11-30-2017, 07:57 PM
Great advice, KiminPL, thank you. Just curious, 19K feet sounds you were in the Himalayas, or, perhaps more likely, the Andes?
Our own rules are 30 minutes acclimation at 9,000 ft if you are up for eight hours, any longer you must acclimate overnight (roughly 24-hours). For new visitors, we often suggest 48 hours just to be sure, and it has made a big difference in that fewer people have altitude sickness.
For the 30-minute rule, remember this is aimed at people who work at the summit most weekdays, so they already have an acquired acclimation.
There are some observatories in the Chilean Andes that have staff work at around 16,000 ft (maybe higher, I forget), but they actually pressurize the control rooms so staff are breathing air with partial pressures that humans can handle. Just like being in aircraft that pressurize the cabin air to the equivalent of 6-8000 feet altitude. Most people can handle that. Pressurize it to 13-14,000 feet and you'll end up with brain-fuddled pilots and passengers becoming ill.
Our own rules are 30 minutes acclimation at 9,000 ft if you are up for eight hours, any longer you must acclimate overnight (roughly 24-hours). For new visitors, we often suggest 48 hours just to be sure, and it has made a big difference in that fewer people have altitude sickness.
For the 30-minute rule, remember this is aimed at people who work at the summit most weekdays, so they already have an acquired acclimation.
There are some observatories in the Chilean Andes that have staff work at around 16,000 ft (maybe higher, I forget), but they actually pressurize the control rooms so staff are breathing air with partial pressures that humans can handle. Just like being in aircraft that pressurize the cabin air to the equivalent of 6-8000 feet altitude. Most people can handle that. Pressurize it to 13-14,000 feet and you'll end up with brain-fuddled pilots and passengers becoming ill.