Mt. Everest 2004: Climbing to New Heights

Climbing to New Heights:

Climber with High Blood Pressure, Ryan Bendixen,

on Quest to Summit Mount Everest

Sponsored by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, makers of Diovan®

Dispatch One 4/12/2004: On the Way to Chinese Base camp: After 8 days preparation Ryan left Kathmandu and he is feeling fine. After a brief helicopter flight into Tatopani and a short bus ride into Kodari we spent the night in a local hotel. Today after a few hours of paperwork and a short ride in the Landcruisers we arrive in Nylam where we will acclimate for 2 days...then off to Tingri. Ryan's BP today was 114/72 and he is adjusting well to life in Tibet.

Dispatch Two 4/19/2004: Ryan picked up a chance cold, like everyone else does, in Katmandu, it's commonplace that people here get respiratory ailments. We moved out of to Katmandu from Kataria on April 10th, and Ryan still had a cold and a cough, but he thought there was no need for concern.

We went up onto the Tibetan plateau and they were really nice people, like in the Southwest part of America where Ryan grew up and spends much of his time in. The Tibetan Plateau is 5000 meters... We arrived in Tingri and spent time acclimatizing and on the second day Ryan climbed some small peaks about 5 km outside of Tingri. Halfway up the second peak the Tibetan storm came in. Ryan was engulfed in sun, sand and rock "that defied the sense of gravity". There's no way to completely protect oneself from the sand with the wind blowing at almost 50 miles per hour and it is impossible to breathe without filling your lungs with sand and grit.

The next day we piled into a land cruiser and headed towards Mt. Everest. Upon arrival we were in awe. Pictures cannot prepare you for how you feel when you feel when you stand at the base of Mt. Everest, the world's tallest mountain. Ryan started coughing violently, suffering lung congestion in the upper part of his respiratory system. High altitude is no place to regain health; the simplest of ailments take weeks to heal at this altitude. Ryan's experience told him to consult with team doctors, and after consulting with these doctors Ryan decided to go lower because it looked like the onset of HAPE, high altitude pulmonary edema.

After a few days of lying low, Ryan returned to base camp and feels strong and fully recovered and is happy to be reunited with his climbing partners. There is little progress on the mountain this year once again showing patience and tolerance are required to climb the world's tallest mountain. We have fully established an Advance base camp.

We are at Chinese base camp now, Ryan is feeling strong. His blood pressure is 137/86. He is busy planning to leave base camp, heading towards intermediate camp in 2 days.

Dispatch 4/26/2004: Ryan is back at base camp at 21,500ft, after 2 nights stay at advanced base camp. Let's take a moment to explain these camps. Base camp is a misnomer. Base camp is situated at the base of Rongbuk glacier and is simply a dirt covered moraine littered with a variety of tents from a variety of international groups. From the outside of the tents, we have an amazing view of the North Face of Everest including the West and the Northeast ridge. Life at base camp is by no means Shangri-La. We started with 6 laptops and now we have none. Ryan is desperately trying to conserve all means of communication to meet his requirements of media interviews on May 3rd and 4th. The mountain is taking its toll on a variety of members. Members have had a variety of ailments and expedition pressures. Nepali Sherpas and yak herders are not immune to ailments and have been treated by expedition doctors for a variety of ailments. The weather on Everest has not been very friendly. When we arrived the mountain was mostly black rock. It has snowed on and off for the last 4 days, which has had a significant impact on progress moving up and down the mountain. Looking out Ryan's tent this morning, the whole of Everest was covered with a fresh blanket of snow. One day of wind could bring us back to the black covering of rock that met us on our arrival at base camp on April 15th.

These winds can also remove the tents and supplies that are placed high on Everest. These winds could also remove a climber if he is not careful. All climbers on the team, Ryan included, returned to base camp to recover somewhat from the deterioration that take place high up on the mountain. This breakdown includes muscle mass, oxygen saturation, mental and emotional power. All these things are required by climbers as they attempt to climb the world's highest mountain. For example, when Ryan recently battled the early stages of HAPE, high altitude pulmonary edema, his oxygen saturation plummeted to an dangerously low level of 53%. After a short recovery period, an immediate descent Ryan's blood oxygen saturation is now a healthy 88%. That is healthy for this altitude. So the amazing ability of the body to adapt to dangerous conditions.

