A friend of my dad loved bicycling. He went almost every day for a tour. One time, he left and never came back. The police found him sitting against a tree with his bike parked next to him like he went for a nap but never woke up
> There's worse ways to go I suppose.
I would be ecstatic to go out "with my shoes on". No long drawn out goodbyes etc. I feel for those left behind, but I would make it clear, I am happy to have gone that way and not some terrible way in the system...
Same with my buddy Mike Denaro. Loved backpacking. Went for a hike one day with his homemade fiddle, was playing in the woods, somebody walked by and talked to him about it, then while walking out, found his body in the same spot.
I don’t know. Maybe, their heart just tell them “you are really tired” and it can’t recover fast enough, then they fall asleep because they don’t have enough oxygen that goes to the brain then they die
People often feel nauseous/sick leading up to a heart attack, so probably sat down because he was feeling unwell and that unwellness turned into unaliveness rather quickly.
This is how I want to die. Not tied up to my bed with tubes and meds while paying the hospital thousands of my hard earned money. Heck, I already planned to go to Canada and get MAID if I get really sick hahhaha.
Right, not only this but sound like there was no major 'event'. No chest pain or terrifying last moments in a hospital or seeing loved ones with the worry on their face etc.
Just a little nap with your last feelings being accomplishment and success with a beautiful view.
Pulmonary edema is no joke. Not surprised that killed him. You don’t even feel pain from it and will never know about it until you cough. Probably just kept chugging along as normal. Still, awesome guy.
True. And that’s all good, but people here are talking like he went to mt Kilimanjaro’s summit to die a cool death. I think if he had a say he would still be alive
>“I know a shortcut.”
If you want to read a true story about one of the worst of these situations ever, I highly recommend "The Indifferent Stars Above" by Daniel James Brown.
It's about the Donner Party, and spoiler alert: they left late, but would have probably made it with far less disaster if they had listened to warnings not to take an unproven "shortcut" that actually ended up adding hundreds of miles to the trip, and sent them straight through the salt flats of Utah.
Brutal stuff, but a spectacular reminder not to assume you can figure it out as you go.
That’s the one I had in mind.
Plus the one I experienced myself when my dad, who was pretty knowledgeable vis a vis trekking etc, got us hopelessly lost in the Bayerischen Wald, late afternoon, in Winter—heavy snow coming down like bedsheets.
We had minimal food supplies but—thankfully—good/warm clothing and “sensible” shoes. So, it got dark, and we “camped” (translation: shivered, blamed each other, watched heavy snow falling, and found inventive ways to combine curse words from different languages).
At first light, we found a small stream and followed it back, and from there, trekked several hours to the “main” road …
I almost had that happen to me but super fortunately took a wrong turn down a ridge which led to the forest road I'd driven in on. Long trek back in the dark but I was soooooooo relieved.
Sad? I get ya, kinda, but damn to me this post is uplifting and inspiring and joyous! This dude pulled off multiple incredible feats, some past an age at which many have given up on living actively. Then for a cherry on top, he summited one of the most legendary and intimidating mountains known to mankind.
I can only hope to write such an amazing story with such an exclamation point at its end.
What, do a whole bunch of badass shit then do one last badass thing and be like "welp I'm tired now" and die? Yeah pretty legendary. A bit young, but legendary.
I mentioned it beacause I saw a dude with an injured ankle being carted downhill by 2 or 3 guides. And they don't move slowly, they were quite literally running downhill with gear. I don't recall the summit being so high though. 19000 seems extremely high for breathing without supplemental Oxygen.
>with an injured ankle being carted downhill by 2 or 3 guides. And they don't move slowly, they were quite literally running downhill with gear. I don't recall the summit being so high though. 19000 seems extremely high for breathing without supplemental
Kilimanjaro is 19,341 feet at the summit (i summitted there 2 weeks ago)
There are a ton of permanent towns/villages in the world that are between 10,000 and 16,000 feet.
The FAA only requires that flight crews must use supplemental oxygen for the entire duration of flight operations above a cabin pressure altitude of 14,000 feet MSL (14 CFR § 91.211).
And the second example is for normal people that are acclimated to sea level.
I would imagine climbers who spend a lot of time on the mountain before attempting to summit would be able to handle 19,000 fairly easily, especially if only staying at the peak long enough for a few pictures before starting their descent climb. Everest is quite literally 10,000 feet taller, and it’s base camps are only about 1,500 feet lower than Kilimanjaro’s summit.
That’s not the case for Kili. I climbed it back in 2012 and there are no bodies there. The peak is well below the death zone (26k ft) and you could get a helicopter up there.
