Climbing Denali, Day 12
Saturday 13th, Mark called at 9am Alaska time from their camp at 14,200ft. Two of his team are unable to go higher today, so they are all staying there for another rest day.
There's a medic based at this camp. When they arrived a few days ago, they were all tested with a fingertip pulse oximeter to gauge their oxygen saturation levels. Mark's resting heart rate was 90 beats per minute and his blood saturation level was 70% at that point - 89% is normal. When retested yesterday, his heart rate was 64 bpm and blood saturation up to 84% which shows Mark is acclimatizing.
One member of the group still has a low oxygen saturation reading and their pulse is not normalizing so it is not safe for them to go higher today. The other member has an upper respiratory infection and is on antibiotics. Everyone is coughing a little as the air is so dry.
Other people in the camp from different groups are suffering from altitude sickness and are unable to go higher.
Ice had formed on the inside of the tents overnight, so this morning you got a shower of melted breath when you moved around! The weather has clouded over and is snowing a little, but the sun was still trying to get through.
Keep checking for the next update from Mark on the blog and check the AMS blog for updates from Melis the group leader.
Comments