Everest's Death Zone Doctor Poses Life or Death Dilemma to Climber #mountains

imagine that you've dedicated two whole years  of your life to a quest a quest to solve one   of mountaineering's greatest Mysteries The  Disappearance of George mallerie and Sandy   Irvin on the North Ridge of Everest in 1924  you've poured your heart and soul and every   fiber of your being into it and then the bombshell  is dropped on you you're told that if you take one   more step up that mountain that you have a 5050  chance of living or dying what would you do well   that happened to me in 2019 and it is not an  easy decision to make when you have poured so   much into a single Quest before the end of this  video I think I'm going to give you the tools   you'll need to know whether you would have kept  going or whether you would have turned around our   Quest was to find the remains of Sandy Irvin who  disappeared last scene at over 20 8,000 ft 8534 M   on the northeast Ridge of Mount Everest with his  partner George mallerie endeavoring to become the   first to stand on the top of the world's highest  peak a bank of clouds came in and obscured any   view of the two and they were never heard from  again in today's video I'm going to talk with the   world's foremost authority on altitude physiology  Dr Peter Hackett he's known as the doctor of the   death zone he knows a lot about altitude Dr Peter  Hackett he literally wrote the book on altitude   sickness and today we're going to talk to him  about how altitude kills and how it impacts the   human mind the brain the human physiology what  it does to a person seemingly purely by chance I   was leaving Advanced base camp just outside of  Wi-Fi range when my climbing partner marks in   it said Tom you better turn around I just got  a text from hackit and this one you are going   to want to read and what was in that text made  all the difference and completely changed the   trajectory of my life if we had left Advanced Base  Camp only a minute earlier we never would have   received that text so before we get to this story  I hope you'll take a minute to click the Subscribe   button and the Bell so you're notified every  time a new video comes out on Everest mystery   and also consider becoming a member of the channel  to support the work that I do here and I've also   provided a link to my patreon page which is  in the description of this video I'd spent   the better part of two decades dreaming about the  opportunity to look for the body of Sandy Irvin   I was a high altitude cameraman on the expedition  that discovered George mallerie and I was obsessed   from the get-go of finding more clues finding more  ANS answers to what happened to Maller and Irvin   on that fateful day June 8th 1924 did they make it  to the summit how did they fall what killed them   and I've thought about it every single day since  1999 when George mallerie was discovered by Conrad   anchor and I finally was right there right there  just about to leave for the higher reaches of   the mountain to look for Sandy and we thought we  knew exactly where he was but then the text from   Peter Hackett I could never have imagined that  the stakes would be so high would you risk it all   to uncover the secrets of the greatest mystery  in mountaineering or would you turn around and   leave the work to somebody else well I had put  so much time and effort into it almost nothing   literally almost nothing could have possibly  stopped me who is Peter Hackett he literally   wrote the book on altitude sickness it's called  Mountain sickness prevention recognition and   treatment it's an American Alpine Club climbers  guide my partner in this plan to find the remains   of Sandy Irvin was Mark cinate one of the world's  greatest big wall climbers of Northface sponsored   athlete and a New York Times bestselling author  he was writing a book and the book ultimately was   called the third poll mystery Obsession and Death  on Mount Everest and just for clarification before   the book went to to the publisher for printing he  called me up and he said look the word obsession   is in the title I want to get some clearance  from you that it's okay to use that word the   reason being that the obsession stood for what  he saw me as having about Mount Everest and the   greatest mystery in mountaineering throughout  the Expedition Mark had been communicating with   Peter hackit to build essentially a backstory for  his book so we could talk about why people were   dying on the mountain in the past and as we would  soon find out 11 people that year in 2019 lost   their lives Peter hackit is no ordinary doctor  he's a mountaineer he climbed Everest in 1981   as a member and doctor on the American Medical  Expedition and when he summited he was the 111th   person ever to get to the top I first met Peter  in in 2000 filming a documentary for PBS Nova the   science documentary series filming a documentary  called deadly Ascent the idea of the film was to   solve the mystery of high altitude deaths on one  of the most dangerous mountains on Earth Denali   I was the high altitude cinematographer  on that and Peter was the main character   protagonist if you will and doctor in 2007 Peter  founded the institute for altitude medicine   in conjunction with the toride medical center  and the University of Colorado fast forward to   2019 I'm on Mount Everest filming the lost on  Everest documentary with renan ozerk our team   was stationed at 21,000 ft or 6,400 M we were  staying there throughout the period of time   when all the other teams on the mountain were  making their Summit bids and that's when that   photograph was released showing the crowds of  people waiting in line to get to the summit on   that day several people died they just dropped  dead on the afternoon before we went up we went   for a walk just to stretch our legs a little bit  and I began to show signs of what is called a TIA   a trans esic attack I had a minor numbing in my  face and I wasn't going to tell anybody about   it so when we got back to Advanced base camp I  was going to slip into my tent Jamie mcginness   happens to see me and he goes hey what happened to  you you look kind of like something weird happened   I'm like well I had all this numbing in my face  I'm not really sure what's going on and then