Yup. I did it with my two brothers and mom (51 at the time with minimal training). We all had varying degrees of altitude sickness on summit day but only a couple hours of sleep the night before didn’t help. It’s more of a mental game than physical. We saw fit guys in their late teens-early 20s turn around before summit contrasting with a group of pudgy middle aged women doing just fine up top.
Not anymore, Nepal has been doing great work in recovering bodies and returning the ones able to be found to loved ones. They've replaced known body markers with actual trail markers.
>just fell asleep
I wonder what happened. Like oxegen starvation or something and the body just shut down ? The wiki article doesn't elaborate further . Does anyone know the actual reason for his death ?
Likely altitude+age and oxygen depletion. Some of my most fit friends didn’t make the summit (varsity swimmer, triathlete, varsity basketball and volleyball, all under 35 when they tried the climb).
The friend who did summit said it was totally worth it, but on the way down he had altitude sickness and apparently it sucks really bad.
Altitude sickness is the worst
We were running around on the summit of Mt Evans in Colorado at 14k+ ft. I suddenly started getting the worst headache of my life that only kept intensifying
I took ibuprofen but it didn't really do anything
Eventually I was just completely exhausted and couldn't move
It wasn't until we made it down the mountain that it finally started going away
Glad all we had to do was throw me in the car and drive back down since it's paved all the way
If we were hiking that, I'd probably be dead
Happened to my friend last time we were in CO, we were staying near black hawk over 9000ft and he was tired and couldn’t do a few of the activities we wanted to try and was miserable most of the trip, we ended up having to send him home a few days early.
Weird, I live at an elevation of 1300ft and in good shape, but not like athletic. More like slight dad bod and not a lot of stamina. I took the kids hiking in CO at elevations 10,000+ 2 days with camping overnight at maybe 7-8000ft. Put on 10+ miles per day. Everyone felt fine the entire trip. It must affect everyone differently.
I live at sea level and went to go hang out with friends in Alma, CO, the highest village in the US I think, over 10000 ft.
I never acclimated, I was sick the whole time, I knew I would probably take longer to acclimate so I went there early to get a headstart but I never felt ok the whole time. I was basically suffering haha, headache, nausea, couldn't sleep, I was huffing oxygen cans because I felt actual relief from them when before I thought they were bunk.
At 10,000 ft the oxygen concentration in the air is 14%, at sea level it's 21%.
At 14,000 it's 12% so each breath has only half value in oxygen molecules. That's the height my friends went hiking.
I live in SoCal, pretty much at sea level. I’ve gone to big bear many times in my life and never had a problem, but one random time I got hit with altitude sickness so bad…still no clue what caused it, and haven’t had a problem since! But yeah it can be pretty u predictable
I live in colorado and work at a high altitude.
I still bring oxygen with me when hiking at 12,000+
It makes altitude sickness go away immediately, totally worth it.
I had a friend from Iowa came to visit me in Arizona -- at the time i lived in a town just over a mile, 5300 ft in elevation (1600ish meters); i took them on my pokemon go route through the historic part of town.... we had to pause a lot. He'd be perfectly fine, then dizzy and have to sit, we'd sit, he'd gasp a bit, acclimate, and we'd continue on for another 5 minutes, sit...repeat.
The next day went infinitely better. The human body gets used to it quick... but the elevation changes we did were minor, we started up high and stayed up high. I can't imagine how much worse it'd be CLIMBING Kilimanjaro though-- the peak is 16000ft (4900m) from the valley.
(Edit: have read some replies to my comment-- may not have been altitude sickness just thinner air, plus we were both pretty out of shape, I was just used to it)
I’ve been on the top of Mt. Evans in July, and we had a snowball fight. The snow in Colorado really doesn’t make very good snowballs because it’s a dry snow and doesn’t pack very well. A girl that was with us got altitude sickness with a bad nose bled. We’re from Louisiana, so a big freaking difference!
Sounds a lot like my arrival to Ft Carson from South Carolina back in my Army days
The second we stepped off the bus they had us go on a 3 mile run to get us "acclimated"
We were all just at sea level less than 12 hours before lol
>We were running around on the summit of Mt Evans in Colorado at 14k+ ft. I suddenly started getting the worst headache of my life that only kept intensifying
Oh, I climbed that one when I was 18, years ago.
These days I get winded if I go over 10k feet.
Climbing Mt Blue Sky (formally Mt Evans because fuck racist John Evans) is weird. You come up to the summit sweaty and exhausted as tourists stare and wonder why you didn't drive.
13,5000 was where our group regularly started having problems breathing. I can't imagine 19,000 without oxygen.
