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In mountaineering, the death zone refers to altitudes above which the pressure of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span. This point is generally agreed as 8,000 m (26,000 ft), where atmospheric pressure is less than 356 millibars (10.5 inHg; 5.16 psi). [ 1 ]
In the death zone, the human body cannot acclimatize. An extended stay in the death zone without supplementary oxygen will result in deterioration of bodily functions, loss of consciousness, and, ultimately, death. [3] [4] [5] The summit of K2, the second highest mountain on Earth, is in the death zone.
Humans are generally adapted to lowland environments where oxygen is abundant. [12] At altitudes above 2,500 meters (8,200 ft), such humans experience altitude sickness, which is a type of hypoxia, a clinical syndrome of severe lack of oxygen. Some humans develop the illness beginning at above 1,500 meters (5,000 ft). [13]
The first couple and team to summit all 14 eight-thousanders were the Italians Nives Meroi (who was the second woman to accomplish this feat without supplementary oxygen), and her husband Romano Benet on 11 May 2017. [15] [16] The couple climbed alpine style, without the use of supplementary oxygen or other support. [16] [17]
On 4 June, Edward Norton, without supplemental oxygen, reached a point on the mountain's Great Couloir 8,572.8 m (28,126 ft) high, his companion Howard Somervell having turned around a short distance before. [24] This was an altitude record which would not be broken, with certainty, until the 1950s, or without supplemental oxygen until 1978.
Chimborazo is only the 39 th tallest mountain in the Andes, when measured from sea level, but there was a brief time in the 19 th century when it was thought to be the world’s highest peak.
Two years later, on 20 August 1980, Messner again stood atop the highest mountain in the world, without supplementary oxygen. For this solo climb, he chose the northeast ridge to the summit, where he crossed above the North Col in the North Face to the Norton Couloir and became the first man to climb through this steep gorge to the summit ...
A 2022 Outside article on heat stroke cites the highest known body temperature that a human was able to survive: “The highest body temperature measured was only 17 degrees above normal. Willie ...