this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2025
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Badass. He's a baller. Also, iirc, being a smoker has some kind of performance benefit for high altitude climbers. Like, you are less likely to get altitude sickness because you are used to never getting enough oxygen anyway. But this guy is doing it because he's a blue collar worker in a developing nation. And being a high altitude porter is already much more dangerous than smoking.
Yeah....it doesn't work like that.
I used to skydive, which takes you up to ~15,000ft.
Most normal people don't get hypoxic untill your above ~12,000ft for 15-20min. Some of the smokers used to get hypoxic going through 8,000ft. Scary shit.
You're talking elevations in feet and the post is using meters. 8,000 meters is approximately 26,000 ft.
I'm aware.
The elevations I'm talking about are related to people becoming hypoxic when not on supplemental oxygen.
At around ~10-12,000ft the partial pressure of oxygen is low enough that if your not used to it, you can become hypoxic. O2 @ ~20%
If you are on supplimental oxygen (which if you are climbing Everest, you are), in the "death zone" (~26,000ft) even if your are on 100% supplemental oxygen, the partial pressure is low enough that you can become hypoxic. 02 @ 100%
In both cases, if your lungs don't work good (read; if you smoke), you'll become hypoxic at lower levels.
You and other skydivers don't LIVE at altitudes the Sherpas do. That's the difference.
Just like the Bajau who've evolved to hold their breaths for 10mins and freedive to 50m regularly.
I was more commenting on the fact that smoking doesn't help.
why is that scary?
Generally speaking you don't want people to be hypoxic when they are jumping out of aircraft.
Being hypoxic means your brain doesn't work at the right speed (amoung other things), which can be an issue when your falling to the earth at terminal velocity.
Edit: Clarity
Yeah but with climbing you also train your body. With skydiving the plane does all the lifting. Not comparable at all
If I could light up when I gotta fall to earth I think it would really take the edge off. Prolly enough time to have a few cigarettes and a couple drinks?
I've read a story where a guy survived CO poisoning and the medical staff said that he most likely survived that long cause he smoked like a chimney and his body was used to it.
Used it to defend my smoking habit a couple of times. No idea if it's true tho.