Ryan plans to rest and then go back up to Advanced Base Camp and prepare to climb the mountain. As of today. his blood pressure was 124/82. Today is a bright sunny day, perfect for refocusing our goals and maybe for doing some laundry. Please don't assume lack of contact is from lack of effort. On Everest even the simplest things are hard to do. Sometimes it takes a couple of hours to get out of your tent.

Dispatch 5/3/2004: Wind, Wind, Wind, Wind!

Last week the forecast called for high winds. Here we are here a week later and the winds have not subsided. The jet stream, which usually climbs up to 35,000 feet, has dipped down to 29,000 feet, the summit of Mt. Everest. The winds are hurricane force from the summit of Mt Everest to as low as 6400 meters at ABC (advanced base camp). We've lost three small tents and the mess and kitchen tents have also been blown down at ABC. All unused tents were taken down and covered with rocks to protect them from the high winds. We're not sure what has happened to our tents high up on the mountain. We have all of our tents set up at camp 1 and one tent at camp 2--we're not sure what the condition of them is. At ABC, we were able to replace all the tents that were damaged. Thanks to the experience of our expedition leader, Dan Mazur, who has done an excellent job preparing for this type of situation. We have extra tents and supplies for the summit climb and can repeat this process a number of times, if necessary. Ryan and the team are at the base camp waiting on the winds and will move up as soon as the weather allows. Ryan is fine. His blood pressure is 117/78 and his body has further adjusted to the high altitude.

5/10/2004: I have decided to go lower to a town called Zhangmu to recuperate for a few days before going to the summit. Some of my other teammates have done the same and I hope its a good strategy. A famous Russian climber named Anatoli Boukreev followed this strategy and it seemed to work well for him. After being at high altitude for a long period of time your body is screaming out for rest and a return of my appetite should help replenish my body (my legs that were strong and defined during my training for Everest now look like bird legs!) by going low for a few days my hope is that I can sleep for more than a few hours at a time, get some real food intake and get back to the mountain before I lose any acclimatization. I have been fighting a really bad spell of "Delhi Belly" and have commenced all out war on anything living in in my guts. I have had more antibiotics in the last month than I have had in my life, But all in all I feel strong and ready for a break in the weather and get up to the top.

That's all for now, Cheers, Ryan

P.S. Happy Mothers Day, To all the Moms!

Ryan Bendixen’s Mt. Everest climb is being sponsored by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, makers of Diovan^® (valsartan).

Diovan should be discontinued as soon as pregnancy is detected because it may cause death or injury to the unborn child. Diovan is contraindicated in patients who are hypersensitive to the components of the product. The most common side effects with Diovan in hypertensive patients were headache and dizziness.  Diovan is indicated for the treatment of hypertension. Diovan is not approved to prevent or treat stroke, kidney damage, eye damage or heart attack. 

For more information or full prescribing information for Diovan go to “Prescribing Info/Quick Download” at www.pharma.us.novartis.com.

  Altitude pre-
   acclimatization

   Ascenders

   Atlas snowshoes

   Black Diamond

   Botas

   Brunton

   Carabiners

   CaVa Climbing Shoes
   Clearance

   Clif Bar

   CMI

   Crampons

   Edelweiss ropes
   Eureka Tents

   Featured

   FoxRiver

   Garmin

   Granite Gear

   Harnesses
   Headlamps
   Helmets

   HighGear
   Ice Axes

   Kavu Eyewear

   Katadyn

   Kong

   Lekisport

   Lowepro

   Motorola

   Nalgene

   New England Ropes

   Nikwax

   Omega

   Outdoor Designs

   Pelican

   PowerBar

   Princeton Tec

   Prescription Glacier

   Glasses

   Primus

   Rope Bags

   Seattle Sports

   Serius
   Sleeping Bags

   Stubai

   Suunto

   Tents

   Trekking Poles
   Ushba
   and more here