Description
Book SynopsisIn 1976, areas of the great mountain regions remained unknown and acute mountain sickness was a medical mystery waiting to be explored. Into this arena stepped the Birmingham Medical Research Expeditionary Society. It was formed by a group of young doctors at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, and its members were looking for excitement. They were inquisitive, energetic and fearless. Having gathered ideas and borrowed some medical equipment, they took a plane to Kathmandu. From there they trekked to the north side of Annapurna, exploring and testing the effects of low oxygen levels on their bodies and minds. there has been a further twelve expeditions since, all investigating the effects of low oxygen on the human body. This book is a recollection of those expeditions.
Table of Contents1. Thorong La, Nepal - September 1977. Sickness at 5,000m 2. Chimborazo, Ecuador - September 1979. A new pill to make you feel lower 3. Mount Kenya - January 1982. No picnic on Mt Kenya 4. Rupina La, Nepal - September-October 1984. Monsoon Blues 5. Gondogoro, Karakoram - June 1987. Down a crevasse. 6. Aconcagua, Argentina - January 1990. Science or the summit 7. Everest - April 1993. Female Hormones 8. El Paso de Agua Negro, Chile - January 1997. Black Water Pass 9. Kangchenjunga, Nepal - October 1999. Killer Storm 10. Chacaltaya, Bolivia - June 2002. The Sofa of Death 11. Ladakh, Land of High Passes - June 2005. Stok Kangri or bust 12. Parinacota, Chile - November 2008. Evil penitentes 13. Jomolhari, Bhutan - April-May 2012. Five high passes 14. Chimborazo revisited - January 2016. Exercising to exhaustion 15. Remote Sikkim - October 2019. A surfeit of beer 16. Alpine adventures 17. Big walks
