[pct-l] Acclimation to altitude

[Yoshihiro Murakami]

Dear Jim

Oxygen metabolism is processed by the mitochondria in our body. Their
gene is independent from our gene.  There is a struggle for existence
among various type of mitochondria, so we can select efficient type in
the metabolism in the thin and higher environment.

For my case, at the first climb in Mt. Whitney, the tip of a finger
became numb for a while, but at the second summit ( last summer ), I
did not feel thin air, nothing different from the lower place.

Then, the training must be effective, although the hereditary is prominent.

The interesting book of mitochondria is:

Nick Lane "Power, sex, suicide. Mitochondria and the meaning of life "
Oxford University Press. 2005.






2011/1/19 Jim Bravo <jimbravo2 at gmail.com>:
> I haven't researched it for years, since my ultra running days, but good
> acclimation is largely hereditary. You have to choose your parents wisely.
> The wisdom used to be that it takes about 20 days at altitude to gain decent
> acclimatization (is that a word?). Of course partial adaptations occur as
> soon as you are up there. One time I stealth-camped in my Geo Mountain 3
> tent at high altitude for two weeks in preparation for a race, later to find
> out that two weeks does little good. I had a tough day. I may have been
> better off arriving there the morning of the race. On the PCT I would just
> recommend taking it easy on the climbs, staying hydrated and fueled, and not
> thinking about it too much. There are folks on the list with more high
> altitude experience than me, so hopefully they will address this as well.
>
> Jim
>
> On Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 6:44 AM, Brandon McGinnity <bmcginnity at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Does anyone have any tips on helping one's body
>> adapt to the higher elevations?
>>
>> --
>> -Brandon McGinnity
>> _______________________________________________
>> Pct-L mailing list
>> Pct-L at backcountry.net
>> To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
>> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>>
>> List Archives:
>> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
>



-- 
Sincerely
--------------- --------------------------------------
Hiro    ( Yoshihiro Murakami )
Blogs http://completewalker.blogspot.com/
Photo http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/CompleteWalker/
Backpacking for 30 years in Japan
2009 JMT, the first America.
2010 JMT, the second America.
------------------------------------------------------