We're Climbing Mt. Aconcagua!

Climb Day 4 The hike to Camp Canada generally takes 2-4 hours if we go easy.  The camp can be really windy so we will spend the night and move on - won't sleep much.  Not a very hospitable place - even had to pack in our own water. We will get through it as a stopping point to higher camps on the hill.  (Alt change: 14,400 to 16,600 = 2,200 feet - a modest day of steep climbing.) 

Climbing Day 2 Today’s s altitude change: 11,100 feet to 14,400 feet = 3,300 feet is a big day. Yesterday wasn’t too bad. We were up early to finish the trek to basecamp (Plaza de Mulas or PdM). The trek was long and slow – necessary to conserve energy and be careful not to overtax our systems. This Trek is rough!   Climbing Day 3 Active Rest. We took a few acclimatization hikes up the hill to get used to the area and thin air. Also cached gear at the next camp (Canada) on this day. Rest days are active, but easy activities only. They require eating and drinking all day without fail. (Altitude change: 14,400 to 14,400 - in other words, none) Our Team will be conducting a pilot study on cognition in hostile environments at basecamp. Research suggests that the human brain has multiple memory systems: one system (called system 2) is good at analyzing problems, this is the system for things like facts (Washington D.C. is the capital of USA) and events (remember that c...

Day 1 is in the books. First, we traveled from 500 feet to 9,700 feet by bus before walking to 11,100 feet. Today is the first day that we put our training to the test. We begin our two day hike to basecamp. With high mountains like Aconcagua, climbers establish a basecamp. Basecamps on well traveled mountains are a bit like seasonal towns filled with tents and climbers. They tend to be seasonal because most mountains are only climbed when the weather is good, such as in the summer for Aconcagua. These basecamps are a place to cache extra gear and food as well as a place to recover or wait for bad weather to pass. The ranger station represents the last bit of civilization. Leaving there begins our climb. From the ranger station we have a three to five hour “easy stroll” as one experienced climber said it. At 10,000 feet, we will need to take it easy. Our hours spent at the gym and in the altitude tent prepared us for the altitude change. Follow our progres...

After weather delays we all reunited in Santiago!  Then it was time to pack up and catch a bus to Mendoza, Argentina - the foothills of the Andes. On arrival to Mendoza. it was all about preparation and a little rest. We needed to get dollars exchanged to pesos, scope out the permit office, and eat a huge steak.  Began to hydrate as much as possible to prepare for the strenuous climb. We also did our ‘gear check’ for the mountain. It's happening!  We have our permits.  On top of our gear to climb to 23K feet, we are also bringing some blood oxygen monitors and cognitive assessment tablets for a pilot study on acclimatization procedures and cognition in low-oxygen environments. One of the piece of tech we are using for this study is the Battlefield Airmen Trauma Distributed Observation Kit (BATDOK) developed by the Battlefield Air Targeting Man-Aided Knowledge Team (BATMAN) at AFRL. This app provided the team with the capability t...

Before we left home, the team abided by a 3-month “sleep high, train low” protocol,  sleeping at a simulated over 15,000 foot elevation by our departure date. The ability to simulate altitude exposure during non-waking hours was thanks to access and the use of Hypoxico's Altitude Training Systems . Access to these systems came from collaboration with one of our research partners Dr. Patrick McKnight, Professor in the Department of Psychology at George Mason University. Altitude tent to simulate oxygen levels at elevation Altitude Tent Equipment As you can see from the below graphic generated by Jake Quartuccio (JQ Scientific, LLC), we are incrementally lowering the oxygen levels during our sleep to allow our bodies to adapt to low-oxygen environments. Note in the graph as we climb in simulated elevation our oxygen saturation tends to drop, indicated by smaller size circles in the graph. Looking closer, our oxygen saturation seems to adapt at ...

The snowstorm in the southern United States has delayed one of our trio (Simone) twice. Jake and I are anticipating her arrival tonight.  In just nine days (if weather and endurance allows) we hope to be 22,841 feet (6,962 meters) above sea level - at Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America. We'll take the opportunity to explore Santiago in the meantime (it's 89 degrees today) - and make sure we're eating enough calories for the climb. No Chicago deep dish or Cincinnati Skyline in sight, but we’re making do haha.  Here's a bit about our climbing team: Kevin Schmidt (me) Associate Research Engineering Psychologist, Applied Neuroscience Branch/ RHCPA, 711th Human Performance Wing Began working for AFRL as a Contractor following Wright State University degree in 2011 DoD SMART program Master’s at George Mason University Air Force Center of Excellence (large grants partnership) Works at AFRL’s 711 HPW Applied ...