On 23rd Dec 2008, the Payne family went to Austria to ski for Xmas. Whilst not planned at the time, the resort at Hochgurgl had some excellent mountain walks at 3,000 metres high.
Being roughly half the height of Kilimanjaro, I took the only route up (using the cablecar) and walked around for the day to get used to exercise at high altitude. There was a discernible difference at this altitude: breathing was shallow and much harder.
On one particular walk, managed by a guide, we climbed from 2,600m to 3,300 metres. During this 700m ascent I learnt a great deal. Firstly, I learnt to clmb slowly: The two fittest men on the climb both failed to reach the summit - simply because they went too fast and they literally ran out of breath. The slowest in the team, arrived at the top first. Secondly, I learnt not to eat when walking at altitude. The body simply cannot digest and walk at the same time - breathing becomes quickly very laboured.
No comments:
Post a Comment