Szymczak Robert K, Marosz Michał, Grzywacz Tomasz, Sawicka Magdalena, Naczyk Marta
Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Institute of Meteorology and Water Management - National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
Front Physiol. 2021 Jul 5;12:696335. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2021.696335. eCollection 2021.
Few data are available on mountaineers' survival prospects in extreme weather above 8000 m (the Death Zone). We aimed to assess Death Zone weather extremes experienced in climbing-season ascents of Everest and K2, all winter ascents of 8000 m peaks (8K) in the Himalayas and Karakoram, environmental records of human survival, and weather extremes experienced with and without oxygen support.
We analyzed 528 ascents of 8K peaks: 423 non-winter ascents without supplemental oxygen (Everest-210, K2-213), 76 ascents in winter without oxygen, and 29 in winter with oxygen. We assessed environmental conditions using the ERA5 dataset (1978-2021): barometric pressure (BP), temperature (Temp), wind speed (Wind), wind chill equivalent temperature (WCT), and facial frostbite time (FFT).
The most extreme conditions that climbers have experienced with and without supplemental oxygen were: BP 320 hPa (winter Everest) vs. 329 hPa (non-winter Everest); Temp -41°C (winter Everest) vs. -45°C (winter Nanga Parbat); Wind 46 m⋅s (winter Everest) vs. 48 m⋅s (winter Kangchenjunga). The most extreme combined conditions of BP ≤ 333 hPa, Temp ≤ -30°C, Wind ≥ 25 m⋅s, WCT ≤ -54°C and FFT ≤ 3 min were encountered in 14 ascents of Everest, two without oxygen (late autumn and winter) and 12 oxygen-supported in winter. The average extreme conditions experienced in ascents with and without oxygen were: BP 326 ± 3 hPa (winter Everest) vs. 335 ± 2 hPa (non-winter Everest); Temp -40 ± 0°C (winter K2) vs. -38 ± 5°C (winter low Karakoram 8K peaks); Wind 36 ± 7 m⋅s (winter Everest) vs. 41 ± 9 m⋅s (winter high Himalayan 8K peaks).
1.The most extreme combined environmental BP, Temp and Wind were experienced in winter and off-season ascents of Everest.2.Mountaineers using supplemental oxygen endured more extreme conditions than climbers without oxygen.3.Climbing-season weather extremes in the Death Zone were more severe on Everest than on K2.4.Extreme wind speed characterized winter ascents of Himalayan peaks, but severely low temperatures marked winter climbs in Karakoram.
关于登山者在海拔8000米以上极端天气（死亡地带）中的生存前景，可用数据很少。我们旨在评估攀登季节攀登珠穆朗玛峰和乔戈里峰时所经历的死亡地带极端天气、喜马拉雅山脉和喀喇昆仑山脉所有8000米山峰的冬季攀登情况、人类生存的环境记录以及有无氧气支持下所经历的极端天气。
我们分析了528次8000米山峰的攀登：423次非冬季无补充氧气攀登（珠穆朗玛峰210次、乔戈里峰213次）、76次冬季无氧气攀登以及29次冬季有氧气攀登。我们使用ERA5数据集（1978 - 2021年）评估环境条件：气压（BP）、温度（Temp）、风速（Wind）、风寒等效温度（WCT）和面部冻伤时间（FFT）。
登山者在有和无补充氧气情况下所经历的最极端条件分别为：气压320百帕（冬季珠穆朗玛峰）对329百帕（非冬季珠穆朗玛峰）；温度 - 41°C（冬季珠穆朗玛峰）对 - 45°C（冬季南迦帕尔巴特峰）；风速46米/秒（冬季珠穆朗玛峰）对48米/秒（冬季干城章嘉峰）。在14次珠穆朗玛峰攀登中遇到了最极端的综合条件，即气压≤333百帕、温度≤ - 30°C、风速≥25米/秒、风寒等效温度≤ - 54°C且面部冻伤时间≤3分钟，其中两次无氧气攀登（深秋和冬季），12次冬季有氧气支持攀登。有和无氧气攀登中所经历的平均极端条件为：气压326±3百帕（冬季珠穆朗玛峰）对335±2百帕（非冬季珠穆朗玛峰）；温度 - 40±0°C（冬季乔戈里峰）对 - 38±5°C（冬季喀喇昆仑山脉低海拔8000米山峰）；风速36±7米/秒（冬季珠穆朗玛峰）对41±9米/秒（冬季喜马拉雅山脉高海拔8000米山峰）。
