Sunday, December 19, 2010

Everest's Rainbow Valley: not as nice as it sounds.

a sea of lead, a sky of slate: Abandoned on Everest:

Image via A Sea of Lead, A Sky of Slate.

Above a certain altitude, no human can ever acclimatize. Known as the Death Zone, only on 14 mountains worldwide can one step beyond the 8000 meter mark and know that no amount of training or conditioning will ever allow you to spend more than 48 hours there. The oxygen level in the Death Zone is only one third of the sea level value, which in simple terms means the body will use up its store of oxygen faster than breathing can replenish it.
Some disturbing images in the original post. Rainbow Valley gets its name from the colorful parkas of abandoned corpses.

Via Linkmachinego
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