Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34290622›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in physiology2021

Death Zone Weather Extremes Mountaineers Have Experienced in Successful Ascents.

Robert K Szymczak, Michał Marosz, Tomasz Grzywacz, Magdalena Sawicka, Marta Naczyk

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in physiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. The Oxygen Transport Triad in High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema: A Perspective from the High Andes.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Heat Balance When Climbing Mount Everest.Frontiers in physiology · 2021
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Robert K SzymczakDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Michał MaroszInstitute of Meteorology and Water Management - National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
Tomasz GrzywaczInstitute of Physical Culture, Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Magdalena SawickaDepartment of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Marta NaczykDepartment of Nutritional Biochemistry, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFew 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. MATERIALS AND

methodsWe 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).

resultsThe 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

conclusions1.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.

Indexed as

altitudebarometric pressureextremesmountaineeringtemperatureweatherwind

Identifiers

PMID34290622
PMCPMC8287323

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.