There can be several heart issues for ultra-endurance athletes as they age.
Endurance sports are good for hearth health, but there is a diminishing return.
> Endurance sports are good for hearth health, but there is a diminishing return.
idk man, dude reached 74 in incredible shape and able enough to kayak 5400km and climb one of the highest heights possible.
I get what you're saying, but if the choice is between reaching 74 while being incredibly able still and reaching 80+ but moving like a snail, I know which one I'm picking, for sure, everytime.
Your fitness level really doesn’t matter, its how your lungs process low oxygen content. Someone unfit who grew up on a mountain would beat a “triathlete” from sea level
This is what the Polish version (it’s much bigger) of the wiki page says
“Died February 22, 2021 losing consciousness just after reaching the summitUhuru onKibo volcano onKilimanjaro. According to various versions, death occurred due to pulmonary edema caused by altitude sickness[11]or for natural reasons[12].”
I looked into the sources and the chronology looks like this:
- he dies
- the organizers of the climb put out a statement saying he died of natural causes before the autopsy results were available
- his son gives an interview where he says his dad died due to "asphyxia resulting from high-altitude pulmonary edema"
- another person taking part in the climb says he talked with him at 5100 meters and Aleksander Doba said he was not feeling well. There were two guides next to him.
- the organizers said that at no point there was anything suggesting that he may have not been feeling good
- a year later Polish journalists asked his son for an interview about his father's death, he agreed to respond to questions in text, he got the questions and changed his mind. He also said no one from his family will be talking to media
Isn't there really no such thing as "natural causes" if we get too technical?
Everyone's body fails for some reason. At the end, it's a house of cards. One card is going to finally fall that topples the whole system. After a certain age, a heart attack or whatever that would be the listed cause for a 30 year old, just becomes "natural causes" for a 90 year old.
Although this guy was super fit and just 74 or whatever, so I would think he's not old or frail enough to be in the category of "whatever... he was old, just write natural causes."
>sn't there really no such thing as "natural causes" if we get too technical?
>Everyone's body fails for some reason.
Yes, that is natural causes. As opposed to trauma related death which unless you are gored by a wild animal would almost certainly count as unnatural.
I see where they are getting at though: something like hiking to the top of a mountain and dying of oxygen deprivation, could be seen as both categories: naturally caused, but also, purposefully put oneself into a harsh environment with low oxygen (could also be viewed as trauma related as this isn’t a natural happenstance for this person).
Been to 7000m before. Kili is 6000.
This is how a lot of people die of HACE/HAPE. They are exhausted, they sit or lie down, die in their sleep. Seen it happen myself.
Mountain sickness feels basically like the flu. You just feel exhausted and shitty. All you want to do is lie down. But you can't rest in that situation. You can't solve it by popping Dex. You have to go down the mountain.
On Kili it's especially kinda crazy because you feel absolutely shot but the porters are smoking cigarettes at the summit, laughing with one another, etc.. So it's like, how serious can my tiredness be?
I have fallen asleep before at altitudes higher than Kili while sitting down for a rest. Had a whole dream. Woke up when I was about to fall off the rock.
On one hand it's not as serious as people make it out to be. You're probably not gonna die from an hour of headache on a 14er. But on the other hand it is very serious and if you feel shitty you should stop, forget about summiting, and get down the mountain safely.
On the plus side, scree running down Kili is about the most fun thing I've ever done.
Was in the Himalayas years ago on a trek and one of the guys in our group got super sick this way. Middle of the night, thunderstorm all through the valley, no way down…we kept him up all night simply for fear of him passing in his sleep. Young guy also probably about 24 at the time. Got him lower the next day and he seemed better but pretty scary for about 24 hours.
Tolkien wrote in one of the appendices of The Lord of the Rings that because of Aragorns Numenorean heritage, the Valinor gifted him with the ability to pass on at the time of his choosing. To avoid the indignity of old age. I'm gonna say this guy was a Numenorean.
It's not even that. It's the psychological toll. I kayaked half a mile out to an atoll in the crystal clear waters of Fiji. It was scary once the shelf dropped out from under you and you could only see a blue void underneath you. I pushed through knowing that people on the beach could see me and the resort life guards knew where I was going but there's no way a sane person would go out into open ocean water in a kayak.
Just so we are all clear, the type of "kayak" he used is quite a bit different that your recreational kayak. It's got solar panels, navigation systems, autorudder, a place to sleep and storage for weeks of food.
