Additional red blood cells are produced, and the heart beats faster to transport these cells around the body. However, the body begins to acclimatise as the amount of oxygen in the air drops. Keep reading: Nutrition Tips For Mountaineering and Trekking Expeditions As the amount of oxygen in the blood falls, heart rate soars, rising to 140 beats per minute, which increases the risk of a heart attack. At 3,700 metres (12,000 feet), there is already 40 percent less oxygen in the air.Īs a result, a climber’s rate of breathing increases at altitude – even while the body is at rest – to inhale the necessary oxygen. The oxygen saturation of hemoglobin begins to decrease rapidly above 2,100 metres (6,900 feet). Once the levels of oxygen in the air are too low, the hemoglobin no longer becomes saturated and not enough oxygen is transported throughout the body. However, atmospheric pressure steadily decreases as elevation is gained, resulting in lower oxygen levels in the air. In healthy people, this means that the hemoglobin – the oxygen-transporting protein in red blood cells – becomes saturated. Humans have evolved to function best at sea level, where the atmospheric concentration of oxygen is about 21 percent. Photo: Roman Tschupp for Adventure Consultants. What happens to your body in the death zone? Everest summit. While official statistics are difficult to come by, many injuries and deaths on high-altitude mountaineering expeditions are directly or indirectly caused by the death zone's effects on the human body. Additionally, exposure to stronger UV radiation, freezing temperatures and extreme weather pose other dangers to climbers above this point.Įdouard Wyss-Dunant, a doctor who led the 1952 Swiss Mount Everest Expedition, which set the official record for the highest ascent ever made at the time, was the first to coin the term, calling the point above 8,000 metres the “lethal zone.” The summits of the world’s 14 tallest mountains are all found in what is ominously known as the “death zone,” which is typically identified as 8,000 metres (26,000 feet) above sea level.Īt these altitudes, the oxygen levels are insufficient to sustain human life for an extended period.
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