Oxygen?

                          Acclimatization vs. Supplemental Oxygen

                  For years, words like “unsportsmanlike” have been used to describe Everest climbers who use supplemental oxygen on their expeditions as opposed to acclimatization, but the so-called “unsportsmanlike” climbers, just may survive over those who choose to go without oxygen. The death rate statistics are much higher for those who choose to acclimatize. Reinhold Messner was not only an expert climber but quite an influential one too. He contended that, “such [expedition groups] can move more quickly and thus spend less time on the mountain, which should make them less vulnerable to avalanches and medical problems, the leading causes of death among mountaineers.” The use of supplemental oxygen while climbing and enduring the physical and mental deterioration may very well protect the lives of the climbers, and while acclimatization does have its pros, it is no comparison to the use of supplemental oxygen; a technique that increases the success and survival rate, reduces the chance of illness, and ensures a shorter expedition.

              Many deaths on Everest are direct results from high altitude illnesses such as High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE), or High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE). HAPE is an illness caused by the body trying to adapt to its environment. HACE is the swelling of the brain causing loss of function from the lack of oxygen. Supplemental oxygen helps to lessen the effects of both HAPE and HACE and plays a major role in saving the lives of those who fall ill on Everest. There is no time for delay when an individual becomes ill on a mountain like Everest unless supplemental oxygen is available; its use could mean life or death.

                  Could the lives of mountain climbers solely rely on a tank of bottled oxygen? “Of the 1,173 people who successfully scaled Mount Everest on the Nepal-Tibet border from 1978
through 1999, the death rate during descent was .Three percent for those not using supplemental oxygen, compared with 3 percent for those using extra oxygen,” said Raymond Huey, a University of Washington zoology professor. On a similar mountain, K2, one in five people not using supplemental oxygen died between 1986 and 1995. Life may depend on the use of supplemental oxygen when climbing such mountains. These statistics make themselves clear, and yet some still think climbing with supplemental oxygen is “unsportsmanlike.”

                The belief that using supplemental oxygen is not the “real” way to climb a mountain is often carried in the minds of the more determined climbers. Messner, who is often cited as the “greatest climber of all time”, set the standard acclimatization by climbing Everest without a bottle of oxygen in the event of emergency. Climbers like Anatoli Boukreev carry on his legacy. Boukreev, the first climber to summit 14 eight-thousand meter peaks, controversially climbed Everest in 1963 as a guide without using supplemental oxygen. While Boukreev had his mind set on climbing without supplemental oxygen, he did carry a bottle for emergencies saying quote; “As a precautionary measure, in the event that some extraordinary demand was placed upon me on summit day, I was carrying one (1) bottle of supplementary oxygen, a mask and a redactor. It would have been dumb of me not to have done so.” The fact that Boukreev is such an accomplished climber and yet he still had an emergency bottle of oxygen with him throughout the expedition is quite a testament to the use of supplemental oxygen. Although during that summit attempt, Boukreev beat the odds and survived, his chances of survival were decreased by his decision not to use oxygen.

                  The use of supplemental oxygen increases the chances of success, survival, and health. As Huey once said, “The finding that climbers using supplemental oxygen have higher survival rates might reflect the benefits of extra oxygen in reducing the physical and mental deterioration that is inevitable at extreme altitude.” Supplemental oxygen reduces the high stakes and mental and physical deterioration of a mountain like Everest and allows many climbers to pursue and achieve their goals. Supplemental oxygen has truly been an influential piece of equipment for some climbers. Acclimatization does have its benefits but with supplemental oxygen, you are much more likely to summit than die trying.