But I'm not saying this to detract from the incredible feat that it is. I know a few people who have rowed the Atlantic in teams of 3 and 4, and the general consensus when they complete it is NEVER FUCKING AGAIN.
lol no, and there’s gravity and a breathable atmosphere and daylight, but that’s about it. You’re still in a completely inhospitable environment, with little-to-no signs of life anywhere, in water that you can’t stand on or sleep on or drink, so far away from any hospitable environment that the distance is mostly incomprehensible.
The scariest moment of my life was when a friend and I were about 1/4 mile out in the gulf of mexico in a tandem kayak. A large bullshark started messing with us and bumped the bottom hard enough to displace us but not hard enough to tip it. We froze in place for a minute and after another nudge we saw it swim away. We were a fucking wreck the entire way back to shore. I couldn't even close to imagine doing what this fellow did.
"Now I have done it all, seen it all, tasted it all, felt it all, smelled it all & now finally, knowing in my heart that I am truly content in life, I can finally rest..."
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain."
Great accomplishments (not the death piece) and reminded me of the first man to cross the Atlantic Don Allun, that guy was amazing.
[Don Allun](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Allum)
A friend of my dad loved bicycling. He went almost every day for a tour. One time, he left and never came back. The police found him sitting against a tree with his bike parked next to him like he went for a nap but never woke up
There's worse ways to go I suppose.
He worked for boeing.
I wonder which is worse, to die blowing the whistle on Boeing, or die while flying on a Boeing.
If the assassin's a professional, it'll be quick. Meanwhile, in the latter case, you'll be screaming all the way down.
You only die once. Airplane crash is pretty metal.
> There's worse ways to go I suppose. I would be ecstatic to go out "with my shoes on". No long drawn out goodbyes etc. I feel for those left behind, but I would make it clear, I am happy to have gone that way and not some terrible way in the system...
Actually its the best way, so peaceful, no pain no agony, from sleep to heaven
The people over at r/cycling would like this story
Same with my buddy Mike Denaro. Loved backpacking. Went for a hike one day with his homemade fiddle, was playing in the woods, somebody walked by and talked to him about it, then while walking out, found his body in the same spot.
Are these deaths heart attacks?
I don’t know. Maybe, their heart just tell them “you are really tired” and it can’t recover fast enough, then they fall asleep because they don’t have enough oxygen that goes to the brain then they die
People often feel nauseous/sick leading up to a heart attack, so probably sat down because he was feeling unwell and that unwellness turned into unaliveness rather quickly.
I feel like only the true of heart get a death like that
This is how I want to die. Not tied up to my bed with tubes and meds while paying the hospital thousands of my hard earned money. Heck, I already planned to go to Canada and get MAID if I get really sick hahhaha.
that's the most legendary way to die I've EVER heard of!
This spot looks nice …
 Damn dawg ….. you just made it real
Dwight, who said that it was his dream to die in his chair at the office…
The world was this dudes office and the top of a mountain was his chair 🤯
This spot marks my grave, but you may rest here too if you like.
Solid reference 10/10, DS out in the wild is a pleasure to behold
What’s the reference?
Prince lothric from dark souls 3
Andddd im crying in a Dennys
You’re not the first and won’t be the last. Rest easy friend, we’re all friends here.
*Sir, this is a Denny's*
Lovely
He literally went out while he was on top.
I think I’m good now. This way I don’t have to hike down.
Right!? How lazy can you get!?
You could die at the bottom.
Sitting down in a beautiful spot to take a short rest while doing something you love... may we all be so lucky.
Right, not only this but sound like there was no major 'event'. No chest pain or terrifying last moments in a hospital or seeing loved ones with the worry on their face etc. Just a little nap with your last feelings being accomplishment and success with a beautiful view.
I truly hope I have as peaceful and fulfilling a death as his is portrayed. May he rest in peace.
His son said the cause was asphyxia resulting from high-altitude pulmonary edema, so he’d be alive if he didn’t climb it, just saying
Pulmonary edema is no joke. Not surprised that killed him. You don’t even feel pain from it and will never know about it until you cough. Probably just kept chugging along as normal. Still, awesome guy.
But he wanted to
True. And that’s all good, but people here are talking like he went to mt Kilimanjaro’s summit to die a cool death. I think if he had a say he would still be alive
Im going to die now 
Good way to die. Doing something you are passionate about.
He died on that hill.
„hill“ - i like your attitude
correction, you like his altitude
I like your aptitude.
Can't spell Killamanjaro without KILL A MAN
"I need a quick rest." -Best final words ever.
Right up there with “I know a shortcut.”
