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Is there any truth to the rumor that Congress is about to hold hearing on the use of steroids on 14ers?

edhaman wrote:Is there any truth to the rumor that Congress is about to hold hearing on the use of steroids on 14ers?

No more truth than the rumor that they will begin acting like responsible citizens who know and can relate to their constituents.

I had my first real problem with acclimating at altitude last year. Prior to this point I had climbed a few 14ers, spent week-long stays over 10,000ft a few times, and taken other various higher altitude climbs. Last year four of us took an over night trip at Missouri Lake, the TH is at about 10k ft and its a 2 mile climb up to 12,800ft. I wasnt in the best shape but I took the slow and steady pace (and I was a bit over packed). I was a little over spent as we got closer to the lake, but I knew I had more "go" in me, and had plenty of safe places to set up camp if I just totally ran out of steam, so I decided to keep pushing. By the time we broke the final rise to the basin around the lake I was exhausted, and even stopping to catch my breath very frequently I wasnt doing a very good job catching my breath. I was still thinking clearly and could take deep breaths just fine, but suddenly over the last 100 yards I took a pretty sudden turn for the worse. It started out that I could still think clearly, but had a difficult time putting the thoughts into action. By the time I crossed the last 100 yards I could barely hold a train of thought long enough to change clothes. It took me about half an hour to set up my REI half dome when it usually takes me less than 5 minutes. I had the shakes pretty bad and couldnt eat without wanting to throw up. Luckily my gf and the other couple we were with took care of things around the camp and I took a short nap. I woke up about an hour later and felt much much better. The scary thing was that I didnt realize just how bad I had felt until I woke up and looked back at how out of it I was.

I've only had serious acclimatization trouble once. I was spending a week camped in Goblins Forest near Longs Peak. It was March and I was melting snow for water and had no drink powders for electrolyte replacement. I followed the exact same routine that has worked perfectly for me in the past but that trip I just couldn't adjust.