How much weight can you carry at high altitude?

gobbledegeek

Hi
I have done a few extended solo treks in the past and the last time I was carrying 20+ kilos on my back I really struggled at 3500mts. I weigh 69kgs at 5'9". I am interested in compiling some useful data on our limits in hiking trekking solo.

Would like a post from all of you listing your height, weight, altitude reached and weight of your backpack, and the total distance covered (num days included) from start to destination end.

Please also add a line about your self-rating about your fitness level (for ex: good - I run 10k, 4- 5 days a week, or poor - rarely exercised in last 1 year, etc..)

Please keep your replies brief with the facts listed only.

Cheers

gobbledegeek

If possible please also list how much food you eat per day by dry weight, how many times, and how much water you consume for drinking and any other activities lile cooking washing utensils etc...

arunchs

moderately fit. 13kilos on a ~70km(2-way) trek going from ~4000ft to 14000ft and back in 6 days.

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jyotipg

around 75 kg.. 5'6". Grossly out of touch on exercises and jogging.

Carried 8-10 kg during trek to Pin Parvati pass(5400m) last year and 5-6 kg during trek to kalindi pass this month.

Drink min 2 litres of water everyday.

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vistet

Somewhat to my surprise , I would say that my starting weight is somewhere around 15 kilos +.With tent , sleeping bag , boots , stove and the pack itself it's hard to come under 10 kilos. Add camera, fuel , food etc. and it quickly adds up. This year I carry a 12 V solar panel (300 grams ) , which is a lot more useful than you'd think : there was a three day power break in Tabo for example.

I've just come back from Sichiling-Dhankar-Lhalung-Lingti to Kaza, and during a picknick stop on the last leg some locals had great fun picking up my pack and making a parody of the struggling korjangspa. Rightly so , but I needed a trial run on moderate altitude (3300-4000) . I carried the same over the Diggar La (5300) last time : it aint pretty , but I get there in the end.

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dhans

Some thoughts on the water: they just did an interesting study in the Netherlands on the use of water during exercise.

he study was done during the 4 Day Marches at Nijmegen the Netherlands where people walk 50 km per day for (indeed) 4 days.

For anybody but the Dutch Nijmegen is at sea level and the temperatures were moderate around 20 degrees Celsius.

People drank between 2 and 9 litres per day, but the more interesting result from the blood tests was that all amounts were good. If you drink what you feel your body needs, then you are oing fine. If at the end of the day you've lost a kilogam of bodyeight (or more) you have not drank enough and may suffer.

Hans

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vistet

I'm a wimp , I want to agree with you both. On the one hand , water discussions are often wildly theoretical : trusting your body is a good perspective. On the other hand , at high altitude you can't trust your body at first : mild nausea limits water intake below normal levels so you need to monitor water intake. The major drawback with recommendations ( the HRA for example recommends 2.5- 3 liters ) is that they are static : obviously a 55 kilo bus passenger and 90 kilo trekker with a pack have widely diffents rates of water loss.

My other yardstick is urine color : as long as it's slightly paler than normal I'm good. If it starts to gain more color it's time to increase the fluid intake.

In another perspective , at the end of my stays here in the Himalayas , I always seem to lose 10 % of my weight. I thought for a long time this was an Indian thing , due to diverse enteritis , but it has hold true without getting sick. I've seen abstracts of studies on this : this appears to be the normal outcome of higher metabolism and lower appetite/intake.

dhans

Funny thing was there is no correlation between weight and or BMI (Body Mass Index) and the water intake. So your 90 kg trekker may need less water than your 50 kg buss passenger.

One of the all-time great tips! Watch your pee!!

Hans

vistet

I was more thinking in terms of energy consumtion : moving those 90 kilos will mean more energy consumtion , every increase in energy consumtion will mean more water expanded . Increased ventilation means higher water loss , on exertion people will start to breath thru the mouth , which also increases perspiratory loss.

I think it was Avid who pointed it out here first , Steven Bezruchka also points out brown stained snow as a warning sign for AMS.

gobbledegeek

Yeah I don't think ultra light backpacking is possible when u are going to be away from home for 20 - 30 days at a time. Esp with stove and rations. 15+ kilo's will be tough at 5000m and above. I had to carry the entire months supplies on my back for a 7 day trek, as i was planning multiple treks in a month. i ended up becoming a beast of burden rather than a happy trekker.... and now I am thinking of renting a place and setting up a "base camp" for my next trip. Somewhere I can park my extra luggage.

Regards

AvidTrekker

About colourless pee.....

Pointed it out yes. First time here dunno.

I follow it religiously... to the point that i had deputed the young one's on my trek to watch out each other's pee and report on "coloured" urine. Also to report on "not went to poo today" coz it also may point out to the same thing... [less hydration, hardened feces, no poo]

I have also done a private observation of acidosis versus alkalosis upon gaining altitude, but i cannot quote from it coz it wasn't under strict lab [double blind] conditions. Those observations still serve me well nine times out of ten even today.

I used to carry 25 to 30 kg on treks. Can't do now. Its around 12 to 18 kg nowadays. On the Pin Parvati and Pin Bhaba trek, i carried 18 kg in Aug Sept 2005.

I do recall that five-foot-two-inch porters on my Indrahar Pass trek carried 40 kg each in 1983. I carried 32 kg then. For this alone they respected me hell of a lot. We were the lead walkers. This would be unthinkable today. Some Nepalese porters manage to carry this much even today, but not on treks... [for other tasks where they are paid per kilo.]

The whole thing is very much subjective. I cannot jog for stretches more than a kilometer without a small break. [even when i was young] Give me a mountain and I can climb it practically all day with my load.
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