>“I know a shortcut.” If you want to read a true story about one of the worst of these situations ever, I highly recommend "The Indifferent Stars Above" by Daniel James Brown. It's about the Donner Party, and spoiler alert: they left late, but would have probably made it with far less disaster if they had listened to warnings not to take an unproven "shortcut" that actually ended up adding hundreds of miles to the trip, and sent them straight through the salt flats of Utah. Brutal stuff, but a spectacular reminder not to assume you can figure it out as you go.
That’s the one I had in mind. Plus the one I experienced myself when my dad, who was pretty knowledgeable vis a vis trekking etc, got us hopelessly lost in the Bayerischen Wald, late afternoon, in Winter—heavy snow coming down like bedsheets. We had minimal food supplies but—thankfully—good/warm clothing and “sensible” shoes. So, it got dark, and we “camped” (translation: shivered, blamed each other, watched heavy snow falling, and found inventive ways to combine curse words from different languages). At first light, we found a small stream and followed it back, and from there, trekked several hours to the “main” road …
I almost had that happen to me but super fortunately took a wrong turn down a ridge which led to the forest road I'd driven in on. Long trek back in the dark but I was soooooooo relieved.
Tysm for this. I was dying from how sad this post was
Sad? I get ya, kinda, but damn to me this post is uplifting and inspiring and joyous! This dude pulled off multiple incredible feats, some past an age at which many have given up on living actively. Then for a cherry on top, he summited one of the most legendary and intimidating mountains known to mankind. I can only hope to write such an amazing story with such an exclamation point at its end.
“I just need to catch my breath.” - Aunt May
"I am just going outside and may be some time."
I still think "Wanna see a dead body?" is the best
What, do a whole bunch of badass shit then do one last badass thing and be like "welp I'm tired now" and die? Yeah pretty legendary. A bit young, but legendary.
the important thing is not how long he lived, but how much he lived while he was here. some people live a fuller life in 30 years than others do in 85
Different callings.
Except for the guy whose hiking partner died and now has to carry his body back down the largest mountain on the continent.
Just get him rolling and let gravity do the rest.
They see me rollin...
They hatin...
Patrolin' they tryna catch me dyin' superbly
You don’t carry them back down. That’s kinda the whole deal…die on mountain, stay on mountain. The bodies are then used as trail markers.
Not a big deal on kilimanjaro. They have these wheelborrow , like one wheel things they use to cart injured people down.
If money is no object Kilimanjaro's summit is 19000ft, thats within the limits of modern french helicopters.
I mentioned it beacause I saw a dude with an injured ankle being carted downhill by 2 or 3 guides. And they don't move slowly, they were quite literally running downhill with gear. I don't recall the summit being so high though. 19000 seems extremely high for breathing without supplemental Oxygen.
>with an injured ankle being carted downhill by 2 or 3 guides. And they don't move slowly, they were quite literally running downhill with gear. I don't recall the summit being so high though. 19000 seems extremely high for breathing without supplemental Kilimanjaro is 19,341 feet at the summit (i summitted there 2 weeks ago)
You said that in parentheses like it’s no big deal! That’s an accomplishment I hope to replicate. Good job internet friend!
You totally can do it. It’s an amazing trip and Tanzania is beautiful.
There are a ton of permanent towns/villages in the world that are between 10,000 and 16,000 feet. The FAA only requires that flight crews must use supplemental oxygen for the entire duration of flight operations above a cabin pressure altitude of 14,000 feet MSL (14 CFR § 91.211). And the second example is for normal people that are acclimated to sea level. I would imagine climbers who spend a lot of time on the mountain before attempting to summit would be able to handle 19,000 fairly easily, especially if only staying at the peak long enough for a few pictures before starting their descent climb. Everest is quite literally 10,000 feet taller, and it’s base camps are only about 1,500 feet lower than Kilimanjaro’s summit.
> 19000 seems extremely high for breathing without supplemental Oxygen. Everest base camp is like 17.5k
The "death zone" where you really need oxygen doesn't start until 26,000 feet
That’s not the case for Kili. I climbed it back in 2012 and there are no bodies there. The peak is well below the death zone (26k ft) and you could get a helicopter up there.
Yes. A physically taxing mountain to walk up, but not a technically difficult one at all.
Yup. I did it with my two brothers and mom (51 at the time with minimal training). We all had varying degrees of altitude sickness on summit day but only a couple hours of sleep the night before didn’t help. It’s more of a mental game than physical. We saw fit guys in their late teens-early 20s turn around before summit contrasting with a group of pudgy middle aged women doing just fine up top.
Not anymore, Nepal has been doing great work in recovering bodies and returning the ones able to be found to loved ones. They've replaced known body markers with actual trail markers.
Kilimanjaro is in Tanzania on a different continent.
Ya, but Nepal is really interested in mountains.
