Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Canned oxygen?

I summited Mt. Whitney two years ago, but had a very difficult time with the altitude. I am going again this year and was wondering if a small canister of bottled oxygen would help? Anyone have any experience with it?

Probably best to get more training in at 10K and above. But if you have the bucks and time you can consider one of the systems they use on Everest. It is overkill for Whitney. 10+ Day Hikes up Mt Baldy and San Jacinto will probably do the trick . I was fortuneate last year to be able to get in 16 hikes prior to Whitney and had no problem with the altitude, just my feet on the way down (giant blisters for the 1st time in the last 40+ years). Hang in there with the training hikes and you probably will have a great time.

http://www.peakfreaks.com/oxygen.htm

I wasn't thinking of anything quite so elaborate...more like this

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/179-8660868-6406258?asin=B001CTX4OW&AFID=Froogle_df&LNM=|B001CTX4OW&CPNG=health%20beauty&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001

And from Oxygen Canister FAQ's it reports:

Please tell us how it works out for you.

Canned oxygen is definitely overkill. Consider several training hikes: Baldy, San Jacinto, San Gorgonio; and then spend a couple of days up at Horseshoe Meadows (10,000')with one or two easy dayhikes prior to your Whitney attempt.

Even if it worked for a while, it appears to be too small to last for the many hours (days) you might be at risk for high altitude problems (hopefully you meant AMS, not HAPE or HACE). Otherwise, the product appears to be a "boutique drug", sort of like those O2 stations you hear about in Japan.
Does a quick snort or two actually help altitude patients?

If you really needed it, what would happen to you when you drop it off the cliff, it malfunctions, or it runs out? This issue comes up on the Greater Ranges as well.

Learn more about altitude and acclimatization at
High Altitude Tutorial

From that tutorial's brief discussion of oxygen , it says
"AMS symptoms resolve very rapidly (minutes) on moderate-flow oxygen (2-4 liters per minute, by nasal cannula). There may be rebound symptoms if the duration of therapy is inadequate - several hours of treatment may be needed."

So whether a few or fifty hits of canned O2 for AMS on Whitney is efficacious is unknown. Maybe Kurt Wedberg can chime in, he has more high altitude experience than all of us here.

Sleep high would be the first strategy. Spend two nights at Whitney Portal. Check with an MD familiar with Diamox and start on that before the trip. Unlikely you'd be able to -- or want to -- carry enough 02 to do you any good.

George

But what about drain bamage??