SURVIVAL
Barry Roberts using supplemental
oxygen in the Death Zone on Everest.
is no substitute for good acclimatisation
achieved by time spent on the mountain
when the body slowly adapts to the
lower levels of oxygen.Micro light pilot
David Meredith-Hardy flew over the top
of me on summit day. He was breathing
bottled Os at 18 litres/minute because
he was only acclimatised to 3,500m, the
height of the airstrip. So, even on bottled
oxygen,Everest climbers are still a yak’s
whisker away from hypoxic collapse.
At base camp (5,200m) my blood
oxygen saturation was a pathetic 64%.
At sea level it would be nearly 100%.
The hypoxic brain doesn’t think straight
so you have to be incredibly careful
to do technical things properly, like
clipping into fixed ropes or abseiling.
Extensive mountain experience helps
you do these tasks safely even with a
tired, dulled brain.
Equally, cognitive tasks are hard
to execute, like keeping track of time, How to survive… which analyses the events of 1978 when
your climbing pace and watching your 12 school boys and one leader (out of
oxygen consumption to judge your incident spiral a party of 31) from St John’s School in
turnaround point.Misjudge any of these Ontario, Canada,died on the first day
and you may run out of oxygen high Incident spiral could be defined as of a canoe trip. St John’s was a tough,
on the mountain – and die – unless a set of minor events, omissions and alternative boy’s school, designed to
you have, and are prepared to listen mistakes that ultimately culminate in build character through arduous winter
to, a dispassionate expedition leader disaster. The Lake Timiskaming canoe snow shoeing expeditions and summer
watching from below telling you by tragedy is a grim example, as detailed canoe trips that retraced the routes of
radio that it’s time to turn around. in James Raffan’s book‘DeepWaters’, the early voyageurs.
32| June-July |OUTSIDER
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