Today we did another acclimatisation hike up to Pumori Advanced Base Camp (ABC) at 5700m!
It was super fun because we hiked with a big group of climbers from our team! There was about 12 of us and it was so nice to walk with others. Since this was Dad and I’s second time doing this hike, we were slightly more acclimatised and I felt so much better than I did the other day.
Dad, Martin (very strong climber attempting Lhotse without O2 and already climbed Everest + others without O2), and I all walked together and we spent about 30 minutes on the “summit” talking to friends. Spending time at higher altitudes helps us acclimatise better.
I’ve just realised I’ve been talking a lot about acclimatisation, but never really clarified what it is! At high altitudes we have a lower percentage of red blood cells (that carry oxygen), which makes doing everything a lot harder. Going, and spending time at higher altitudes shocks our bodies, and when we descend to lower altitudes (that are still very high), our bodies produce more red blood cells. At the beginning, just walking on flat terrain at base camp (5300m), made me quite out of breath. Now, it is much easier, and I also notice a difference in my resting heart rate. This is all from having worked my body, at high altitude, and from having reached a higher altitude, then descended back to BC.
Anyways, after the walk (which took about 4 hours), I had the best nap!! I also managed to call my mum for a bit which was nice, until the wifi got cut off! We met some of the new people that arrived at camp, all had dinner, and went to bed!
