DETERMINATION OF THE HIGHEST POINT ON YOUR TREK
First and foremost, when planning a trip to high altitudes you need to ascertain:
What is the highest altitude that you will attain on the trip?
This is important so that you know that you are, or are not going to, scale beyond 8,000 ft. altitude. If your trip is going to be lower than 8,000 ft., there is not much to worry – but if it is going to be over 8,000 ft. you need to be concerned.
The threshold of 8,000 ft. is the point beyond which it is said that most will begin to experience AMS, if someone is susceptible.
The other thing you need to know is on which day of the trek the highest point, or the threshold of 8,000ft. will be attained.
If it is on the first or second day – you need to be seriously worried. The reason is that you are obviously going to gain height too soon, too quickly. This is not good – you are not giving your body the time needed to adjust with the changed barometric pressure around you.
If you must still continue with the trek, you should rest at the highest point for a few days – to allow your body to make the adjustments. If you feel OK at the highest point after the rest, then it is certain that you have most likely overcome the threat of AMS. You can continue. However, if there are signs of AMS, then you should descend – down to a lower height and take a few days rest and reattempt the trek. Or terminate the trip entirely, if you feel unsure.
If the highest point is gained on the 3rd or 4th day – the worry is less because it is then obvious that your climb has been gradual and that you had sufficient days on the trek to enable your body to make readjustments to the thinner air around you, as you gain height.
Once you reach the highest point and if you should begin to experience AMS symptoms, you should immediately DESCEND to a lower height. But at this point the important thing is to decide:
Which direction is the more effectual way of making a quicker descend – backwards or foreword?
It is not necessary that you should descend through the same route that you took to arrive at the high point. It is possible that going forward may be the more efficient route. In other words, the descend to a lower height may be attained faster by going forward – may be the trail downhill on the other side is much more steeper – meaning that you will descend faster.
The IMPORTANT thing to remember is that you NEED TO DESCEND IMMEDIATELY.
The following are the golden rules when trekking in high altitudes:
Do not gain more than 1,000 ft. each day.
For every 3,000 ft. height gained, give yourself a day of rest before going up further.
"Climb High but Sleep Low". This is the maxim used by high altitude trekkers. You can climb more than 1,000 feet in a day - as long as you come back down and sleep at a lower altitude.
If you begin to show symptoms of AMS, don't go higher until symptoms decrease:
"Don't go up until symptoms go down".
In 2004, when I was returning from a documentary shoot in Lunana, my whole expedition was caught in a snow blizzard and the much-dreaded altitude suckness. All, except the peoduction manager, collapsed. Many Bhutanese assume that as highlanders we are immune to it. We are not. We nearly died
ReplyDeleteYou are right - it is not necessary that as highlanders - we are not susceptible to AMS. Even a child of 7-8 years can be hit by AMS ... and even a 90 years old man will not be affected.
ReplyDeleteThe point to be noted is that as soon as you climb too quickly beyond the height where is you are generally domiciled, you can be hit by AMS. To avoid AMS - gain height gradually - particularly if the gain is up to and beyond 8,000 ft.