Testing a Pro Climber with an Altitude Simulator

What happens when you take a predominantly anaerobic sport like bouldering and throw in the challenges of high altitude? In this video, we put a Pro climber to the ultimate test using an altitude simulator. Starting at sea level, our climber repeats a V8 boulder problem in our gym, while we gradually decrease the oxygen saturation they’re breathing. The experiment continues until they’re climbing at a simulated altitude of 4000m!
We measure their blood oxygen saturation, perceived recovery, and overall performance to explore just how much oxygen availability impacts bouldering. Will V8 at 4000m be a walk in the park, or will the lack of oxygen bring them to a halt? Watch as we push the limits and uncover new insights into the science of climbing and high-altitude performance. Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more climbing experiments and challenges!
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[@thierrylevasse494]

Cool vid!
Just a note though, O2 % in the air is the same at all altitudes, it’s just the pressure that drops (which effectively becomes like a lower % then sea level)

[@TheUrbanhat]

This. % stays the same anywhere you go, its just the pressure of air itself drops, so we get less oxygen per breath

[@alexlejd6601]

exactly - but the relative measurement here works. Ergo - the measurement device uses the relative oxygen from the environment (in this case sea level) - and we can calc the effective "Dilution" that occurs at higher levels giving comparable oxygen levels in m/mol or "mass". I think they just forgot to explain this

[@Emil_Ortiz]

I have bouldered at one of those locations! Loads of boulder developement going on at Everest base camp!!

[@Plasticjesus504]

I was a college swimmer and we did something fairly similar in an endless pool. I was not located in an area where we could do year round altitude training. I can personally tell you it is 100% torture hahah. Your body literally is just screaming at you. I had obviously big benefits from altitude training but those first couple weeks/months are a kick in the balls. Awesome video guys thanks for all the hard work.

[@neaituppi7306]

I lived around Leadville CO, north of it in the mountains, and climbed at some places that were a bit higher. Like 3658 meters.

[@arowall.d]

I remember climbing in boulder gym in La Paz Bolivia which was at around 3600m. That was definitely an interesting experience even given my good aclimatisation at that time up to 5000m, every sub-max try I had to sit for a bit to calm down the breath, but it didn't appear to influence my strength at all.

[@robsalter3357]

You should do this on a treadwall as well!!

[@craftedsam9153]

4000 meters aka 13000 feet elevation is an altitude that is climbed at by quite a few boulderers every year in colorado during the summer haha

[@rylandavis2976]

It's nothing crazy. However if you are adjusted to sea level your physical ability will deteriorate substantially at 13,000 feet

[@alliecat1008]

1:53 i've bouldered high as a kite 🥦

[@middle-agedclimber]

This film would have been much funnier it they tested the bouldering at increasing 🥦🥦🥦 level :)

[@TheAbd1233]

This is really interesting. I recently had a few sessions where I had a cold/flu and found kinda a similar thing. For me as a v5 climber I could do 1 or 3 max effort attempts and then just somehow stopped recovering. I am guessing due to my reduced cardio due to illness. Once I ok it went away.
I am also only a sample of 1 but seems like a similar idea.

[@charliefinnie]

How long before climbers start doing altitude camps before trying Burden of Dreams?

[@cellometal3]

Lincoln lake in Colorado is at 12000 ft. It takes me few sessions to acclimated but after that I feel like my oxygen consumption gets better

[@neaituppi7306]

Yeah, I climbed around there. I lived on the street below that runs right up to Lincoln Lake.

[@unvexis]

I feel like such an ACKSHUALLY person, but percentage of atmospheric gases doesn't change with elevation. Instead, you might say that the partial pressure of inspired oxygen decreases with increased elevation. This is common misunderstanding. Some people try to frame this as a percentage of EFFECTIVE oxygen, but that only confuses the matter, in my opinion.

[@SpartaSpartan117]

Would the effect be the same after adaptation to the altitude?

[@M0dElite]

That's why the mountaineers and endurance athletes have the high altitude training camps. Low oxygen increases production of erythropoietin, which ultimately increases the amount of red blood cells, increasing the amount of oxygen your blood can transport / volume. In this scenario. we would see less drastic drops in oxygen saturation / increase in heart rate and faster recovery times between attempts.

[@amberblackford9999]

How does altitude acclimatization figure into this?

[@An_Otter_Dennis]

My take away is to get a pulsoximeter and to place by my climbing stuff.
Am I wrong to assum that I could improve my sessions quality by checking my recovery with the O² saturation?

[@BryceRhoades]

Thats assuming that O2 is the limiting thing in your recovery, giving it a few minutes between hard attempts is plenty as they showed the speed it can begin recovering.

[@M0dElite]

I'm sure that would be overkill. Your O2 saturation is back to normal, when you're not out of breath. The faster forms of cellular energy like ATP and Createne phosphate and maybe glucose are most likely the limiting factor between attempts in the normal O2 levels.

[@danielwesterlund1905]

So the takeaway from this is that boulderers have no stamina.

[@lucas7370]

Great video! It would be interesting to do the exact same thing, after some rest, just without the oxygen deficit. That way, you'd actually have something to compare.

[@observing7312]

Omg, don't use auto-dubbing when uploading. It's so bad. First sentence: it's a 'anorexia' sport 😂😂😂