Useful Information
Everest 4 Heroes reconnaissance March 2010
Bill Tillman, the enigmatic explorer and mountaineer led the first commercial trek to Everest Base Camp (EBC) in 1952, which has since become a ‘right of passage’ for the many thousands of adventurous trekkers who regularly hike the 92km round trip from Lukla to Gorak Shep in the Nepalese Khumbu Valley to marvel at the breath-taking views and tread the hallowed ground that is EBC, now known throughout the world as the Everest Base Camp Trek.
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by Dr Beth Hall-Thompson
The average temperature on the summit of Everest in the summer climbing season (May) is -17C (0F) – at 6pm in the evening; and we are hoping to make the summit by latest 2pm so it should be a bit warmer! But then we have to add wind chill factor – add the average wind speed factor in and the summit temperature becomes -53C (63F)! So let’s say we won’t be hanging around on top for too long!
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Frostbite
by Dr Beth Hall-Thompson
This is my main ‘cold injury’ concern for all of us; so very common at high altitude when under stress, dehydrated and adrenaline fuelled determination running high so distracting climbers from looking after the basics.
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Abrupt exposure to elevations greater than this is frequently associated with symptoms of altitude illness (AI). AI is a combination of symptoms which include headaches, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, and lethargy. The combined effect of some or all of these symptoms, of which hypoxia is a major cause, is usually a profound loss of appetite and a subsequent reduction of food intake.
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Acclimatisation describes a spectrum of physiological responses to the reduced oxygen available to the blood at altitude. Less oxygen is available to the body the higher you get because there is less atmosphere generating pressure to push it into the bloodstream. At Everest Base Camp height there is approximately half the oxygen available at sea-level; and that reduces to less than a third on the summit.
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A headache at altitude is not normal! It could be one of three things, or a mixture: dehydration, excess sun exposure, or ‘high altitude headache’.
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