ExcitableBoy wrote:My own hypothesis is that if one is fit enough, they can 'outrun' altitude sickness on 14k peaks to a certain extent.

I've often wondered about this. I pretty much always get a headache when climbing 14ers, but it seems very time dependant. If I summit fast, I usually get the headache on the way down. If I take it slow and camp at 10 to 12K feet, I still get a headache but at a lower altitude and it usually gets a little better the next day (but the night sucks). I'm curious if I tried to push it really fast, if I could "outrun" altitude sickness, or at least minimize the time I have to deal with it.

laswanso wrote:

ExcitableBoy wrote:My own hypothesis is that if one is fit enough, they can 'outrun' altitude sickness on 14k peaks to a certain extent.

I've often wondered about this. I pretty much always get a headache when climbing 14ers, but it seems very time dependant. If I summit fast, I usually get the headache on the way down. If I take it slow and camp at 10 to 12K feet, I still get a headache but at a lower altitude and it usually gets a little better the next day (but the night sucks). I'm curious if I tried to push it really fast, if I could "outrun" altitude sickness, or at least minimize the time I have to deal with it.

I live in Seattle and have gone from sea level to 14,410 and back in under 24 hours many times and never had any significant headaches or other AMS symptoms. On Denali we spent five days acclimatizing before moving into the 14k camp and I experienced Chaines-Stokes breathing, lasitude, and mild headaches for a couple of days.

I think AGE has a lot to do with it, but I don't have any scientific data to back my claim.

Right now, when I go from 3,500' (in the valley) to 7,500', I feel my chest tightening up, but I thought that was normal for my age.