Acclimatizing at Leadville

Summit of Mt. Sherman (14,036 feet / 4096 meters)

 

My 3rd day at Leadville was tough, although I drank and drank, I still get headache - a common symptom of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness).

 

Nevertheless I need to climb more than 10,200 feet (Leadville) to get more acclimatization.

 

On Monday morning, I followed Matt to run/hike/walk/crawl to Mt. Sherman - one the 14er in Colorado. 14er is referring to mountains that have height of more than 14,000 feet. There are fifty four (54) 14er in Colorado state.

 

Matt is my new friend, I met him at the hostel where I stay for the LT100 race. Matt had completed Leadville 5 times, Hardrock 100 finisher and WS100 finisher, and he's only 58.

 

We started to climb about 8 am at elevation of 3671 meters. As Mt. Sheridan located besides Mt. Sherman, we decided to climb both. More value for my limited time at Leadville to acclimatize.

 

 

There were many hikers that morning going up Mt. Sheridan 14,036 feet / 4,278 meters. We met few runners preparing for the weekend LT100 run. All the hikers were dressed up in warm clothes, while we only wearing short. It's a bright morning with sun up, but in the mountain its cold. The wind makes it even colder. Lower torso don't need much protection compared to upper torso, I put on my windbreaker over my only shirt. It's warm enough if you keep moving in these kind of mountain temperature.

 

I forgot to bring my gloves and as a result, my hands were numb.

 

It took us 4:05 to summited both mountains. There were a lot of loose hard rocks and gravels, you gotta be careful not to sprained your legs doing this. The climb were easy enough, but the altitude killed you. I try to run up a couple of times, only lasted about 10 seconds when we realised there's less oxygen up there. Boohoo ...

 

Going down was the best, all that downhill Nuang training paid off. My strategy for LT100 would be walks all the inclines and run all the downhills.

 

It's a personal record for me summiting both Mt. Sherman (14,036 feet / 4,278 meters) and Mt. Sheridan (13,748 feet / 4,190 meters). It the highest mountain I climbed so far, both mountains are higher than Mt. Kinabalu (13,435 feet / 4,095 meters). And I haven't done Mt. Kinabalu yet...sigh

 

I got my first 14er in Colorado, only 53 more to go.

 

(Photo: Matt Mahoney)

 

We got a bit of snow here near the summit

 

 

(Photo: Matt Mahoney)