Thought I'd give a follow up. We hiked on September 5. I drove up a couple of days in advance but did not get a chance to acclimatize or hike and slept in Lone Pine for the two nights preceeding the Whitney hike. My three friends stayed three nights before the hike and acclimatized at Cottonwood and also hiked to Lone Pine Lake but slept in Lone Pine. We all took 600 mg of ibuprofen four hours before starting the hike and every four hours thereafter, including four hours after finishing. One of them had a little difficulty breathing but the other had to turn back on the switchbacks due to fatigue and weakness, which I believe was caused by AMS.
All three used Boost Oxygen, which they said helped a lot after Trail Camp. I did not have any symptoms of AMS nor did I use oxygen but was well hydrated starting two days before the hike. My pack weighed 26 lbs. A guide at a backpacking store in Lone Pine told me that your pack should weigh max 12 lbs. including 2 liters of water. Good thing I didn't listen to him because I used nearly everything in my pack. Only two of us summitted, taking us nine hours to reach the top. We all had equal training and are in our 50s.
So all I can deduce from our experience is that suffering from AMS really depends on each individual person and, in my case, not acclimatizing or taking Diamox did not negatively impact me even though we live at sea level.
Last edited by denisiel; 09/09/20 10:01 AM.
