http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/outdoors-news/beards-better-at-altitude-say-scientists/8093.html
"Climbers on last year's Save The Yeti Everest expedition were kitted out with advanced, but lightweight respiratory monitoring equipment which they used, climbing without supplementary oxygen, at all altitudes from basecamp to the summit.
Some 50% of the climbers were clean shaven, with the others encouraged to grow a beard. The results were remarkable. At basecamp, ORI – Oxygen Respiratory Index – was comparable for both groups, but as the team advanced up the mountain, something remarkable happened.
By 7,500 metres, the bearded sample showed, on average, a 7.3% rise in ORI compared to the clean-shaven mountaineers, by 8,000 metres, the gap had grown to 10.7% and on the summit, bearded climbers were processing oxygen almost 15% more efficiently, a differential which could mean the difference between life and death in Everest's harsh climate."
Brian
"Climbers on last year's Save The Yeti Everest expedition were kitted out with advanced, but lightweight respiratory monitoring equipment which they used, climbing without supplementary oxygen, at all altitudes from basecamp to the summit.
Some 50% of the climbers were clean shaven, with the others encouraged to grow a beard. The results were remarkable. At basecamp, ORI – Oxygen Respiratory Index – was comparable for both groups, but as the team advanced up the mountain, something remarkable happened.
By 7,500 metres, the bearded sample showed, on average, a 7.3% rise in ORI compared to the clean-shaven mountaineers, by 8,000 metres, the gap had grown to 10.7% and on the summit, bearded climbers were processing oxygen almost 15% more efficiently, a differential which could mean the difference between life and death in Everest's harsh climate."
Brian
