Long-tailed Blue at Portland Bill, Dorset

[Padfield]

No leps at 3000m today. Plenty of Erebia species stayed with us above 2500m, while we still had some grass, including tyndarus, manto, pronoe and gorge, but we lost them when the way turned to rock and shale.


(E. tyndarus)


(E. manto)

And also at about 2500m, this female Cynthia's frit was quite a bonus for the day:



Guy

[Matsukaze]

Off topic, but prompted by Guy's photos from yesterday...does alcohol get into the bloodstream quicker at altitude?

[Piers]

Hi Matsukaze,

The effects of alcohol (and other drugs) are magnified at altitudes significantly higher than sea level. Differences can be noticed at altitudes of as little as one mile above sea level.

Blood does absorb alcohol more quickly at higher altitudes, interfering with the absorption of oxygen by hemoglobin. This effect is magnified the higher the altitude. Drinking alcohol at these altitudes reduces the amount of oxygen that gets to the brain.

It is estimated that one drink at a high altitude will have the same effects on the body as three drinks taken at sea level (a worthy consideration when boozing on a tight budget - buy an Alpine property..!).

Both altitude and alcohol cause dehydration, and when combined, dehydration dramatically increases.

Similarly symptoms of altitude sickness are exascerbated by booze consumption. It's generally considered a no-no to drink when mountaineering etc as even hang overs (the effect of dehydration) are worse.

Felix.

[Jack Harrison]

Felix:

The effects of alcohol (and other drugs) are magnified at altitudes significantly higher than sea level.

That explains things. I now understand why hang-overs always seemed worse at top-of-climb after a heavy session the evening before.....

Jack (professional pilot for 40 years)

[Padfield]

Felix is of course right that alcohol is off the menu for any serious mountaineering, though its debilitating effects are lessened to a considerable extent if your system is acclimatised to altitude. In practice, its chief effect is to reduce physical capacity quite dramatically and no one on a challenging climb would even consider drinking, any more than a marathon runner would consider drinking before a race.

Tragically, people do die every year in the mountains near me, summer and winter. The cause is ill-preparedness. Rest assured I climbed the Dents de Morcles yesterday carrying, in addition to beer and lunch, a litre and a half of clean water, two litres of sugary drink, a litre of hot tea, chocolate, peanuts, a first-aid kit, waterproofs, warm clothing, map, compass, knife and string. Safety in the mountains is paramount. If my cavalier attitude towards beer gave a different impression, that was wrong of me.

Guy

[Rogerdodge]

It's generally considered a no-no to drink when mountaineering etc as even hang overs (the effect of dehydration) are worse.

Been there - done that - missed the photos

[Piers]

Been there - done that - missed the photos

and vomited on the T-shirt..?

You didn't sound cavalier in the least Guy. Although with the weight of everything that you carried up the Dents de Morcles I bet you needed a pint after that slog..!

Felix.

[Paul]

Roger..... owwwwch, first time I can recall being that dehydrated as well.... so affected by it I wandered aimlessly around the carpark for ages after

[NickB]

... Safety in the mountains is paramount. If my cavalier attitude towards beer gave a different impression, that was wrong of me. Guy

..yeah, needs more than a couple of beers for Guy to get dangerously dehydrated; took the rest of us at least 1/4 bottle of malt, 2 hours sleep and a 1200 metre climb up the mountain to reach that state......and Guy was still leaping around like a mountain-goat .....

[Rogerdodge]

and vomited on the T-shirt..?

C'mon Nick - I wasn't that bad.

[NickB]

No Roger, you were not that bad...
... you would never, I hope, do that to your t-shirt....

N

[Piers]

I liked the way that you got the grief for my comment Nick. Long may it continue..!

Felix.

[NickB]

I liked the way that you got the grief for my comment Nick. Long may it continue..!
Felix.

..part of my role in life, it seems

[Padfield]

A final observation: The LTBs on my local patch were still there yesterday, and still up to the same antics. It would seem that when this highly mobile species finds what it wants it does settle down and stay. Some were looking a little old:



Others were positively geriatric:



I can't be sure, but I think what attracted them to this site, and nowhere else in the vicinity so far as I can see, was the bladder senna bordering the nectar field where I found them.

Guy