Climber left behind to die on Everest

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

Sounds like the Sherpas did everything possible to get this guy down the North Ridge route. Very sad.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...eave-sick-british-climber-to-die-1988979.html

 

[TCD]

Sad, but interesting. The article mentions retinal hemorrhages, but that appears to be speculative, as it does not appear anyone knows what condition Kinloch actually had that caused his loss of sight. The reason it's interesting is that some climbers (notably Beck Weathers) suffered similar symptoms in 1996 on Everest, that were later connected to the fact that they had had corrective eye surgery in the past. Article does not state whether Kinloch had, or had not had, corrective eye surgery. It would be interesting to know one way or the other...

 

[DougPaul]

Sad, but interesting. The article mentions retinal hemorrhages, but that appears to be speculative, as it does not appear anyone knows what condition Kinloch actually had that caused his loss of sight. The reason it's interesting is that some climbers (notably Beck Weathers) suffered similar symptoms in 1996 on Everest, that were later connected to the fact that they had had corrective eye surgery in the past. Article does not state whether Kinloch had, or had not had, corrective eye surgery. It would be interesting to know one way or the other...

One of the hazards of the North Ridge... You have to go a significant distance (from the summit) before you can lose much altitude. The account really didn't say much that would allow one to make an informed guess as to the cause of his blindness.

There is more info in the original report: http://www.everestnews.com/everest2010/summitclimbeverestnorth05292010.htm Evidently, he had experienced similar blindness previously.


Beck Weathers problem was that his eyes lost their ability to focus. (His radial keratotomy plus the altitude caused the surface of his corneas to flatten thus defocusing the images.) When the sun came up, his irises shrank which improved his vision but he then lacerated his right cornea while clearing some ice and his vision became too blurry to continue.

Doug

 

[Little Rickie]

It seems to me it was more than blindness that made it difficult getting him down.

It took four hours for Mr O'Brien and a sherpa to help the stricken climber down to Mushroom Rock, barely 1,000ft below the summit. Two more sherpas arrived and for the next eight hours they all struggled to bring Mr Kinloch,28, down the mountain, administering drugs and oxygen.

Altitude sickness? Hypothermia? Stubborn focus on a goal?

Sad to see him go at such a glorious place but then again if it was me I wouldn't want anyone to be sad if I checked out doing what I love. It must be tough on the Sherpas.

 

[carla]

eyes at altitude

Of course my experiences are MUCH MUCH lower, but I have found that if I get above 15,000 feet, my vision--with contact lenses--deteriorates. I can see fine if I put my glasses on, but with contacts, my vision becomes blurry and unfocused. What I'm looking at seems "smudgy."

My speculation is that thee shape of my eye changes just a bit as I go higher, due to pressure and it's just enough of a shape change that the contacts don't sit right.

All this said, maybe the total blindness this poor guy suffered (and Beck) was related to that pressure on previous eyes surgeries..

 

[DougPaul]

Of course my experiences are MUCH MUCH lower, but I have found that if I get above 15,000 feet, my vision--with contact lenses--deteriorates. I can see fine if I put my glasses on, but with contacts, my vision becomes blurry and unfocused. What I'm looking at seems "smudgy."

My speculation is that thee shape of my eye changes just a bit as I go higher, due to pressure and it's just enough of a shape change that the contacts don't sit right.

The cornea gets oxygen by diffusion from the air and contact lenses (particularly hard lenses) interfere with this oxygen. Perhaps your problems are caused by the lack of oxygen due to a combination of low pressure and the lens. (Shape changes are also plausible.)

I just checked "Going Higher; Oxygen, Man and Mountains" by C. S. Houston, D. E. Harris, and E. J. Zeman and there is no mention of loss of focus at altitude due to contacts, just the fear of damage due to the anoxia and difficulty keeping the contacts clean under field conditions.

Doug

 

[carla]

interesting...

The cornea gets oxygen by diffusion from the air and contact lenses (particularly hard lenses) interfere with this oxygen. Perhaps your problems are caused by the lack of oxygen due to a combination of low pressure and the lens. (Shape changes are also plausible.)

I just checked "Going Higher; Oxygen, Man and Mountains" by C. S. Houston, D. E. Harris, and E. J. Zeman and there is no mention of loss of focus at altitude due to contacts, just the fear of damage due to the anoxia and difficulty keeping the contacts clean under field conditions.

Doug

Thanks for looking into this, Doug...

This first happened to me on Mont Blanc, above 15K and heading to the summit and then on the way back down. The blurriness seemed to last longer on the way down...Then it happened again a few years later, in Peru, above about 16K. Soft lenses both times...I didn't take altitude meds either time. In France I was not acclimated at all; in Peru I was. Bizarre. In any case now that I know it, I can just plan to bring my glasses.

 

[TCD]

Interesting. I always bring glasses as a backup to my contact lenses, but I have not had any trouble. The only thing I've noticed is that the lenses dry out faster at high altitude, as you'd expect; need to put rewetting drops in more often. But I wore my lenses to 21,500 on Pumori and had no vision issues at all. Acuvue (soft, extended wear) lenses, -7 diopters, no astigmatism.

Potential future trips to altitude are one reason I've stayed away from corrective surgery.

TCD