It’s not like the plains. Different climate reigns.
V. Vysotsky
5K m above the sea level. Is it a lot or not? Probably it’s so, but it’s personal to each other. The experienced climbers will call this altitude to be childish in comparison with the eight- thousand booms.
I respect these people but think they all are a little bit crazy. Unlike hunters, they ascend mountains, driven by dream to reach the place where the usual human being will never reach because of different reasons including health. But hunters always have the definite goal - the trophy, which makes them to climb the heights.
Normal, abnormal.
Your friends who have never been on such height, won’t understand what you feel there.
It's much easier for the mountain hunters. We always go to the places where the chance to get the worthy trophy are the highest. Marco Polo is one of them. If the local guides tell you that the worthy trophy is in a definite place you will agree to follow them without hesitations. You go there without thinking what will happen next. But the humans from the plains have to be ready for the difficulties, including health problems, which wait for them there.
The mountain hunters are not the ordinary people as my friends have already known. There are not many people who can understand the hunters who are always ready to go a dozen of kilometers, to spent nights in the tents or without, in plains and forests all over the world. Not many people, spoiled by the civilization’s benefits, are ready to climb the steep mountains and carry a heavy, about 20kg, backpack. The ascend can take 6 or 9 hours. It often happens at night when you rise and have to do each step by touch.
Most of people twist at the temple, when I tell them about my expeditions to Pamir or to the mountains in Kyrgyzstan. Last time when I described my adventures on the Roof of the World, what I felt and what I tested on myself when the altitude was 4000masl and more, they treated me as inadequate person. And they had reasons. Let me tell you everything in more details.
The meeting.
I’ve been in Pamir many times. That time we had to drive through the town Osh where I arrived first. My hunter fellow from Kazakhstan Zhaisan Syzdykov arrived later. I flew directly from Moscow while he drove to Bishkek first and then flew to Osh. There weren't direct flights from Kazakhstan to Osh at that time.
The local representative of the company Sayid met me at the airport and we went to try tasty local cuisine while Zhaisan would arrive.
I want to say some words about the Kyrgyz food service. First time I visited Bishkek was at 90s and was pleasantly surprised by the variety of the local cozy cafe. All dishes were cooked without refinement but tasted really good and cooks used only high-quality products without any GMOs and food additives. The Kyrgyz cuisine is known by its tasty dishes from fresh beef and lamb. And prices were not high. Once we ate in one of the local restaurants and paid just 140 euro for eight man. I could hardly imagine such prices in Russia.
I ate one portion of shish kebab with gusto and drank a cup of local beer. It gave me strength after a long way from Vladimir to Domodedovo and then 4 hours flight to Osh. Sayid didn’t drink alcohol and took a cup of tea. We ate, talked and soon the time to go and to meet Zhaisan became. It was just gone 6 pm when we saw our friend coming to us. We loaded our luggage and drove to the town.
After a short discussion we all agreed to stay at night in the hotel. It was safer and much interesting to drive during day that at night. At 8 am we moved. Sayid was the driver while Zhaisan and I enjoyed the sightseeing through the car window.
The way to the Pamir mountains wasn’t light though it was flat enough. The first thing, which made me to feel not well, was gaining altitude to 4000 masl. The altitude 2500 masl doesn't suit for people who are used to live on the plains, they feel not well there. But the height from 3000 meters and more are the serious stress for them. I know, that lots of things depend on the individual physiological features of each person. Some people feel better than others because their bodies can absorb oxygen from the thin air more effectively. But some people, even being in a good physical form, can lay a week and can't adapt to the altitude.
I had to read lots of book to understand more how our bodies function in the highland’s conditions, studied several methods to adapt to the heights more than 4000 masl and interviewed the experienced climbers. I also used my own experience of overcoming altitude sickness which I got when climb the first times. My friend and the partner Jury Matison helped me a lot in it. He told me about the situations when hunters didn’t follow the doctor’s advice, climbed the mountains and got serious health problems. Some of them could sleep in a pressure chamber only. There were several fatal cases too.
A short retrograde.
The reason of 70% death of all climbers who stormed the Everest, were not the fatal physiological changes, caused by the altitude sickness. They went crazy because of hypoxia and lack of oxygen in the mind. That was the reason of the inadequate actions, led to death. Most of them thought that they were ok and didn’t need to go anywhere. The journalists from the Explorer channel made a show about the American climber where showed such situation.
I done learned a lot about the mountain sickness, about its progress and what consequences it has on each stage. How and when you can save a victim. Once I even helped the Polish hunter who had reckoned too much upon his strength during the hunting trip in Kyrgyzstan though the altitude was just 3500m above sea level. We delivered him to the hospital in Bishkek with the first signs of the disease. I was surprised but the doctors who examined him didn’t know how to treat the mountain sickness. Thus, I shared my experience with them and told how to treat the patient.
It took me years to collect all skills and knowledge how to get ready for hunts, organized on the highlands from 3500masl. I made the list of medicine and vitamins, recommended by the specialists, which help to make the adaptation process easier. I confirm, it works. I sent that list to Jaizan same time when started to get ready for the trip.
The road to the Roof of the World.
We are on our way to the mountains. The first mountain pass on the height 4000 masl, we crossed on the boundary between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Then the road became flat. After we left the last Kyrgyz village Sari-Tash it passes over a flat area. If the weather is fine you can see the Lenin Peak (7134 m). The view is amazing. It impresses all people who visit that area for the first time. The peaks, covered by snow, stand in a row as if somebody took the icebergs from the ocean and carried them there. They all glitter by blue and white caps with emerald tones.
