Elevation sickness and Carbi’s
 

Hi everyone

Hope this post is in the right spot.

Bec and I are heading to Nepal in October / November with our DR650’s and are hoping for practical advice regarding elevation from anyone that’s ridden there (or in similar countries such as northern India, Pakistan, etc). We will explore as much as we can off-road and hopefully get out of the touristed areas. We have 6 weeks starting in Kathmandu, so can afford to take it as slowly as we need to. Looking forward to that.

Our biggest question is how many metres people are riding between overnight stops to avoid elevation sickness? Some of the route’s we’re planning rise from 1,000 to 4,000 m and might only be 80 to 100 km in length. Big fast rises! We’ve read that you should only ride up 300 to 500 m in a day before overnighting, and every 1,000 m in elevation increases should have a 2 night stop. Would you agree with this? What did you manage comfortably?

Once you’ve gone up and then down a few times, do you get ‘elevation fit’ or do you have to go through the whole process every time you ascend?

Lots of questions we know!

Last one - carby’s! Any comments on tuning pre and during the ride would be very helpful. As suggested we’ll be going up and down a lot and could be in low elevations for a week or so in India

Thanks very much everyone - really looking forward to hearing about your experiences
Dave + Bec

Nepal doesn't have the high altitude road network of, say, India or Bolivia, so serious health issues (cerebral or pulmonary edema) are unlikely, although of course possible at the extremes. That's the good news. Unfortunately, there's not really any reliable way of knowing in advance who's going to suffer ill effects or at what altitude. And riding a bike is not like trekking with a heavy backpack, so you might not notice the altitude as much as if you were exercising hard. That's both good and bad, since it's easier to get into trouble.

I'm old, not in good shape, and have COPD. I was recently a bit over 5000 meters, and despite taking four or five days to get there I felt poorly and had difficulty getting enough oxygen while hiking. Sleep was difficult, as expected, with mild nausea and headaches. But two of my companions--younger, in better shape, and not apparently as frail--got seriously sick and needed oxygen--one also needed to be taken to lower altitudes--while I was still taking day hikes and exploring above our camp. You never know.

I've been at those altitudes several times previously. On my bike I had little trouble. On foot carrying a backpack, I was torturously slow, but again did much better than my younger, more fit companion. Once I used diamox, which definitely helped and is worth thinking about. In Tibet people carry little bottles of oxygen and use them obsessively--I don't remember seeing these in Nepal, but probably something like that is available.

The guidelines you reference are standard--300m/1000ft to 500m/1500ft per day ascent. Following the guidelines I don't think rest days are necessary unless you find it difficult to eat or sleep, bearing in mind that once you start to get sick you won't get any better climbing higher no matter how slowly you take it. However, see the above about there being no way to know in advance, and try to have a backup plan.

Also standard is the old climber's dictum, "Climb high, sleep low." Shooting suddenly up to 4500 meters is fine as long as you don't stay there overnight. And dropping lower to sleep won't interfere much with your acclimatization, but if you stay down there for a couple of days you'll begin to lose it and find yourself starting over again. My own rough guideline is that I lose acclimatization at the same speed I gained it, but that's just a convenient way to think about it.

Lastly, I ran my KLR totally stock (i.e., no carb changes) to just shy of 5000 meters in the Andes. It ran weakly but reliably. I just didn't want the bother of changing out jets every time I dropped to sea level or climbed to the passes.

Hope some of that's helpful and relevant.

Mark

Not Nepal but India (Ladakh) has high altitude roads.


Hiking in Nepal we often passed the 3,000 and 4,000m levels. We always made a point of overnighting at least 300m lower than the highest altitude of the day.

Yes. Although it's not what the OP asked about, in Ladakh there will be altitude issues. There are important differences between 4000m and 4500m, even more important between 4500m and 5000m, and things can get quite serious before 5500m.

At more moderate altitudes much of this is about mere discomfort. Although it's said that altitude sickness can begin at around 2500m and is increasingly common at 3000m, for most people that just means being short of breath and not feeling very good.

I should caution that I'm not an expert--merely someone with bits of experience and knowledge. Anyone contemplating high altitude travel of any sort should do their own research--as the OP has obviously done--and not rely too heavily on the opinions of people like me.

altitude
 

We passed from Nepal into Tibet (by vehicle, not bike) - didn't have issues in Nepal, but Tibet hikes (especially up the stairs in the various temples) were very slow for me, less so for my quite fit daughter.

I also took diamox, which I found helpful (or at the very least, to have a placebo effect).

Both in Tibet and Bhutan at altitude they seem to serve a lot of ginger tea, and I found that (and chewing on candied ginger) to also help with some of the (milder) symptoms.

Good luck!

Thanks very much for your response - interesting and a great help.

Hello Bec & Dave,


sometimes I travelled in regions higher than 5.500m above sea level (Himalaya by foot, the Andes by car and foot) - and my car climbed more then 5.000m in a day, myself, by foot, only 2-3.000m without any problems. The very important thing for me was/is, if you feel sick, go down, as fast, as you can!


Greetings,
Ferdi