PBS/NOVA Show -Deadly Ascent

[Hampshire]

I thought the show was great.

A couple of thoughts.

1. I’m glad my wife didn’t see this show before I climbed Denali.
2. I can’t wait until my 3-year old son is old enough to watch it so he can see how “BAD” his dad was back in the day.
3. I’m glad I still get goose bumps whenever I see mountains to be climbed.


I felt the effects of the altitude when we reached camp at 14,200. I got a pretty good headache and had severe gas, both are classic symptoms of AMS. I also got a mild case of sleep apnea while we stayed at the 14,200 camp. We stayed at this camp for three nights before moving to 17,200 feet. Once at 17,200 I felt great, however, my face did swell some. One of the members of our team suffered severe sleep apnea, he sleep for no more than two hours a night for the entire trip. One Australian climber who summated the same day we did suffered frostbite on both his feet. He made it down to base camp and was flown to an Anchorage hospital.

Caitlin Palmer was guiding an expedition while we were on the mountain; she and another guide rescued two climbers who fell into a crevasse near Windy Corner

 

[jfb]

The question that came to my mind was:

Did the large variation of core temperature from 'normal' help to cause the altitude sickness or did the altitude help to cause the large variations from 'normal' core temperature?

My question was whether there was any relationship at all between core temperature and altitude. I was surprised that the astronaut's core temerature varied as much as it did from normal, but the show didn't do a good job at explaining why.

 

[Jasonst]

It was on again this morning at 5am. Gotta love TIVO!!!

 

[runnynose]

a mystery

One should also note that Colby Coombs and his wife <name?> are both experienced Alaskan mountaineers. It is quite possible that their reduced temp ranges compared to that of the astronaut <name?> were due to training rather than their body makeups.

to get back to this previous point...
i did think the show implied that the astronaut guy's widely fluctuating thermoregulation was related to his level of conditioning. which previous research (as doug pointed out) has suggested is not the case. it also implied that it was not related to over or underdress as they showed his temp plummet rapidly with a brief stop. this latter issue may be due to filming issues and perhaps wasnt accurately represented in the movie. but it did leave me wondering WHY astronaut guy's thermoregulation was so poor compared to the husband wife team, ie what factors contribute.... interestingly, i attended a brief lecture by peter hackett (is that his name?) the physician in the movie, on this topic this past august (after movie filming) and i pulled out the lecture notes and none of this temperature stuff was even mentioned!
so now my curiousity is peaked but not to the extent i want to peruse the scientific literature on the subject... are there any physiologists reading that care to speculate? anyone looked at the research themselves? any articles to suggest?
lastly, i was curious if anyone has tried the ginko biloba?

R.

 

[DougPaul]

One should also note that Colby Coombs and his wife <name?> are both experienced Alaskan mountaineers. It is quite possible that their reduced temp ranges compared to that of the astronaut <name?> were due to training rather than their body makeups.

My recollection is that they only suggested that the wider temp fluctuations might contributed to altitude problems. However, no meaningful conclusion can be reached with a sample size of two.

i attended a brief lecture by peter hackett (is that his name?) the physician in the movie, on this topic this past august (after movie filming) and i pulled out the lecture notes and none of this temperature stuff was even mentioned!

Dr. Peter Hackett is a well-known expert on the effects of altitude.

so now my curiousity is peaked but not to the extent i want to peruse the scientific literature on the subject... are there any physiologists reading that care to speculate? anyone looked at the research themselves? any articles to suggest?

There are a few pages in Freedom of the Hills, about 20 pages in Medicine for Mountaineering, and the book "Going Higher" by Charles S. Huston is very informative. Peter Hackett also has some publications which can be located with a search engine.

Doug

 

[runnynose]

My recollection is that they only suggested that the wider temp fluctuations might contributed to altitude problems. However, no meaningful conclusion can be reached with a sample size of two.

Dr. Peter Hackett is a well-known expert on the effects of altitude.

i realize this..which is why i am surprised he didnt elaborate on it in his lecturing this past summer. in other words, the movie def suggested an assoc is possible so i was surprised he didnt discuss it as a topic of further research.... something tells me he didnt drop it after the sample size of two. i am lazily curious if anyone had spotted any further discussion on the topic.

 

[DougPaul]

i realize this..which is why i am surprised he didnt elaborate on it in his lecturing this past summer. in other words, the movie def suggested an assoc is possible so i was surprised he didnt discuss it as a topic of further research.... something tells me he didnt drop it after the sample size of two. i am lazily curious if anyone had spotted any further discussion on the topic.

The movie seemed to focus on flash (astronauts, high tech, etc) more than technical content. It is possible that the studies using these temp sensors were not performed, have not yet published, or found no useful relationship.

I have no info on what actually happened, but also haven't looked. Try a search engine. (It is possible that the results are published in paper-only or pay-only media.)

Doug

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

I tried to watch this show the other night, but fell asleep before it ended (I missed the earlier showing, and tried to get through the 1 am repeat). In general, I was not impressed with what I saw. Did I really hear one of the guides or the narrator say that crevasses are thousands of feet deep? My guess is that most of us experience body core temperatures that fluctuate over the range measured on Denali many times when on winter outings in Northeast. But, if we worried about that, we would never get up anything. I usually like Nova shows, but this one just did not do it for me. I taped the show, so will take another crack at it in a few days.