I got altitude psychosis a few hundred meters from high camp as I scaled the frigid face of Huayna Potosi, the ninth-highest mountain in the Bolivian Andes.
The geodesic dome was surrounded by snow at Huayna Potosi High Camp.
Elizabeth LavisThanks to my excellent guide, I made it to high camp and spent the night in an orange geodesic dome perched on Potosi's precarious eastern side.
He rapidly identified the seriousness of the situation, carried my day pack the rest of the way, and helped me ascend slowly to high camp.
While I was fairly fit and prepared to climb Huayna Potosi, I didn't consider the mental or extreme physical toll the mountain would take.
Persons:
—, hallucinating, crampons skidding, Elizabeth Lavis, I've, it's
Organizations:
Service, Business, Bolivia's La, El, Huayna, Psychiatry
Locations:
Huayna Potosi, Bolivian, Caucasus, Potosi, Bolivia's, Bolivia's La Paz, El Alto, Lake Titicaca, Peru, Bolivia, Camp, Svaneti , Georgia