Altitude sickness at moderate gains

[archenemy]

As for prior experience being a predictor for future performance at altitude, mattp is right on the mark. There are very few things you can use to predict whether or not someone will develop altitude illness.

 

One of the few reliable things is how someone has done before.

 

If someone got sick at 10K on a prior trip, the odds are good (but it is still not a guarantee) that they will get sick on another trip to 10K if they go up at the same ascent rate etc.

 

I am a little confused at to what you are saying here...Sounds like the same conflicted message that I feel might be the case. I have read that past experience is not necessarily predictive of future experience; but my own history seems to show a slow, progressive increased sensitivity to altitude.

[fern]

if you got sick before chances are you will get sick again. But if you didn't get sick before, you may get sick next time.

 

Do you feel gross on airplanes the same way you do at 'altitude' while climbing? Planes are pressurized to about 8000' equivalent and you attain that rapidly with no exertion.

[mattp]

Some people do better than others with respect both to acclimatization and performance at altitude. However, a person may do well one time, and very poorly another. Hence they say that past performance is not necessarily a predictor of future performance, but at the same time "they" will say that if you've done poorly before (or well) you have a good of doing poorly (or well) in the future.

 

Certainly, good physical and aerobic conditioning, hydration, nutrition, and general health will help but the last time I went to high altitude, I had trained hard by running with a pack on and weight training for several months and I worked pretty hard to eat and drink the right things but I still didn't acclimate. Maybe having a lung infection and intestinal problems didn't help. The time before that, I didn't do any training and walked up to similarly high elevations with no problem.

 

Last time I looked, there was not a 100% clear picture of all the factors that contribute to the various forms of altitude illness and how they interact with each other. That is pretty much true with most health and performance questions, no?

[G-spotter]

I saw someone puke at 4000' elevation once after bringing nothing but 5 grapefruits for food on an all day mountaineering trip.