Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Atitude Researchers on Whitney

I was on Whitney Aug 12 just before the storm blew in. There were a couple guys on the summit giving a survey on the effects of altitude.

Does anyone recall what university/organization they were preparing the study for? Or if the results will be available to the general public?

As I recall they were with the American Alpine Club. They received a grant from someone but I can't remember who. You can probably find out more about it by E Mailing them or checking out their web site.

They put a clip om my finger and measured my blood oxigen level.(At least I think thats what it was). Mine was 89% which they told me was pretty good. Can anyone explain in layman's terms what the measurement means?

Do a search on Pulsox.

1954, its all relative to what you normally run, everyone is different, have it checked at a low altitude, and compare.

I was on the summit on the 14th and they were there then too. They told me that at sea level you should typically read at or near 100%. He also said the typical person at the top of Whitney was mid-80's. I tested in the low 90's and I overheard one guy who tested in the mid '70's.

If you do this test while holding your breathe the % will drop pretty fast, but unfortunately I don't know how low it would go before you would feel compelled to breathe again...

The guy I talked to said that they would try to publish in a medical journal that this could take as long as a year. He also said that they may release some of the information before that time on a web site, however my experience with journals is that they frown on publishing things that have already been made public on web pages and what not.

Sorry for beging so vague. I was pretty tired when I was talking to him and don't remember all the details.

-end

The test measures the percentage of hemaglobin in your blood that is saturated with oxygen. In a healthy person resting at sea level it is usually 95-100%. At high altitude, it drops quickly when you exercise and then recovers when you rest (if you are fit and healthy). Even on Everest, it is usually in the mid/upper 80's at rest in the high camps. At the Whitney summit, it should generally be in in the mid/upper 80's to mid 90's, but your mileage may vary.

You can buy a portable oximeter like the one you saw to keep a check on your oxygen saturation. While I think it is overkill on Whitney, some people use them to see early signs of High Altitude Pulmonary Edema.

My buddy, Dale Wagner, was involved in this study, and posted here about it. I did a quick search, but did not find the thread. He used to work through UC Irvine, but I don't know what his current affiliation is....

http://www.mazamas.org/resources/2004_res_grants_awarded.php

Mazamas Research Grant Recipients, 2004
Mazamas Standard Research Grant Recipients
Standard Research Grant 11-04

Variables Contributing to Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS)

Daryl Parker Ph.D. and Dale Wagner Ph.D.
California State University-Sacramento

Awarded $1,092

Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is a malady characterized by such symptoms as headache, nausea, and dizziness. It is thought to be a self-imposed syndrome brought on by gaining altitude too quickly without allowing adequate time to acclimatize; however, the pathophysiology of AMS and the factors that contribute the most to the onset of this syndrome are not clearly understood. No one is immune to AMS, and many hikers, trekkers, and climbers are affected. The aim of this study is to determine the percentage people reaching an altitude of 4418 m (14,494’) that experience AMS and identify which variables significantly contribute to the onset of this condition. Data will be collected over a 5-6 day period on the summit of Mt. Whitney. This location is likely to produce a diverse sample that varies greatly in age, physical characteristics, mountaineering experience, and previous altitude exposure. Individuals reaching the summit will give a self-report of their physical characteristics (age, gender, height, weight, and smoking status), altitude history (altitude of residence, previous altitude illness, prior acclimatization, and training), and an account of their ascent (elapsed time and liquid and
medication consumed). Additionally, pulse and arterial oxygen saturation will be measured. The self-report and measured data will be statistically analyzed to determine which variables contributed significantly to AMS as measured by the Lake Louise scale. By identifying which variables are most strongly associated with AMS, preventative steps may be taken to reduce these risk factors and lessen the incidence of AMS in the future.

I found it interesting that they stopped testing people coming up from the west side, seems we were too acclimated to use in their research.

I had just come up via the MR from russell and was pretty tired. The gentleman asked me to take the test and I gladly did it cause it was a great excuse for a rest. I had a 69% O2 saturation and a pulse of 100. The O2 sat. kind of scared me, but he said that being from the flatlands, that the number was normal.

-F

coincidentally, I got an e-mail from my friend, Dale, who is now at Utah State University (corrected). He said:

===============
> Yeah, I was on Whitney from Aug 9-15 (collecting data at the summit from
> Aug 10-14 with three of my friends from CSU-Sacramento). I was able to
> get two research grants (one from Mazamas and one from the American
> Alpine Club) and begged the forest service for a research permit (not
> an easy thing to get). We are doing a study to try and quantify the
> extent to which different variables (e.g., age, gender, fitness level,
> hydration status, rate of ascent, etc.) contribute to AMS. We were
> able to collect data on about 388 subjects which is pretty darn good
> for an altitude study. I think that we could have had even more, but
> bad weather (thunderstorms) the last couple days reduced the number of
> summiters and chased us down off the mountain. It will take quite a
> while to analyze the data, but we are all confident that we will have a
> worthwhile contribution to what is known about AMS.

