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She made it!!
#50113 06/13/17 10:23 PM
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My 59 year old wife made the summit today----car-to-car in 20 hours. Our son became quite ill at 12,000 feet (base of the chute) and broke a crampon too, so he stopped and watched his mother ascend the chute and then he turned around. Her boots worked fine (Lowa Renegade GTX). We bought them the day before which was a little crazy, but per the gal at REI they are designed to require little or no break-in. I am glad we went with the Lowa's instead of the trail shoe she was planning to wear. She did not get any blisters, but liberally applied moleskin before she started. She did not use the Hillsounds, but rented crampons instead. If anyone is interested in the rest of her gear: she wore silk long-johns with Columbia hiking pants and a merino wool base layer upper and then a Mammut Lemah Hoodie. She also had a down jacket (650 fill) and then a rain/wind shell on top (as needed). She said she was plenty warm. She also had warm gloves and a knit beanie and gaiters. She ate peanut butter/jelly sandwiches, apples, nuts and various snack bars. I think she carried 64 ounces of water from the bottom of the chute to the summit.

FYI: they started hiking at 12:30 a.m. (this morning, just after mid-night on the 13th) She summited at 12:30 p.m. and made it back to the car around 8:30 p.m. She is exhausted.

She trained hard for this hike. I am very proud of her.

Smokin Joe

Re: She made it!!
Smokin Joe #50114 06/13/17 10:34 PM
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WOW! Congratulations to her! Way to pull through. Sounds like they got off the mountain and phoned home in time for you to write a report. Thanks!

People getting altitude sickness about Trail Camp is like Groundhog Day all over again. It happens to sooo many people. We can't stress enough how important it is to spend several nights and a day at altitude before starting up the trail. That's enough for most people to acclimate so they can make it to the top.

Re: She made it!!
Steve C #50116 06/13/17 10:48 PM
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Thank you Steve. They took a doctor prescribed altitude acclimation pill (can't recall it's name) for each of the two days before the hike and then spent a few hours at 10,000' yesterday (the day before), but that clearly was insufficient to acclimate our son who got very sick.

Re: She made it!!
Smokin Joe #50119 06/14/17 06:38 AM
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Originally Posted By: Smokin Joe
They took a doctor prescribed altitude acclimation pill (can't recall it's name) for each of the two days before the hike and then spent a few hours at 10,000' yesterday (the day before), but that clearly was insufficient to acclimate our son who got very sick.


caveats
(1) everyone acclimatizes at different rates
(2) Sounds like they took Diamox(acetozolamide). It has limited efficacy, despite all the hoopla and MD-prescribing and climbers-requesting. Study after study show that it is not a slam dunk drug at all. Helpful sometimes, sometimes not.

Far, far better is Steve's advice for time, time, time. Your body needs time to adjust to hypobaria (lower air pressure) . Then there are lucky people who seem to do well anyway, at least at moderately high altitude like 14,000 ft for a day. Congratulations for your wife.

Re: She made it!!
Smokin Joe #50120 06/14/17 07:58 AM
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BRAVO ZULU!!!

Long day! And, so early in the hiking season to boot!

I bet you Mt. Whitney looks pretty good from the Alabama Hills and Lone Pine.

She can proudly say, "Yes, I was up there."

"Those on top of the mountain did not fall there."

As for your son: There will be another day. You CAN do it!


Journey well...

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