The main climbing started. First of all, we had to pass the border post on the Kyrgyz side - passport control, customs, drug control point. Then did the same in Tajikistan. It was on the height 4000 masl. It wasn't well to stay there long but it didn’t depend on us.
At last it was all over and we enter the harsh, according its climate, Gorno-Badakhshan district of Tajikistan.
Slight nausea and pain in the temples, when I abruptly moved, reminded about the altitude. I had not to forget where I was. The first symptoms are the loss of liquid. You often go to the restroom. The main thing is to avoid dehydrations, you need to drink a lot. especially in the first two or three days. Being in the camp we usually drink a lot of green or black tea with sugar. Sugar is an obligatory nutrition component in the mountains.
The last settlement we left, was the village Karakul, located not far from the same called mountain lake.
We drove about an hour around the lake and arrived to the place. The mountain base consisted of several cabins. There was a garage, a storage and a service cabin. The main building was for hunters. It was like a five-star hotel, located on the highland. It was really comfortable. There were several bedrooms and a restroom on the first floor. A kitchen and a canteen were downstairs. But all hunters were always surprised by the hot shower and a small swimming pool, located in the building. You can seat in the sauna and then jump to the pool filled with the cold water with ice. But you can enjoy all those things after your body will adapt to the altitude 4000 masl, where the camp is located. Usually it takes from two to four days. The guides won't allow you to carry bags to the first floor if you have just arrived.
On the place.
The most important thing in the first days is to be patient and don't be active. It’ll be hard to walk up several steps, you will feel breathe shortness, and your temples will break with a frantic pulse. But it may not happen... In the first day! If you move actively in a day before, hypoxia will catch you next day. The first day your body can use all oxygen from the internal organs to compensate the lack of oxygen in the brain and for the heart muscles. So, you can think that you are well. But it's now so and soon you’ll feel it. Later you’ll feel really bad. I saw and not once how hunters ignored our advices and behaved themselves in the usual way, as they are used to do on the plain. Next day they were very sick. Their skin had green color and they looked haggard. They suffered from nausea, dizziness, and vomiting. None of them was ready for hunting. Hunting was set aside for a few days while they came back.
Is it a lot or not to visit the Pamir mountains at the altitude 4000 masl, 4 times during the six month? Once I did it and felt what could happen if you did too often. It was worse than if I stayed on the height for 6 months after the only adaptation.
According my experience I could say that the most important thing for the right adaption is your behavior in the first days. You needn't do any sudden movements but not to lay on the bed. The best variant is to walk slowly not far from the camp. Thus, you give your body to be reloaded and to launch reserves for adaptation to high-altitude conditions.
The doctors who work with the climbers say to spend 2-3 days on a place after climbing each 500 meters. But we ascend 4000 m in one day. It's an outright and sophisticated mockery of our bodies. I need not less than 2-3 days for adaptation. All that time I have to rest and to walk without strenuous physical activity. It helps me to move actively in other days on the heights more than 4000 masl. I don't like active start in such conditions but usually have to pull myself together and to begin active hunting with the clients from the first days.
The meeting in the camp.
All staff came out to greet us. I introduced Zaisan to Yuri, he heard a lot about him. We had lunch and went to rest. It was necessary after a long 7 hours drive.
Later in the evening we discussed our plans for the next day.
It was always hard to sleep first night on the height. Most of people spend those night hours suffering from thirsty, nausea and dizziness. They go to the restroom very often and drink water. It doesn’t allow to sleep well. The whole night passes in a tiresome half-dozen.
We all got up at 5 am. Had light breakfast and drove to the mountains using the old but robust UAZ. The altitude is a test not only for people but for the cars too. The engine power reduces on 30% because of thin air. It could barely drive on the steep ascents though we used the first speed instead of the third one as on the plain.
The weather was fine. The sun was rising. The only unpleasant moment in that paradise picture was a strong wind but it was normal for that area. The large temperature difference was a common thing for those mountains. It was cold at nights at the beginning of October, water in small springs had frozen already. But it became warm during day hours and we could even take off some clothes.
Zaisan admired the Pamir nature in spite of light hypoxia. I have noticed that positive attitude in the hunting team helps to hunt more effectively.
The guides monitored the surroundings before our arrival and we were moving to the definite place where the sheep had been recently detected. The animals were still there but grazed too high as our guides and we thought at that moment. But we all were mistaken. Later you’ll understand what I mean.
We talked and decided to go and check another group, spotted a day before. We found them. There were several trophy size males.
The group, consisted of 12-13 sheep males, was going to have rest and we resolved to rise and approach them the shooting distance.
Zaisan was keen in long distance shooting and was ready to fire from any distance to 800 meters. His gun 300 RemUltraMag allowed to do it.
Soon our romantic mood had faded (though I knew It’d be so) when we followed our guides Ruslan and Mansur. The first one wasn’t tall, about 170cm height but had a substantial physique. His fo-fathers were ancient Alans. He was about 50 years old and had the education of electronics specialist. The second one was even older, he was in his sixties and taller than his fellow, about 182 cm. He had thin constitution and was the descendant of the Golden Horde warriors. They both were different but both could walk in the mountains and did it easily. I hunted with them several times and had a high opinion about their abilities to go in the mountains on such heights. The ability to hike long is the base of successes in the hunting expeditions on the Pamir. I’m sure that most of sportsmen or special forces soldiers won't be able to keep up with those guys in the mountains.
