I read the article, but can you explain "Death Zone" to me? Wouldn't there be breathing issues on most of the climb and that they'd have to have oxygen most of the time? Even at points where the atmosphere is thinnest, wouldn't oxygen take care of that?
And, I agree with previous posters - I've never heard an interview by one of these climbers that didn't make me want to smack them stupid.
They do carry oxygen. But they can only bring so much.
They have to save it for when they REALLY need it. When their oxygen depletes, their muscles fatigue, their brains start to shut down, their ability to make rational decisions is reduced, etc. Plus they lose their appetite at a time when they need calories and water the most.
One of the other posters here (DoctorMichael) is much more knowlegable of this. He is a climber.
Death zone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The death zone is a term that refers to high altitudes, encountered by mountain climbers, where the amount of oxygen present cannot sustain human life.
The human body functions at its best at sea level (0 meters) when the atmospheric pressure is measured at 1 atmosphere. This is because the hemoglobin (the red pigment in red blood cells) is saturated with oxygen (nearly 100 %) at that air pressure. Oxygen is required for every bodily process.
As humans go higher, the air pressure drops and so does the amount of available oxygen. At 5,000 m (height of Everest base camp), the amount of oxygen is only half that of sea level's availability. At 8,850 m (summit of Mt. Everest), only one third is available. When the amount of oxygen pressure drops, the human body tries to compensate by a process known as altitude acclimatization. Additional red blood cells are manufactured, the heart beats faster, non-essential body functions are temporarily shut down, and you breathe deeper and more frequently. However, acclimatization cannot take place immediately - in fact, it takes place over a period of days or even weeks. Failure to acclimatize may result in altitude sickness, including pulmonary edema or cerebral edema.
At extreme altitudes (above 7,500 m), breathing bottled oxygen becomes almost mandatory for 99 % of climbers. This is because at that height, available oxygen becomes so low that one can hardly function without supplementary oxygen. Sleeping becomes very difficult, digesting food is impossible (the body shuts the digestive system down), and hosts of other problems manifest without additional oxygen.
Finally, at the "death zone", 8,000 m and higher, no human body can acclimatize. Staying longer than necessary will result in deterioration of body functions, loss of consciousness and ultimately, death.
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