of   course Mark hears about this and immediately  starts texting Peter hackit who is 7,000 miles   away at a doctor's convention with Physicians  telling him about what my symptoms were Peter   said essentially there's a 5050 chance that it's  just a migraine symptom or a TIA if it's a tiia   and he goes up and those symptoms return it would  be unlikely that he will survive so what did I do   with that information I'll tell you shortly but  first let's talk to Peter a little bit about   altitude physiology why it's so hard on the human  body and what's taking place here's Peter Hackett   from his home in Colorado 2019 with Mark sinet and  that was kind of an interesting series of events   for me like you know walking out of a Advanced  base camp and S it saying hey Pard I just got a   text from hacket like really and I was gone I was  probably 25 feet out of you know Wi-Fi range he   goes you should let's read this you you'll never  know you'll never know what might have happen well   these you know these Tia like things happen Fair  they happen in altitude chamber experiments that   I've done they happen on the Peaks only the big  Peaks and uh nobody knows exactly what it is but   we're always worried that if you stay or if you go  back that you know you're risk of a stroke so that   that's the big concern as you know but I you know  but young young people get these 30 year olds 40   year olds get these only at high altitude and we  just don't we don't have a good explanation for   it I think probably the best explanation is that  it's a little uh blood vessel spasm as long as it   doesn't stay spasm it doesn't stroke and then so  it's kind of a TIA technically is an obstruction   in the blood vessel but a spasm is a I mean it's  basically a TIA that goes away because it there's   no obstruction it's just a spasm you know and we  think these young healthy people that get them   and you since your MRI was normal probably was  one of these little spasms whether it would ever   recur is unknown you know back in the day you had  to be kind of the young guy with a lot of talent   and have an American Alpine club or your Alpine  clubs you know backing and now it's guys who are   you know in their 50s and have some money in the  bank and they they want to live out their dream   and so there's this new trend happening on Everest  and as we saw in 2019 people are just literally   dropping dead just boom no signs of anything yeah  I mean you have to keep the right perspective the   the chances of dying on Everest for those that go  about base camp is around 1% or so and it's gotten   better over the past decades and the success rate  has gone up quite a bit although for people over   60 it's much more dangerous much higher death rate  a much lower success rate and for people without   oxygen much higher death rate much lower success  rate so the last thing I recommend is anybody over   60 trying it without oxygen that would really be  a double whammy but but what are these mysterious   deaths I mean you know you can explain ice fogs  crevasses and avalanches that that sort of thing   but there's something that's going on when you  get up on that Summit day above 8,500 meters even   so there's a number of factors number one if you  run out of oxygen okay that's an easy explanation   you're not really aim you can't acclimatize that  kind of altitude and you've gotten only as high as   you've gotten probably because you are on oxygen  and the oxygen there's no question the oxygen   makes you move faster allows you to move faster  prevents frostbite and hypothermia I mean there's   only one performance enhancing we call it a drug  uh because the drug oxygen is listed as a drug by   the FDA and that's oxygen for performance at high  altitude and if you run if you're depending on it   and you run out you could be in big trouble I  mean I could list a lot of climbers that have   died that way some very well-known ones even back  in the late 70s and 80s uh very strong people like   rean you know who ran out of oxygen and his mind  suddenly went off and we don't know if it's like   well we know that the of course the mine is  what's most sensitive to the lack of oxygen   and so so if you run out of oxygen and when you  need it U your mind starts to go off whether it's   rapid CBL Adema we don't know but it's rapid  deterioration so that's one thing running out   of oxygen but like recently these people dying of  so-called exhausted are on oxygen as far as I know   we don't have all the details but as far as I know  they didn't run out so what could be causing their   deaths if they're using supplemental oxygen the  sherp is call it exhaustion and there may indeed   be an element of even if you're on oxygen you  can certainly get exhausted so let's say you're   on uh four liters oxygen uh going towards the  summit well your body physiologically is more   like at the 23,000 feet instead of 28,000 feet  and you can still get exhausted because you're   putting in a 6,000 foot day 3,000 feet up  3,000 ft down and that can exhaust you even   at sea level right especially if it's real windy  and you're fighting the winds and it's real cold   but exhausted at point of death doesn't doesn't  really make sense um people do have to recognize   the signs of of hypoxia the hypoxia makes you  more likely to get frostbite more susceptible to hypothermia I there's a lot that it suppresses  your ability to eat and drink it suppresses your   appetite it interferes with your ability to sleep  which is a huge issue because if you're sleep   deprived it throws off all sorts of physiological  responses including clear thinking and then   there's we know from our our research and many  others that have done research that the brain just   doesn't work quite as well and once you get to  about 18,000 feet there's a bit of a threshold and   the higher you go the more of it becomes before  you start on oxygen you may not be sleeping well   you may not be thinking real well you may need  check you may need somebody to remind you of what   to take up to Camp 3 you may not be eating very  well and uh for people that have never experienced   that before they it's miserable it is I I think  that the most important Gene that in my experience   for my own high altitude climbing is the stupid  Gene that