Nevado de Chañi

While in Chile, I met a group of firefighters who invited me to participate in another training exercise three weeks later. This session focused on high-altitude lifesaving and took place on Chañi, the highest mountain in Jujuy, at an altitude of 5,949 meters.

On the first day, we drove up to an altitude of 4,200 meters before hiking toward our camp at around 5,000 meters. About 100 height meters before reaching the campsite, I began experiencing a severe headache and nausea - clear symptoms of altitude sickness. In hindsight, I should have descended to a lower altitude at that moment. However, since we hadn't brought tents, I decided to push forward to the camp, where I could sleep in a stone cabin. As I climbed higher, my headache rapidly worsened, and I eventually started vomiting. Ascending to 5,000 meters in just one day was definitely not the best idea!

It turned into a miserable night with a splitting headache, constant vomiting, freezing cold, and no sleep. I recall thinking it was the worst pain I had ever experienced. I kept throwing up even when my stomach was empty, which left me with chest pains for weeks afterwards. Yet, amid the suffering, I was amazed by the brightest starry sky I had ever seen while I was outside, vomiting. When the sun finally rose, I began my descent to a lower altitude, and gradually, my symptoms began to ease.

The day after we returned home, there was a diploma ceremony for participants who had completed the high-altitude lifesaving course. Ironically, I was awarded a diploma as well, despite gaining far more experience in being rescued than in rescuing!Read more