SummitPost.org

Sjarwelkint wrote:

Diamox is for weeners and wankers!

Hey, I woudn't talk that way if I were you! I've seen pictures of you using poles and we all know that poles are for pussies!

hey Sjarelkwint;

Do you mind if I use you as my weiner and wanker authority. You seem so knowledgable about them.

I just love these arguments from the "purists". Taking Diamox is cheating the same way that using any drug is cheating. So the next time you climb something, leave your asperin/immodium/etc., at home. Also don't bother to bring bottled O2 on any 8000m peak as that is also cheating. (Of course, the people that like to call others cheaters rarely ever climb 8000m peaks.) One could argue that it is cheating to stay in a mountain hut. So if you're going to blast Diamox, then you'd better be sure to carry a tent on all of your mountain climbing trips. No, scratch that. The only true pure way to climb a mountain is naked and without any gear. Unless you've done that, then you've never really climbed any peak.

What he said!!!!!

+1. I care too much for my brain and friends/family to maximize risks. I really couldn't care less about what others think about taking Diamox.

My experience with Diamox:

My first 20,000 peak (in China) was done without it but I had been living between 13000 and 17000 - at the base of this peak - for a month beforehand.

A few years later I trekked in Ladakh with my wife and decided to take it because of the fast ascent time (fly and drive) and sustained period of time I'd be at altitude. Unfortunately we had tea at the house of a woman who made some clothes for my wife and I got real sick, going out of both ends. I got enough dehydrated that my body couldn't buffer the Diamox and I got severe tingling on my face and hands (this is the same reaction you get if you hyperventilate, makes sense). So make sure you are always hydrated if you take it - and watch out for that tea!

Later on I climbed Huascaran without Diamox, spending three nights at Garganta (20,000) but the sleeping was difficult.

I climbed Denali without Diamox but had a few nights with little sleep - wasn't sure if it was from altitude or from the plain old discomfort of the snow - so when I climbed Cho Oyu I decided to take Diamox along at 1/4 the recommended dose just to take the edge off for sleeping.

So I'd take some along just as a backup - if anything it will set your mind at ease that you are doing all you can for the trip.

On a side note - on this is just me but other people may find it is the same case for them - I used to wake up with a headache whenever I camped at altitude. While I would lie in my sleeping bag with the headache I would start to get nauseous until I would go outside and throw up. Then I would be fine for the rest of the trip. My partners used to be concerned (hearing retching going on outside doesn't inspire a lot of confidence) but as I would later that day be setting a strong pace or leading, they just chalked it up to my idiosyncracies. After a while I suspected it was caffeine withdrawal (I personally support Juan Valdez) and prior to any big climb I go cold turkey for about two weeks - ever since that decision my altitude headaches and nausea went away. Also sleeping with a BreatheRight, as dorky as it looks, helps too as it reduces the chance of sinus headaches.

Have a fun time on Aconcagua.

FortMental wrote:

In the end, going to altitude without oxygen makes your brain smaller. Pills can't prevent that. Just read the SP rants and you'll see what I mean.

You want to step outside and say that??!!!

Seeing that Sjarelkwint's highest mountain was "only" 4000m's high under the Californian sun, I must say he's really brave to say he'll never take anything. I for one can say that I won't fly for 10 hours to then not summit because not everything went according to plan. If I had more time and money, I might not have to "cheat" a little bit, but I don't.

I think when he finally goes a little higher, he'll change his mind.

Climbing the high peaks is NOT like craging at home. If you need Diamox to better your experience and to make it safer, for you and your partners, so be it. I have been well above 6000 meters several times. I have never used Diamox. If I thought I might need it, I most likely would have used it. It's not that MUCH different than sticky rubber, bolts, cams ect..We use all of these.
We all climb the high peaks for our own reasons. The rules of that game are very different and far more demanding, with the possibility of serious consequences for any minor mishap. Is telling someone who has used Diamox, their ascent was less vaild than yours without the drug, the same as telling someone with an artifical leg, who without it would not climb at all, their achievment is less valid? As far as diamox goes, one can, I believe, only draw the line for themselves. It's a personal decision.
Tony