Hi. This is Dale Wagner, PhD. I was the primary investigator (i.e. I wrote the grant proposal) for the AMS study that took place on the summit of Mt. Whitney from Aug. 10-14. I'll try and clear up some information for everyone here. By the way, just to set the record straight, I'm an assist. prof. of exercise physiology at Utah State University.

First, there are several people that deserve a bit of thanks. A big thanks to the rangers from the Inyo National Forest that issued us a research permit and allowed us to collect data on the summit. This is not usually granted, but we are greatful that they allowed us to do the research; we hope that the future outcomes (knowledge gained) will justify any inconvenience. Also, a big thanks to both Mazamas and the American Alpine Club for funding this study through their grant programs. These organizations do a lot to make mountaineering safer for all of us. Thanks to Nonin Medical (makers of SportStat Pulse oximeters) for donating a couple oximeters a few years ago for some previous altitude research that I was doing. Your oximeters are still going strong. Thanks to my co-researchers: Daryl Parker (exercise physiologist at CSU-Sacramento), Kevin Tatsugawa (outdoor rec specialist at CSU-Sacramento), and Troy Young (veterinarian with an interest in altitude physiology who gave up a week of his time to help out). Good job with data collection, and I couldn't pick a better group of guys to hang out with on a mountain for a week. Finally, much thanks to all of you who participated in the study. Hopefully, we did not disrupt your summit experience too much.

We collected data on approximately 388 people. We have a small subset of people who reached the summit from the west, but for the most part we limited our data collection to those that started their ascent from the Whitney Portal (standard route and mountaineer's route). By having a single start location, it is easier to quantify certain variables like "rate of ascent".

Regarding publication, it will take some time to analyze the data, but it is certainly our intent to publish it. It is in everyone's best interest to do so (enhances the careers of the researchers, gives recognition to the granting agencies, and the information is of interest to and potentially improves the health and welfare of those who climb to high altitudes). Once the data is analyzed, a brief synopsis of the findings will be sent to the granting organizations (Mazamas and the American Alpine Club) as part of our agreement with them. I anticipate that it will take at least 6 months for us to get the information to them. These organizations will most likely make the findings available to the public via their websites/publications. We will also work with the Inyo National Forest so that they can use the information in a way that they feel would be most beneficial (i.e. possibly a brief explanation of AMS to be posted at trailheads similar to the warnings posted about bears). Additionally, the study findings may be presented at an appropriate national conference (i.e. wilderness medicine, exercise science, etc.). Finally, we hope to have the research published in an appropriate scientific journal (possibly High Altitude Medicine & Biology, or Medicine & Science in Exercise & Sport, or any one of a number of other scientific journals). I would not anticipate publication in a scientific journal before 1 year, and it will most likely be closer to 1.5 to 2 years before it is in print (the review process and publication delay can be rather lengthy). Occasionally, a popular magazine (i.e. Outdoor, Rock & Ice, etc.) will pick up on the story and write a little piece about it (secondary source), but that is usually just a little summary of what was published in the scientific journal.

Regarding some of the discussion here about arterial oxygen saturation, a typical value at sea level is 98% (but could vary a couple percent either way). As would be expected, the O2-sat on the summit of Whitney was much less. We have not yet analyzed the data, but I would guess that the average value is probably in the low 80s (80-85%). I have looked at O2-sat a few times in the Andes at altitudes above 18,000' or even 20,000' and they have been in the 60s. Personally, I have had an O2-sat of 59% at 23,000' (Lhakpa Ri, Tibet), so an O2-sat in the mid-80s on the summit of Everest or at the highest camps (as someone posted previously) seems quite high unless the person was on a fairly high-flow of supplemental O2. Theoretically, one might expect O2-sat to be strongly related to AMS, but this correlation may not be as strong as expected. This is just one thing (among many) that we will look at when we analyze the data.

Ok, sorry for the long post, but hopefully that will answer most of your questions, and thanks for the interest in our research.

fitnessdoc-

I was the one who posted about the O2-sat on Everest, so let me elaborate. A climbing buddy of mine is a cardiologist who led a medical expedition up Everest a few years ago. They measured O2-sat at each camp. Their finding was that it was in the low 60's as you described as they arrived at each camp, but that it rapidly increased to the mid/high 80's after a period of rest (hence my reference to "at rest" in my previous post). He was surprised to see that recovery given the thin air at those altitudes. We did a similar test on Kilimanjaro recently and saw the same thing. I'm curious to know if you also tested people after they had rested on the summit of Whitney for awhile to see how rapidly it recovered. Recovery time might be an interesting variable to test against AMS.

Also, curious to hear how you measured AMS.

Thanks, Dale! I made the change to your current location. I appreciate your filling out the meager info I had.

Looking forward to the "crunched" data!

Ken

fitnessdoc,

Thanks for the explanation.

My buddies & I are eastern mountain hikers and we've had mixed results with the altitude over 14,000 ft on our past trips out west.

This was the one variable that concerned us the most. This time we did all the recommended things (stayed a few days in the camp, took ginko, hydrated, etc)
and the altitude was no problem whatsoever.

It'll be interesting to see what factors have the most favorable effect on AMS.

I'll look for the results of your study next year.