Altitude training for the roof of the world

PPPffffffff. PPPffffff, PPPfffffff. Slowly, the oxygen pours into my high tent. As if the sea washes into my tent. I spend about 10 to 12 hours a day in it. It will make it easier for me to get used to the extreme altitude on Mount Everest. The highest mountain on earth at 8850 meters. In April - May 2015 I will make an attempt to climb it.

Altitude sickness is the number one cause of death among climbers on a mountain above 8000 metres. When the stakes are this high, you want to arrive at the start prepared. The tent reduces the risk of altitude sickness. And of course, it increases the chances of reaching the summit!

It is a search for the best way to use this form of altitude training. Science does not (yet) have the answers. Until now, the altitude training tent has been used more by endurance athletes than by mountaineers. Mountaineers that do use this oxygen deprived tent do not always go to 8850 m altitude.

Eric-Arnold high tentFormer top swimmer Marcel Wouda helps me to prepare a protocol that looks like this:

  • week 1: 3500m
  • week 2: 4000m
  • week 3: 4500m
  • Week 4-6: 5000m

There is less oxygen in a height tent. The extremely low air pressure at height can of course not be simulated in the tent. Yet staying in the tent has several advantages. The capacity of the HEAM groups, the effectiveness of the alveoli, the production of EPO. All positive effects of the height tent. The matter is complex. Sometimes it makes me dizzy. It is clear that my body adapts to dealing with less oxygen. Acclimatize is of course more than lying passively in a tent. Three times a week I therefore cycle with the oxygen mask on virtual at 6500 m. With the foam on the mouth at the end!

During my 2014 Everest expedition I already noticed that I could keep breathing through my nose while walking up a hill en route to Everest basecamp. While fellow climbers were already panting heavily. The result of good training ... and of course the positive effects of the height tent.

On to the highest point of the earth now. The roof of the world. The better my body can handle the oxygen deficiency, the more I do it breathtaking can take in a view!

Eric Arnold

About Altitude Dream

Altitude Dream is the market leader in the Benelux in the field of altitude training. For more than 10 years we have been helping athletes realize their dreams and bringing people without altitude sickness to the mountain of their dreams. Altitude Dream is not a company. Altitude Dream is a dream. A dream that leads to the maximum use of our possibilities.