Hello readers,
I decided to write this blog after leaving trek in between from 13000 feet and coming back to base camp 7600 feet. You will always find good success story for summiting treks and they are much needed for building up positive energy which is the only thing that helps you in crises, trust me it helped me a lot, I was constantly thinking of Arunima sinha , without her inspiration it would have been difficult for me to come down 10 km with oxygen level down to 40%.
Coming back to main topic following are the reasons I failed:
1. Not knowing your body well enough: I have sinusitis from childhood but due to running and other physical activities I thought it was gone, hence kept on drinking cold water and other sinus affecting things, I gave my body a chance to pull it out, it did and hit me hard after initial AMS push. So point is know your weakness well and make sure that you give no chance for it. Everyone has different weakness w.r.t body hence you will have to design protection mechanism of you own. One more important point is acclimatization, every body needs different time for it, there is no rule that it will take four hours or six hours etc. Follow trek leads and don't use your brain here they know better about it then anyone else.
2. Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) Protection: this point is huge and people have written books over it hence I will just tell you what can be done to avoid it but make sure you Google a lot about it....I did it very less. So building you lung capacity is the core of it. What happened with me is since my lungs were not strong enough, chest took all the pressure forming a lot of cough and subsequent fever and sinus issues. Only running will not help you need to do breathing exercises like swimming yoga etc. I was running 9 km / day still it happened with me. AMS was the primary and only reason I could not go beyond 13000 feet. Be prepared for AMS at all levels because it can stuck you anytime and anywhere. I was among the fittest person carrying 8 kg backpack and still reaching at seventh or eight place in a group of twenty. No one believed including me that how I lost it. Now after my analysis, i know that improper breathing and poor lung capacity were the primary reasons.
3. Improper body maintenance: less water and food consumption. Now this is again major problem, we don't realize that we are loosing up water since we don't sweat a lot but in reality we do by way of urine. I thought the same and gave my body a chance to loose oxygen via dehydration. Same with food I kept on eating same quantity of food instead of having a little bit more. Major mistake it did on the day AMS hit me was I took less breakfast and ultimately when my body wanted energy I had none to offer. Clothing is an major aspect and here trek guides cannot help you the day AMS hit me I had worn only two layers and after going up a little I realized the mistake and put on my jacket but damage was already done. My body did not warm up as required and it became more and more difficult for me to go up high altitude with icy cold freezing body.
What happened chronologically:
First two days awesome
Second night little bit headache and when changing sides in sleeping bag, heart beats increased for five seconds then back to normal
Third day same level headache in morning which became fine after sitting in sun for a while.
Less food consumption.
Trek starts with improper clothing.
Cold wind stuck and I wear jacket immediately.
Body becomes cold and breathing issue starts.
I had to stop after four to five steps and continuously struggle for oxygen.
Headache and dizziness begins with loss in body control.
I started sitting more and it added to damage felt like sleeping, eye site became weak and started loosing more control on body
I was completely lost both physically and mentally when I reached camp at 13000 feet last and final mistake I did was I went to sleep instead of getting acclimatized which resulted in more oxygen level depletion and AMS taking body control. After finding my oxygen level below 50% I was sent back to base camp.
Key points to be remembered, do not under estimate body weaknesses everyone has them, do not neglect minute issues, contact trek leads immediately and last do not try becoming a hero pushing yourself beyond limits. There is always next time but no next life. I believe I made a right decision by listening to trek leads.
It was a great learning for me and next time I will prepare myself accordingly. I think whatever I got from this trek was more than actually summiting it. It tested my body and mind, I know that I am still in battle and will go for higher expeditions in future. After facing all these issues I still want to continu trekking, and yes I consider this as my victory over AMS.
Hope you also enjoy trekking and see you all some where in future trekking endeavors.
I decided to write this blog after leaving trek in between from 13000 feet and coming back to base camp 7600 feet. You will always find good success story for summiting treks and they are much needed for building up positive energy which is the only thing that helps you in crises, trust me it helped me a lot, I was constantly thinking of Arunima sinha , without her inspiration it would have been difficult for me to come down 10 km with oxygen level down to 40%.
Coming back to main topic following are the reasons I failed:
1. Not knowing your body well enough: I have sinusitis from childhood but due to running and other physical activities I thought it was gone, hence kept on drinking cold water and other sinus affecting things, I gave my body a chance to pull it out, it did and hit me hard after initial AMS push. So point is know your weakness well and make sure that you give no chance for it. Everyone has different weakness w.r.t body hence you will have to design protection mechanism of you own. One more important point is acclimatization, every body needs different time for it, there is no rule that it will take four hours or six hours etc. Follow trek leads and don't use your brain here they know better about it then anyone else.
2. Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) Protection: this point is huge and people have written books over it hence I will just tell you what can be done to avoid it but make sure you Google a lot about it....I did it very less. So building you lung capacity is the core of it. What happened with me is since my lungs were not strong enough, chest took all the pressure forming a lot of cough and subsequent fever and sinus issues. Only running will not help you need to do breathing exercises like swimming yoga etc. I was running 9 km / day still it happened with me. AMS was the primary and only reason I could not go beyond 13000 feet. Be prepared for AMS at all levels because it can stuck you anytime and anywhere. I was among the fittest person carrying 8 kg backpack and still reaching at seventh or eight place in a group of twenty. No one believed including me that how I lost it. Now after my analysis, i know that improper breathing and poor lung capacity were the primary reasons.
3. Improper body maintenance: less water and food consumption. Now this is again major problem, we don't realize that we are loosing up water since we don't sweat a lot but in reality we do by way of urine. I thought the same and gave my body a chance to loose oxygen via dehydration. Same with food I kept on eating same quantity of food instead of having a little bit more. Major mistake it did on the day AMS hit me was I took less breakfast and ultimately when my body wanted energy I had none to offer. Clothing is an major aspect and here trek guides cannot help you the day AMS hit me I had worn only two layers and after going up a little I realized the mistake and put on my jacket but damage was already done. My body did not warm up as required and it became more and more difficult for me to go up high altitude with icy cold freezing body.
What happened chronologically:
First two days awesome
Second night little bit headache and when changing sides in sleeping bag, heart beats increased for five seconds then back to normal
Third day same level headache in morning which became fine after sitting in sun for a while.
Less food consumption.
Trek starts with improper clothing.
Cold wind stuck and I wear jacket immediately.
Body becomes cold and breathing issue starts.
I had to stop after four to five steps and continuously struggle for oxygen.
Headache and dizziness begins with loss in body control.
I started sitting more and it added to damage felt like sleeping, eye site became weak and started loosing more control on body
I was completely lost both physically and mentally when I reached camp at 13000 feet last and final mistake I did was I went to sleep instead of getting acclimatized which resulted in more oxygen level depletion and AMS taking body control. After finding my oxygen level below 50% I was sent back to base camp.
Key points to be remembered, do not under estimate body weaknesses everyone has them, do not neglect minute issues, contact trek leads immediately and last do not try becoming a hero pushing yourself beyond limits. There is always next time but no next life. I believe I made a right decision by listening to trek leads.
It was a great learning for me and next time I will prepare myself accordingly. I think whatever I got from this trek was more than actually summiting it. It tested my body and mind, I know that I am still in battle and will go for higher expeditions in future. After facing all these issues I still want to continu trekking, and yes I consider this as my victory over AMS.
Hope you also enjoy trekking and see you all some where in future trekking endeavors.