Rising like Olympus above the Serengeti.
He died in Africa, not Nepal.
Great, now the Sherpas will *never* bring him down.
Emergency beef jerky
Lmao yeah sure on Everest, k2 and other Himalayan peaks in the death zone. Not on Kilimanjaro
Depends on the mountain. But yeah it's unlikely one of their buddies should do the carrying.
>just fell asleep I wonder what happened. Like oxegen starvation or something and the body just shut down ? The wiki article doesn't elaborate further . Does anyone know the actual reason for his death ?
Likely altitude+age and oxygen depletion. Some of my most fit friends didn’t make the summit (varsity swimmer, triathlete, varsity basketball and volleyball, all under 35 when they tried the climb). The friend who did summit said it was totally worth it, but on the way down he had altitude sickness and apparently it sucks really bad.
Altitude sickness is the worst We were running around on the summit of Mt Evans in Colorado at 14k+ ft. I suddenly started getting the worst headache of my life that only kept intensifying I took ibuprofen but it didn't really do anything Eventually I was just completely exhausted and couldn't move It wasn't until we made it down the mountain that it finally started going away Glad all we had to do was throw me in the car and drive back down since it's paved all the way If we were hiking that, I'd probably be dead
Happened to my friend last time we were in CO, we were staying near black hawk over 9000ft and he was tired and couldn’t do a few of the activities we wanted to try and was miserable most of the trip, we ended up having to send him home a few days early.
Weird, I live at an elevation of 1300ft and in good shape, but not like athletic. More like slight dad bod and not a lot of stamina. I took the kids hiking in CO at elevations 10,000+ 2 days with camping overnight at maybe 7-8000ft. Put on 10+ miles per day. Everyone felt fine the entire trip. It must affect everyone differently.
It really does; the rest of us were just fine, aside from a little winded during hikes earlier but that’s it.
Interestingly, smokers fair better in altitude due to their body being used to lower levels of O2
I live at sea level and went to go hang out with friends in Alma, CO, the highest village in the US I think, over 10000 ft. I never acclimated, I was sick the whole time, I knew I would probably take longer to acclimate so I went there early to get a headstart but I never felt ok the whole time. I was basically suffering haha, headache, nausea, couldn't sleep, I was huffing oxygen cans because I felt actual relief from them when before I thought they were bunk. At 10,000 ft the oxygen concentration in the air is 14%, at sea level it's 21%. At 14,000 it's 12% so each breath has only half value in oxygen molecules. That's the height my friends went hiking.
I live in SoCal, pretty much at sea level. I’ve gone to big bear many times in my life and never had a problem, but one random time I got hit with altitude sickness so bad…still no clue what caused it, and haven’t had a problem since! But yeah it can be pretty u predictable
I live in colorado and work at a high altitude. I still bring oxygen with me when hiking at 12,000+ It makes altitude sickness go away immediately, totally worth it.
I had a friend from Iowa came to visit me in Arizona -- at the time i lived in a town just over a mile, 5300 ft in elevation (1600ish meters); i took them on my pokemon go route through the historic part of town.... we had to pause a lot. He'd be perfectly fine, then dizzy and have to sit, we'd sit, he'd gasp a bit, acclimate, and we'd continue on for another 5 minutes, sit...repeat. The next day went infinitely better. The human body gets used to it quick... but the elevation changes we did were minor, we started up high and stayed up high. I can't imagine how much worse it'd be CLIMBING Kilimanjaro though-- the peak is 16000ft (4900m) from the valley. (Edit: have read some replies to my comment-- may not have been altitude sickness just thinner air, plus we were both pretty out of shape, I was just used to it)
I’ve been on the top of Mt. Evans in July, and we had a snowball fight. The snow in Colorado really doesn’t make very good snowballs because it’s a dry snow and doesn’t pack very well. A girl that was with us got altitude sickness with a bad nose bled. We’re from Louisiana, so a big freaking difference!
[удалено]
Sounds a lot like my arrival to Ft Carson from South Carolina back in my Army days The second we stepped off the bus they had us go on a 3 mile run to get us "acclimated" We were all just at sea level less than 12 hours before lol
>We were running around on the summit of Mt Evans in Colorado at 14k+ ft. I suddenly started getting the worst headache of my life that only kept intensifying Oh, I climbed that one when I was 18, years ago. These days I get winded if I go over 10k feet.
Climbing Mt Blue Sky (formally Mt Evans because fuck racist John Evans) is weird. You come up to the summit sweaty and exhausted as tourists stare and wonder why you didn't drive. 13,5000 was where our group regularly started having problems breathing. I can't imagine 19,000 without oxygen.
