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Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

kathmandupost.com

71–80 of 144 posts

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#71
post #39

> The second method is more troubling. At altitudes above 3,000 metres, mild symptoms of altitude sickness are common. Blood oxygen saturation can drop, hands and feet tingle, headaches develop. In most cases, rest, hydration or a gradual descent is all that is needed. ...investigators found that Diamox (Acetazolamide) tablets, used to prevent altitude sickness, were administered alongside excessive water intake to i…

The very next sentence from that quote sounds a lot worse and harder to explain away though: > In at least one case cited in the investigation, baking powder was mixed into food to make tourists physically unwell.

In Nepal, my parents always warned me before eating at some rest stops because they said the food was doctored with baking soda to make you feel fuller, guess it was true after all and not just an urban legend heh.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#72
post #46
post #39

> The second method is more troubling. At altitudes above 3,000 metres, mild symptoms of altitude sickness are common. Blood oxygen saturation can drop, hands and feet tingle, headaches develop. In most cases, rest, hydration or a gradual descent is all that is needed. ...investigators found that Diamox (Acetazolamide) tablets, used to prevent altitude sickness, were administered alongside excessive water intake to i…

Namche (damn autocorrect) Bazaar which everyone in the Everest region passes through is a bit over 11K feet. 12-15K feet just isn’t that high in the scheme of things. Many peaks in the western US are in that range or more. Yes, minor headaches are pretty normal when acclimatizing. But anything more, you need to go down.

*Naamche Bazaar

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#74
post #46
post #39

> The second method is more troubling. At altitudes above 3,000 metres, mild symptoms of altitude sickness are common. Blood oxygen saturation can drop, hands and feet tingle, headaches develop. In most cases, rest, hydration or a gradual descent is all that is needed. ...investigators found that Diamox (Acetazolamide) tablets, used to prevent altitude sickness, were administered alongside excessive water intake to i…

Namche (damn autocorrect) Bazaar which everyone in the Everest region passes through is a bit over 11K feet. 12-15K feet just isn’t that high in the scheme of things. Many peaks in the western US are in that range or more. Yes, minor headaches are pretty normal when acclimatizing. But anything more, you need to go down.

> 12-15K feet just isn’t that high in the scheme of things. Many peaks in the western US are in that range or more.

It's "not that high", but people frequently do get AMS at those attitudes or even lower.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went from sea level to 11k feet in the same day many times before. I would say the altitude effect is there but not as much as you might expect. A little quicker to be out of breath a little longer to recover it. Not sure what it is like at higher elevations or greater daily altitude delta.

Very much dependent on age, rest and general conditioning. I went from sea level to 14K at Pikes peak in 1 day and it was quite uncomfortable. I managed, but folks who lived in Denver with lower physical fitness levels than me, did better.

[deleted]

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#76
post #28

Sounds pretty bad until you look at the numbers.

And then it looks very bad? The amount of each incident is fairly low, and probably goes a long way to funding the local community. But the number of incidents is nuts - well over 1000 per year.

"Around 100,000 people hike to Everest Base Camp every year"

I have no idea how many of those people have to buy insurance.

Source: https://everestcamptrek.com/how-many-people-hike-to-everest-...

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#78
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The very next sentence from that quote sounds a lot worse and harder to explain away though: > In at least one case cited in the investigation, baking powder was mixed into food to make tourists physically unwell.

In Nepal, my parents always warned me before eating at some rest stops because they said the food was doctored with baking soda to make you feel fuller, guess it was true after all and not just an urban legend heh.

I've heard the same from South Indian friends, so I guess it's pretty widespread.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#80
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Namche (damn autocorrect) Bazaar which everyone in the Everest region passes through is a bit over 11K feet. 12-15K feet just isn’t that high in the scheme of things. Many peaks in the western US are in that range or more. Yes, minor headaches are pretty normal when acclimatizing. But anything more, you need to go down.

> 12-15K feet just isn’t that high in the scheme of things. Many peaks in the western US are in that range or more. It's "not that high", but people frequently do get AMS at those attitudes or even lower.

I can’t provide cites but I understand people have had issues flying into Denver.
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