whether guides and/or porters are used, use of supplemental oxygen (not common on Aconcagua, but a crucial variable in some 8000m mountains,) mountaineering experience, weather, etc. However, a simple test could be a great screening tool for many reasons ... helping guides to plan ratios of guide to client, planning prophylactic medication use, planning rescues, etc. We've reproduced the abstract below and hope to see more research in the future.
A recently published abstract in the journal Wilderness and Environmental Medicine helps scientists get a little closer to understanding who will perform best at altitude. A quick exercise study conducted at the base camp of Aconcagua yielded physiologic predictors that correlated with summit success. Of course, a lot more goes into successful summits than simply performing well at altitude - among the variables that must be considered are whether guides and/or porters are used, use of supplemental oxygen (not common on Aconcagua, but a crucial variable in some 8000m mountains,) mountaineering experience, weather, etc. However, a simple test could be a great screening tool for many reasons ... helping guides to plan ratios of guide to client, planning prophylactic medication use, planning rescues, etc. We've reproduced the abstract below and hope to see more research in the future.