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Oxygen, and AMS Part II of II: The tent in action 
Florida resident Dr. Ginger Southall climbed Denali this past spring and slept in the tent for about six weeks prior to her climb. “I had never slept in a tent before, let alone climb a mountain,” the hypoxic tent in her bedroom was actually her first tent experience ever, and probably the most expensive by far. Altitude sickness in Florida? The first night she set the altitude to 4500 ft and then incrementally raised it to 9000 ft over the next couple of weeks. For a week and a half she reported waking up and feeling great, but would then come down with mild AMS in the afternoons, “It was like I was pregnant, but instead of morning sickness, I would feel ill in the afternoon . . . I found myself having to sit down in the grocery store.” Needless to say this was the first time Dr. Southall experienced some form of altitude sickness. The mild headaches and nausea went away after a week or so using the tent. Remember, everyone is affected by altitude differently, and no two people will respond to the tent or any other similar system in the same way. Shortly before traveling to Alaska she added an adapter that simulates 15,000 ft. To combat dehydration and feed her higher metabolism while sleeping in the tent, Ginger would keep a water bottle next to her and would wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning to eat a protein bar. Tent bound on the mountain While on the mountain Dr. Southall felt great all the way up to 16,000 ft, but did experience splitting headaches at 17,000 ft. Fortunately the team was holed up there for seven days while riding out a storm, and by the third day she felt much better. From there they summited without a problem and then returned to base camp safely. Conclusions? As to how Dr. Southall would have fared without the use of the tent, no definite answers can be given. Another woman on her team who also lives at sea level in Florida came along and turned back several days into the climb. As everyone’s sensitivity to altitude is different, it is not possible to judge the true effectiveness of the hypoxic tent system from this case alone. Dr. Ginger Southall can however attest some of the success to her mindset while on the mountain, “I tell you, it was all mental, you just had to put one foot in front of the other and not give up.” |