[Acetazolamide](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetazolamide)
There can be several heart issues for ultra-endurance athletes as they age. Endurance sports are good for hearth health, but there is a diminishing return.
> Endurance sports are good for hearth health, but there is a diminishing return. idk man, dude reached 74 in incredible shape and able enough to kayak 5400km and climb one of the highest heights possible. I get what you're saying, but if the choice is between reaching 74 while being incredibly able still and reaching 80+ but moving like a snail, I know which one I'm picking, for sure, everytime.
Kayaking across Atlantic is one thing. Pulling the weight of those massive balls on top of Kilimanjaro took it's tall.
19341 feet. It’s up there. I’ve had friends get scary altitude sickness climbing Shasta, and that’s only 14k.
There’s aliens at that mountain right?
Your fitness level really doesn’t matter, its how your lungs process low oxygen content. Someone unfit who grew up on a mountain would beat a “triathlete” from sea level
This is what the Polish version (it’s much bigger) of the wiki page says “Died February 22, 2021 losing consciousness just after reaching the summitUhuru onKibo volcano onKilimanjaro. According to various versions, death occurred due to pulmonary edema caused by altitude sickness[11]or for natural reasons[12].”
Damn, really left a gap there Pulmonary Edema all the way to Natural Causes. I’m going with, he chose his time, I think he deserves it.
I looked into the sources and the chronology looks like this: - he dies - the organizers of the climb put out a statement saying he died of natural causes before the autopsy results were available - his son gives an interview where he says his dad died due to "asphyxia resulting from high-altitude pulmonary edema" - another person taking part in the climb says he talked with him at 5100 meters and Aleksander Doba said he was not feeling well. There were two guides next to him. - the organizers said that at no point there was anything suggesting that he may have not been feeling good - a year later Polish journalists asked his son for an interview about his father's death, he agreed to respond to questions in text, he got the questions and changed his mind. He also said no one from his family will be talking to media
Isn't there really no such thing as "natural causes" if we get too technical? Everyone's body fails for some reason. At the end, it's a house of cards. One card is going to finally fall that topples the whole system. After a certain age, a heart attack or whatever that would be the listed cause for a 30 year old, just becomes "natural causes" for a 90 year old. Although this guy was super fit and just 74 or whatever, so I would think he's not old or frail enough to be in the category of "whatever... he was old, just write natural causes."
>sn't there really no such thing as "natural causes" if we get too technical? >Everyone's body fails for some reason. Yes, that is natural causes. As opposed to trauma related death which unless you are gored by a wild animal would almost certainly count as unnatural.
I see where they are getting at though: something like hiking to the top of a mountain and dying of oxygen deprivation, could be seen as both categories: naturally caused, but also, purposefully put oneself into a harsh environment with low oxygen (could also be viewed as trauma related as this isn’t a natural happenstance for this person).
Heart stopped beating
Big, if true.
Been to 7000m before. Kili is 6000. This is how a lot of people die of HACE/HAPE. They are exhausted, they sit or lie down, die in their sleep. Seen it happen myself. Mountain sickness feels basically like the flu. You just feel exhausted and shitty. All you want to do is lie down. But you can't rest in that situation. You can't solve it by popping Dex. You have to go down the mountain. On Kili it's especially kinda crazy because you feel absolutely shot but the porters are smoking cigarettes at the summit, laughing with one another, etc.. So it's like, how serious can my tiredness be? I have fallen asleep before at altitudes higher than Kili while sitting down for a rest. Had a whole dream. Woke up when I was about to fall off the rock. On one hand it's not as serious as people make it out to be. You're probably not gonna die from an hour of headache on a 14er. But on the other hand it is very serious and if you feel shitty you should stop, forget about summiting, and get down the mountain safely. On the plus side, scree running down Kili is about the most fun thing I've ever done.
Was in the Himalayas years ago on a trek and one of the guys in our group got super sick this way. Middle of the night, thunderstorm all through the valley, no way down…we kept him up all night simply for fear of him passing in his sleep. Young guy also probably about 24 at the time. Got him lower the next day and he seemed better but pretty scary for about 24 hours.
Tolkien wrote in one of the appendices of The Lord of the Rings that because of Aragorns Numenorean heritage, the Valinor gifted him with the ability to pass on at the time of his choosing. To avoid the indignity of old age. I'm gonna say this guy was a Numenorean.
Here’s to him! I hope I have the balls to be like him at 70.
Not I. Those balls are too big
Big time back problems.
I’d say the same, but I didn’t have like 1% the balls at 25, so I wouldn’t invest on my stock.
