Keeping people healthy at rooftop of the world

By Mike Tymn
Special to The Advertiser

When you have knee problems and can no longer run, what do you do for cardiovascular fitness? If you can't run marathons, what do you do for challenges?

Kent Davenport and his wife Carolyn, hiked to Everest Base Camp. "If you took a helicopter to 18,000 feet, there's a good chance you'd die in the first few days," Kent says. "The body needs to adjust." Photo by Kent Davenport

Davenport and his wife Carolyn, a 3:18 marathoner, recently returned from a month-long trip to Nepal, where they trekked to the Base Camp of Mt. Everest, a 10-day journey. There, Davenport served as the physician for a National Geographic team that was filming a television special in preparation for the 50th anniversary of the first ascent of the world's highest summit by Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal. That was achieved on May 29, 1953.

Not a technical climb

"It's basically a hike, nothing technical and no big risks," Davenport said of the 10-day trek from Lukla in Nepal, at 9,000 feet, to the Base Camp, at 18,000 feet. "Snow storms are always a possibility and we heard about Maoist guerrillas terrorizing the villages and beheading people but we didn't have any problems."

The Davenports flew from Honolulu to Seoul, South Korea, to Bangkok, Thailand, and then to Katmandu, the capital of Nepal. From there, they took a small plane to Lukla. While the distance from Lukla to Base Camp is only about 70 miles, the trek takes 10 days because of the altitude and the need to proceed slowly in order to acclimate.

"It's almost like trekking in the Alps," Davenport explained. "You go from one little village to the next and spend the night at one of the tea houses. You try to climb 1,000 to 1,500 feet a day, but there is a lot of up and down, so you are not just going up all the time."

Acclimatization crucial

Why not just take a helicopter to base camp? First of all, it wouldn't provide the exercise or be as much fun, but the biggest reason is that one has to acclimatize. "If you took a helicopter to 18,000 feet, there's a good chance you'd die within the first few days," Davenport further explained. "The body needs to adjust. You have to take it gradually."Ê

Once climbers reach Base Camp, they must still proceed slowly, usually going up a few thousand feet before coming down again and then going back up.ÊThere are four camps between Base Camp and the summit.

"Some people go up to Camp One, then come down and wait a couple of days, then they'll go to Camp Two and come down before going back up again," Davenport continued. "It's a lot like training for a marathon, when you are doing longer and longer runs each week. When you are climbing you do these short attacks at different altitude levels until you are comfortable at certain altitudes, and then from there you go to the top. Most of the climbers going to the top use oxygen beginning at Camp Three, which is at 24,000 feet."

Permits expensive

In order to go on from Base Camp to the summit, one must obtain a government permit that costs from $40,000-$70,000 per person, depending on the number of people in the expedition.

However, Davenport estimates his expenses at just $50 per day for the month he was in Nepal. That included the cost of two Sherpas and a guide as well as food and lodging expense.

"The Sherpas look amazingly like champion marathon runners,'' Davenport said. "They all seem to be about 5 foot 2 and 115 pounds. They carry 80 pounds on their backs and go like mad. They seem to be able to go twice as far and twice as fast as the rest of us."

Although trekking is hardly the same as climbing, Davenport is no stranger to the latter sport. He is experienced in alpine climbing and dry rock wall climbing. He has climbed Mt. Yerupaja (21,765 feet) in South America, the third-highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, the Matterhorn, Mount Blanc, and other peaks in Europe, South America, Alaska, and the continental United States. In all, he has climbed five peaks over 20,000 feet.

Since his knees do not permit him to run, Davenport tries to stay in shape when home by pedaling his bike up and down Mt. Tantalus several times a week, usually doing two or three loops of the 10-mile road that goes up one side of the mountain and comes down the other side. On weekends, he usually goes for a long, flat three- to four-hour ride.

Base camp bustling

Davenport estimates that there were about 300 people at Base Camp. "They come and they go,'' he said. "It's a transient camp, a lot of climbers and a lot of Sherpas. Some of them make it to Base Camp and then have to go down to 13,000 feet or so to recharge, to get the strength up before they attempt to go up from Base Camp. Generally, it takes about two months to fully adapt or acclimatize."

Although the National Geographic team needed little medical assistance, Davenport found many others in Base Camp requiring medical aid. "People get sick easily at that altitude," he said. "The air is dry and cold. It seems like everyone is coughing and hacking and has bronchitis. People get dehydrated. They get varicose veins and have blood clots. Digestion is bad, because you can't really digest protein or fat. Altitude has its own set of problems."