I got in a pretty bad state when in the Southern Alps in New Zealand, we had been away from the camp since 7 am, we planned to be back for 11:00 but things changed. I didn’t have too much food with me only a tracker bar as I remember, we were walking though snow then climbing hard for 2 hours, I then found myself sitting without moving on a exposed ridge for ¾ of a hour in a strong wind. Coming back down all I wanted to do was sit down and go to sleep. I managed to reach the bottom next to a stream by now it was 15:00, the lad with me had half a packet of Chocolate chip cookies, I scoffed them down had a good drink from the stream, my hands were so cold he swapped gloves with me and this warmed my hands, after this I felt a bit better. Within an hour I was OK again.
Not sure what was wrong with me, maybe some of the doc’s on here might have a guess, early signs of hyperthermia? Low sugar level?
I don’t know.
ATB
Tahr
Well, I'm no doctor, but it sounds like hypothermia and hypoglycaemia. Falling asleep in those circumstances could well be the last thing you do.
(Call me a geek, but hypo- is the Greek prefix for under or below, or sub- in Latin. Hyper- is above or over, or super- in Latin.)
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Not sure what was wrong with me, maybe some of the doc’s on here might have a guess, early signs of hyperthermia? Low sugar level?
[Your taking all my good stuff...
Hyperthermia does exist, basically it's heat stroke, therm in latin is heat.
But yes it does sound like a classic case of Hypoglycaemia, it does go hand in hand with Hypothermia/exposure/exhaustion.
easy to mix the two up when speaking but when writing think polo Hypo is lo
Hyperthermia is also a problem in the hills and can be eaqually dangerous, Was it 2010 old county tops? a desperate day.
Last edited by IanDarkpeak; 02-05-2012 at 10:10 PM.
.......therm in latin is heat.[/QUOTE]
Greek actually "calor" or "fervor" (among others) in Latin.
I suspect the main problem was hypoglycemia due to a high degree of exertion, poor food intake, and the need for your body to expend considerable amounts of energy keeping warm; you may have been borderline hypothermic as well. Exertion associated hypoglycemia amongst the very fit is probably more common than people realise. Prevention is obvious; the treatment is rest/food.
With hypothermia, one of the big problems is that once you are past a certain point you don't know you are suffering and therefore don't take action.
I suffered on the carneddau once in a blizzard and hadn't even done my coat up. Fortunately a mate realised what was happening and physically zipped me up. We then dropped height rapidly and within 10 minutes I was OK.
Also had a party member who was very cold, and whilst normally very chatty, went quiet. We had to take her jacket off and then dress her in spare clothing that she was carrying. So watch out for out of character behaviour.
I had a bad experience on The Calf during the Sedbergh Hills 2009; you're on that ridge for ages, knackered, incoherent and usually wet.
I overdress for every winter or bad weather race, being hot is better than being cold, i usually wear an LS baselayer, club vest, cag, gloves. If you start to expose parts of your body you'll start to behave like a car radiator and vent heat; the gloves come off first to expose the hands, then the jacket is unzipped but never removed if its raining, if it's not raining the jacket comes off followed by the rolling up of the baselayer sleeves. If it's raining the jacket and baselayer sleeves come up together if needed. The club vest is there to offer more insulation where it's most important. The idea is that i'm never too cold, only too hot, and if i get cold again there's none of this 'making a decision to stop' business because in most cases i'm still wearing most or all of what i set out with, it just has to be adjusted a bit which can be done on the move. Personally i swear by this approach, but most folk won't stand being too hot knowing they can still shed layers.
It's unfortunate and hazardous that decision making gets progressively worse the colder you get. With my approach all the decisions to put clothes on are already made before i start. Good thread BTW Andy.
Last edited by mr brightside; 04-05-2012 at 02:11 PM.
Luke Appleyard (Wharfedale)- quick on the dissent