is the ability to tolerate significant   levels of discomfort over a long period of time  which is's just pling stupid thing we do and that   that's what's required for high to do climbing you  have to be able to tolerate significant discomfort   for more than a few hours you know for weeks  at a time you know it it's it packs a wallup   and and the people who go back time and time again  you got to wonder what the mental factor and the   capacity is going to be when they are 70 or 80  if if there's some little loss every time you   go into altitude that you know doing a crossword  puzzle gets harder every time I think well this   whole issue of uh brain damage at high altitude is  a very important one and one that uh needs to be   researched more but clearly in the studies that  have been done uh there are structural changes   and there are functional changes in the brain at  high altitude that can persist for month to years   to many years after um climbing to high altitude  mostly in those without oxygen or in those that   develop uh bad Mountain sickness or cerebral edema  I'd say that for those that have been I mean the   literature isn't great but so far from what we can  tell in the scientific literature for those that   go above 7,000 meters without oxygen about 10 to  15% are going to have some sort of permanent neur   logic finding now if it's just a little splot  on your MRI it but doesn't cause any functional   changes it doesn't matter much but it's still a  concern right I mean there's been a functional CH   an anatomical change in your brain either a part  of your brain has shrunk there's a little bit of   atrophy or we get what's called white matter  hyperintensities it's this these lesions we   don't entirely understand but if you get enough of  them in a lifetime it is associated with dementia   so you know people ask me all the time is there  any risk of suffering brain damage on Evers the   answer is yes how big is the risk the answer is  I found this on the web they're listening to you   the answer is it's really hard to say if you're  if you think that every single neuron in your   brain is really precious and you want to hang down  to it you should not go to Everest or any 8,000   meter peak more importantly is the functional  stuff so the psychological uh neurocognitive   Reaction Time memory after an Ascent there are  abnormalities our Everest Expedition the American   Medical Research Expedition ever many years ago  showed that there were definite changes and that   most of them resolved within two years almost all  of them except the ability to do repeated finger   tapping if you get more fatigued uh really I know  what that means except maybe concer penis should   be careful about um yeah so if you really want  to protect your brain at high altitude number   one you use oxygen number two you don't get  altitude sickness especially cerebral edema but   even pulmonary edema or even bad Mountain sickness  number three well to prevent those illnesses you   climatize well before you go up high and fourthly  you pay attention to nutrition and hydration   and how you're feeling and don't push it beyond  your means so what did I do when Peter said that   I had a 5050 shot of living or dying if I went  back up the mountain I did what you might expect   I did I packed my bags got my boots on and was  ready to move up the mountain nobody was going   to question that decision we're all adults here  there was nothing that was going to stop me from   going back up there getting to the top and having  a look for Sandy Irvin I had simp put too much   time and effort into this to have a coin toss stop  me from going up I knew my body well I've been to   altitude many times and understood the risk but  did not think that I was really on a 50/50 shot   for dying so as Mark and I were walking outside  of base camp he being the father of a young son   decided he would just check one last time to see  if his wife or son had texted him I was already   up out of range of WiFi Mark gets his phone out  he stops he says Tom you better turn around this   is a text that you are going to want to read so  I turned around we went back into the dining tent   Mark sat down and he said look I got a text from  Peter he reconvened with a group of physicians at   the convention that he's at and two a person they  said do not go up the mountain you are taking an   ex extreme rist it is a coin toss of living or  dying if you take one more Step Up the Mountain   so believe it or not I still wasn't sold on it I  was just too close to getting up there to have a   look for Sandy so we spent almost two hours in  the tent deciding determining talking over the   pros and cons what would happen if I did die  and ultimately the decision was made rightly   so that I went back down the mountain  I had already been to the summit before   I had nothing to prove so I left with my head  down very sad not to be with my colleagues on   the mountain and watched from base camp as they  went to the summit and Mark did his ultimately   historic search for Sandy Irvin on the North  Face of Mount Everest what would you have done   in that situation leave a comment below there's  always some really interesting conversations in   the comments I'm curious to know what you think  about that what you think about altit UD climbing   in general or even going to base camp is it  worth the risk if you've enjoyed this video   be sure to subscribe and hit that Bell button  check out the membership and my patreon page   in the meantime take time to do a kind deed  for somebody that you don't know don't ask   for anything in return make the world a better  place one step at a time thanks for being here

Channel: Everest Mystery

Views: 13,101

Keywords: everest, thom pollard, mount everest, mystery, george mallory, climbing mount everest, everest climbing, climbing everest, no o2, 8000 meter peaks, himalaya, mt everest, thom pollard mallory, thom pollard everest, mountains, mallory, survival, mt everest summit, death zone, extreme weather, peter hackett, altitude medicine, deadly ascent, mountain sickness, mountain sickness prevention, everest death zone, everest expedition, everest summit ridge

Id: eDVWj7Z6gKs

Length: 20min 53sec (1253 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 25 2024