are the most recognizable signs; the other symptoms are less obvious, including insomnia, dehydration, lack of appetite,and swollen hands and feet. Though the team had been on the mountain for nearly a month and had been careful to climb high and sleep low to aid acclimatization, inadvertent mistakes may have countered those precautions and fostered AMS.
Everyone going to high altitude experiences brain swelling, but some are affected more than others. Thin air means less oxygen is available to be absorbed into the bloodstream. The natural way the body copes with hypoxia (inadequate oxygen levels) is for capillaries and other blood vessels in the brain to expand, causing the brain itself to swell, hence the headaches many sufferers describe.
For most people, the symptoms ease as they become acclimatized to the altitude. For an unfortunate few, AMS can lead to two potentially fatal conditions: high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), in which leaky capillaries fill the lungs with fluid; and high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE), where brain capillaries leak, causingdramatic brain swelling. HAPE symptoms include coughing, breathlessness, and the inability to walk uphill and usually appear two to four days after climbing above 10,000 feet. Those suffering from HACE have trouble walking, appear drunk, and suffer extremeexhaustion, drowsiness, and weakness. Both conditions can kill if left untreated, the best treatment being a quick descent below 10,000 feet.
It had taken four separate advance teamsfive days to top Karstens Ridge, and most of the difficult work was done above 12,000 feet. Not surprisingly, strenuous activity is a contributor to AMS; so too is carbon monoxide poisoning. The Wilcox team had been cooking in a tent, probably the most common way climbers inadvertently poison themselves. The combination of hard work and cooking inside the tent may have contributed to the symptoms that were becoming apparent in some of the climbers.
Russell in particular had exhausted himself on the final push up the Coxcomb. He also had been sleeping in the cook tent. Schiff’s indigestion wascausing noticeable weight loss, but Jerry Lewis was also clearly losing weight. Jerry Clark and Joe Wilcox bothexhibited extreme exhaustion climbing above Camp V on Karstens Ridge. The known remedy for altitude sickness is to descend. However, more than one climber has beaten it, or tried to, by summiting quickly and then retreating to a safe altitudebefore the symptoms become life threatening.
The idea of ascending quickly made increasing sense to Wilcox. On Thursday, July 13, he gathered the original members of the Wilcox team in the cook tent after dinner to discuss plans for the summit assault. Light from the late-evening sun filtered through the orange nylon, casting everyone in an orange glow as they let their dinner settle. Heat from the stoves and the men gathered in such close quarters made the tent cozy in spite of the chilly air outside. Clark had been in radio contact with Eielson Visitor Center.
“The next two days will be perfect,” he reported.
“Then what?” asked Wilcox.
“They only have a two-day forecast. I guess they’re just getting it from a radio station.”
The edge of the southern high-pressure system had arrived, bringing cold, thin air that settled over the mountain and the surrounding area. Highs tend to be big and stationary, often repelling weak lows that try to move in. This one was holding over the range with clear, cool, and almost windless weather beckoning the climbers to make their move.
Joe Wilcox considered the condition of the men and the weather prediction. It had been mostly clear and moderate since July 10, and it was predicted to hold for two more days. Such conditions don’t last on Denali, and sooner or later the pendulum would swing the other way. If they were going to reach the summit, they had to move quickly.
“My feeling is that we should make a run for it,” Wilcox announced. “All
Everyone going to high altitude experiences brain swelling, but some are affected more than others. Thin air means less oxygen is available to be absorbed into the bloodstream. The natural way the body copes with hypoxia (inadequate oxygen levels) is for capillaries and other blood vessels in the brain to expand, causing the brain itself to swell, hence the headaches many sufferers describe.
For most people, the symptoms ease as they become acclimatized to the altitude. For an unfortunate few, AMS can lead to two potentially fatal conditions: high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), in which leaky capillaries fill the lungs with fluid; and high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE), where brain capillaries leak, causingdramatic brain swelling. HAPE symptoms include coughing, breathlessness, and the inability to walk uphill and usually appear two to four days after climbing above 10,000 feet. Those suffering from HACE have trouble walking, appear drunk, and suffer extremeexhaustion, drowsiness, and weakness. Both conditions can kill if left untreated, the best treatment being a quick descent below 10,000 feet.
It had taken four separate advance teamsfive days to top Karstens Ridge, and most of the difficult work was done above 12,000 feet. Not surprisingly, strenuous activity is a contributor to AMS; so too is carbon monoxide poisoning. The Wilcox team had been cooking in a tent, probably the most common way climbers inadvertently poison themselves. The combination of hard work and cooking inside the tent may have contributed to the symptoms that were becoming apparent in some of the climbers.
Russell in particular had exhausted himself on the final push up the Coxcomb. He also had been sleeping in the cook tent. Schiff’s indigestion wascausing noticeable weight loss, but Jerry Lewis was also clearly losing weight. Jerry Clark and Joe Wilcox bothexhibited extreme exhaustion climbing above Camp V on Karstens Ridge. The known remedy for altitude sickness is to descend. However, more than one climber has beaten it, or tried to, by summiting quickly and then retreating to a safe altitudebefore the symptoms become life threatening.
The idea of ascending quickly made increasing sense to Wilcox. On Thursday, July 13, he gathered the original members of the Wilcox team in the cook tent after dinner to discuss plans for the summit assault. Light from the late-evening sun filtered through the orange nylon, casting everyone in an orange glow as they let their dinner settle. Heat from the stoves and the men gathered in such close quarters made the tent cozy in spite of the chilly air outside. Clark had been in radio contact with Eielson Visitor Center.
“The next two days will be perfect,” he reported.
“Then what?” asked Wilcox.
“They only have a two-day forecast. I guess they’re just getting it from a radio station.”
The edge of the southern high-pressure system had arrived, bringing cold, thin air that settled over the mountain and the surrounding area. Highs tend to be big and stationary, often repelling weak lows that try to move in. This one was holding over the range with clear, cool, and almost windless weather beckoning the climbers to make their move.
Joe Wilcox considered the condition of the men and the weather prediction. It had been mostly clear and moderate since July 10, and it was predicted to hold for two more days. Such conditions don’t last on Denali, and sooner or later the pendulum would swing the other way. If they were going to reach the summit, they had to move quickly.
“My feeling is that we should make a run for it,” Wilcox announced. “All
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