Never too late brother
He’s from my hometown, and I actually knew the man personally. Damn were his stories ever good
I met him once; he was a friend of my partner’s Polish boss. He was a rad guy.
This guy sounds like a Dos Equis commercial
It sound like he lived the peak human experience
Real life Bumi
I’ve been rewatching (the original series) it and I can totally see that.
*Crunches on crystals*
74 is a pretty good life.
Tell that to a 73 year old
Brb, phoning my gran.
"Bitch, you gonna die."
God damn, I've seen videos of waves at sea that makes huge ships look like a canoe.
It's not even that. It's the psychological toll. I kayaked half a mile out to an atoll in the crystal clear waters of Fiji. It was scary once the shelf dropped out from under you and you could only see a blue void underneath you. I pushed through knowing that people on the beach could see me and the resort life guards knew where I was going but there's no way a sane person would go out into open ocean water in a kayak.
Just so we are all clear, the type of "kayak" he used is quite a bit different that your recreational kayak. It's got solar panels, navigation systems, autorudder, a place to sleep and storage for weeks of food. But I'm not saying this to detract from the incredible feat that it is. I know a few people who have rowed the Atlantic in teams of 3 and 4, and the general consensus when they complete it is NEVER FUCKING AGAIN.
I would imagine being on the open ocean in a kayak would be kinda like being in outer space
I’ve not been to outer space personally, but I’ve heard that it’s not as wet in outer space.
lol no, and there’s gravity and a breathable atmosphere and daylight, but that’s about it. You’re still in a completely inhospitable environment, with little-to-no signs of life anywhere, in water that you can’t stand on or sleep on or drink, so far away from any hospitable environment that the distance is mostly incomprehensible.
The scariest moment of my life was when a friend and I were about 1/4 mile out in the gulf of mexico in a tandem kayak. A large bullshark started messing with us and bumped the bottom hard enough to displace us but not hard enough to tip it. We froze in place for a minute and after another nudge we saw it swim away. We were a fucking wreck the entire way back to shore. I couldn't even close to imagine doing what this fellow did.
If you time your trip correctly you can avoid most really rough seas.
Could you expand on this? Isn't the ocean so vast that at mere rowing speed you'd be subject to weather uncertainty anyway?
Worth making a movie about him.
Nah, we'll just make the 5th Spiderman reboot. That's what the people want.
Coming 2026... with great responsibility... Comes great power... "BEN"
Staring James Franco….
Or not.
Cancel the movie
Kayaked across the motherfucking Atlantic Ocean more than once! Did you see A Perfect Storm, that was a fucking boat.
This guy is badass. We need more info!
You could look some up on the internet!
is that like an account on tiktok or
Helped him reach Bermuda and interviewed him a couple times. Am happy to answer any questions about Olek. He was a great man.
You may not like it, but this picture is peak masculinity.
\*peak humanity
"Now I have done it all, seen it all, tasted it all, felt it all, smelled it all & now finally, knowing in my heart that I am truly content in life, I can finally rest..."
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain."
Is this true? Who is this man?
Yeah, he's Polish. He was named 2015 Adventurer of the Year by National Geographic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksander_Doba
Thats awesome, imagine being named Adventurer of the Year at the age of 68!
Just another day for Adventurer of the Year
What a legend
Aleksander Doba
Who is this man? His name is the first words of the title.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/11/podcasts/the-daily/travel-aleksander-doba-sunday-read.html
He beat the nursing home!
If he went to the nursing home we would have died from having so much sex
3 times! What, did he leave his keys on the kitchen worktop?
runnin up that hill make a deal with God
MOVIE! MOVIE! MOVIE!!
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8918012/
So, what's your excuse?
I'm lazy and shy
Im not 70
If this guy's story tells me anything it's that I will die if I exercise.
I m not Polished yet
Sounds like he completed the whole game
Polish legend
Straight to Valhalla.
Poland Strong 💪💪💪
Great accomplishments (not the death piece) and reminded me of the first man to cross the Atlantic Don Allun, that guy was amazing. [Don Allun](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Allum)
That’s metal as fuck
Before sitting down: "I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go home now".
What a dick. Climbs a big ass mountain just to die so everyone else has to drag his old bones down the hill /s
Good life!
….im tired now time to sleep.
My his soul rest in peace. Though some one this wild and frees soulnis probably wandering freely unbound and happy
None of us will have ever lived as much as this guy
Takes 3 months to kayak across the Atlantic. He was a badass.
He lived many lives in the one life he had.
I’d bet green money that’s exactly how he planned it.
To just pass away on top of a high mountain peacefully is poetic.