Autobiographical Essay: Due 1/21/09
This is to be handed-in and please double space. Late essays will be penalized 5pts. per day.
In addition to the story, please write a response to the chapter of no less than 300 words.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
SURVIVING THE EXTREMES
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6 comments:
300 word response to the chapter:
As i read this chapter, I desired to have an experience so diverse and challenging, unlike something I have never known before. To have a dream of achieving something .000001 percent of the human population will never be able to list as an accomplishment is amazing in its own right. The chapter provided great insight and detail on the ability of the human body to adapt. Life is talked about with little attachment and emotion, especially as members of expeditions die in the brutal sub-environments of Mount Everest. Putting myself in the shoes of a doctor attending to climbers in need is very intriguing as well. Taking a human body that is on the brink of death and regurgitating life back into it at 22,000 feet is an amazing achievement. Much respect can be given to the doctor, especially as he is more than happy to help and treat visitors from local villages. This chapter reassured me about the elasticity and supernatural traits the human body can possess. Another interesting point the story makes is interconnectedness and bonds with fellow climbers. Survival and reaching the summit would not be possible without the trust and care for fellow man. This can be seen in life as a whole, where man depends on fellow man in order to reach his goals. Climbing Everest is very much like war, where you must do everything and anything within your power to overcome the extreme situations you face regularly. Climbing Everest is very much like surviving in life, where situations are not always going to go in your favor, and one decision can change the rest of your life. It seems like the author of the book is trying to get that point across, showing the interconnectedness and fragility of human beings as a whole, especially the desire that can overcome even the harshest circumstances. The doctor in chapter one also shows reason, which many people lack. This ability to turn around and head back to camp 4, even though they are only 900 feet away from the summit, should be greatly admired and respected. Most climbers would have continued on, and would have probably died on the way down due to oxygen deprivation, hypothermia, or because of a plummit to a painful death. This chapter has opened my eyes to hardships our race has overcome, and to the never-ending desire of man to conquer even the most extreme of environments.
----->^steve turrisi wrote this^
I have to say that after reading this chapter (although it was fairly long), I was completely blown away by the experience of climbing up Mount Everest. The author of this chapter went into excruciating detail, and painted so vivid a picture in my mind that it was almost as if I was there right along side him, braving those same harsh elements at 20,000+ feet. The story didn't try to sanitize the trip, as most other recollections of these sorts of trips occasionally do. I never really thought of climbing such a high mountain range as anything that required much more thought than "just keep climbing until you get there", but this story proved to me that there are many more elements involved, and a lot more planning required than just the simple will to climb (although willpower had a huge role in one of the main plot elements, the survival of Beck Weathers, which was described by the author as "transcending the laws of medicine"). The entire chapter was one giant roller coaster ride, all explained extremely well so as I never felt disconnected with any of the people who lived through the event. Also a huge plus for me was the medical detail put into why the human body was reacting to the environment as it was, whether it was because of some adaptation suited to lower elevations that was now becoming harmful, or another adaptation that was brought on because of the harsh environment, like those of the Sherpas. All of this knowledge and insight into the human body was amazing, especially if you want to enter a medical field, like I do (although I doubt I'll be going on any expeditions to Everest during my career). All-in-all, I'd have to agree with Steve on his idea that the main point of the story was the camaraderie that develops on such physically and emotionally taxing events, whether it was explained in terms natural selection (the fact that altruism helps the species as a whole) or just as human nature in general. Overall the story was excellent in many different ways, and showed me the true experience of one who tries to climb to the summit of the tallest mountain in the world.
^Eric wrote this, sorry bout that.
This was by far one of the most enjoyable reading assignments I think I have ever been tasked with. Between the feeling of despair for the mountaineers as they ran out of oxygen, to the sheer fear that was swept across my mind when the author described how if one of them where to slip off the edge, they all where good as gone, I was crawling thru the pages not ale to get enough. Not to mention there where no safety precautions because they had to get rid of the rope so this didn’t happen. Besides the fact, there where few points in the story which I did not find interesting, and before having read this chapter, I had much less understanding for what the body goes through when it has to endure such extreme conditions. One thing which I never stopped to think about, even know I spend a large amount of time outside, is the effect oxygen has on the body. Before reading this I always thought the amount of energy you had came from the amount of food you eat; little did I know you could live on chocolate bars so long as you have a sufficient supply of oxygen. Another thing which I found interesting was how the author articulated his encounter with the natives. Not only did he describe how they have physiologically adapted to be able to survive with so little oxygen, but he also showed how grateful they where to be cured of simple pains such as a tooth ache. This encounter also makes me wonder what might happen if one of the high elevation natives where to try and venture down to the much lower altitude areas such as where we live or even sea level. Would they survive, or would they be poisoned by the over abundance of oxygen in the air? That would make a good next chapter
Ryan Palen
There are many things in life that can be accomplished. One of these is reaching the top of Mt. Everest. Though many have tried most have failed. Only a small amount of people has ever reached the top. In the chapter “High Altitude” from Surviving the Extremes, by Kenneth Kamler, M.D. it tells of a group of people as they struggle to reach the peak of Everest. The chapter is in the perspective of the doctor on the team. He is the most important person on the team. When they first arrive he helps the locals that are in need of medical attention. A group of natives leave before them on their way to the peak. The doctor and his group shortly meet up with the natives because one of there members has become fatally ill. The doctor jumps into instant action and saves the man proving that he is a true asset. He could have let the man die since there is a higher chance of death from minor injuries the higher the elevation is. Any one that has the courage the climb Everest is high on my list of people. This man not only climbed Everest but also was the doctor that was in charge of keep his teammates alive in an environment that can’t support life.
I have a lot of respect for him because he took on an impossible task knowing that he was probably going to fall. Even though many of the members of the group suffered from injuries they were able to be rescued and were nursed back to full health. Except for the part about losing limbs and extremities.
James
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