If you read my previous post you’ll know that I’m climbing Kilimanjaro very soon. So what, you might think, lots of people do it and it’s becoming the norm. It’s one of those new fangled ways to ‘challenge yourself outside of the workplace’ and perhaps donate to charity along the way.
Maybe you’re right to some extent, but it’s still not easy by any stretch of the imagination and even if you are fit enough, there’s altitude sickness to deal with.
Altitude sickness: how can you prevent it?
It doesn’t matter how fit you are; altitude sickness can get you. You can’t just avoid altitude sickness by being fit; it’s about how well your lungs cope when the air gets thinner. The higher you climb a mountain, the thinner the air gets and the more your body has to work to maintain the supply of oxygen to your brain and body. Some people simply don’t cope well at altitude.
With this in mind, I paid a visit to The Altitude Centre in London to take an Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) Susceptibility test which is thought to help predict how your body would cope at altitude.
Measuring your propensity for altitude sickness
The centre focuses on ways you can prepare yourself for performing successfully at altitude and tests how likely you are to get it.
Now, I’m not much of a worrier but the tests were certainly an eye opener. I discovered I couldn’t hold my breath for longer than 20 seconds.
The altitude specialist, Matt Church, said that wasn’t a particularly good length of time and suggested I give it another go. Being a bit of a competitive beast I managed to hold on for 35 seconds the second time round, but only truly because I knew one of the highest scores was in the 40 second range and I wanted to be right up there too.
As simple as it sounds, holding my breath for that period was actually really hard and got me thinking that I might actually suffer climbing Kilimanjaro as the better your lungs are, the better you’ll cope at altitude.
The AMS test
The centre also tested how quickly the oxygen in my blood de-saturated to 85% at a simulated altitude of 5090m; so not far off what it will actually be like on Kilimanjaro which stands at 5895m. They did this test while I exercised on a treadmill for a few minutes with an oxygen mask.
What did it feel like? For the first time, I got a sense of fear that climbing at altitude was not going to be easy. I got short of breath quite quickly as if I wasn’t fit at all, and this took me quite by surprise.
The AMS result
Saying that, despite what I was feeling, my test result in the end was good and showed that I reacted well to the simulated altitude. In short, the test found that I “do not appear to be susceptible to AMS.”
That is a relief, but who knows what will actually happen on Kili; fingers crossed the test result turns out to be right.
If you’re climbing Kili or any other mountain where AMS is a possibility, and need more reassurance than an AMS test, you can also consider the ‘wonder drug’ Diamox.
My doctor gave me a prescription for it and said to take it every day I’m there and it “should” prevent altitude sickness.
So, I’ve done all I can to prepare (I think) and am now excited about jumping on big old Mount Kilimanjaro.
At the end of the day, it’s all for a good cause as I’m climbing in aid of Help for Heroes. If you would like to sponsor or know more about the AXA Wealth Kilimanjaro climb I’m taking part in there’s lots more info on it here.
And if you want to read what Bath rugby player David Barnes – also taking part in the climb - has to say about taking on Kilimanjaro then you can read his blog here.
