Why is it so difficult to climb Mount Everest only 8848 meters, but it is easy to walk 10 thousand meters?

The problem is too light. 8848 meters is already the highest mountain on earth. Climbing to the top and walking 10 thousand meters on land are completely two concepts. 3 km above sea level is already a threshold of hypoxia. It is impossible for ordinary people to overcome lack of oxygen and bad weather.

First of all, as far as the simplest climbing is concerned, normal people usually take a rest and replenish their strength after climbing the stairs for 40 minutes, such as Huashan and Mount Tai. These mountains are still built on the basis of development, just need to overcome their own gravity and go up. Mount Everest is not only higher in height, but also has no artificial foothold. It's all hands and feet Even if it is resting, it is suspended in mid-air, and ordinary people will turn back in less than 4 kilometers physically.

In terms of oxygen content, although there is no standard altitude reference line for hypoxia so far, there is a probability that ordinary people will have altitude sickness when they are over 3 kilometers, and pulmonary edema when they are over 4 kilometers. People who have been to Tibet should have a deep understanding of this. When the altitude rises to 5000 meters and 6000 meters, it is difficult for ordinary people to adapt even if they are inactive, let alone continue to climb to 7000 meters and 8000 meters.

Finally, the bad weather. Mount Qomolangma began to be covered with ice and snow after an altitude of 5500-6000 meters. In the process of climbing, you will encounter bad weather such as strong wind and cooling. Together, these factors make it difficult to drive on a smooth road, let alone a complicated climb. Moreover, it is more difficult to carry heavy equipment when climbing a mountain than five kilometers of cross-country loading, so 8848 is basically different from walking 10 thousand meters on a flat road.

It's hard to climb Mount Everest, that's for sure.

1, temperature, every time the terrain rises1000m, the temperature drops by 6 degrees. You can imagine how low the temperature of Mount Everest is.

2, terrain, climbers have to climb 8848 meters step by step, but there is no road, no steps, all snow and ice, the difficulty can be imagined.

3, peak hypoxia, difficulty breathing.

4. It's hard to stand in a strong wind, let alone climb high.

Why is it so difficult to climb Mount Everest only 8,848 meters, but it is so easy to walk 10,000 meters? This question is very simple, because climbing Mount Everest is climbing a slope, so climbing a slope is incomparable with walking on the flat ground. What did you say?/Sorry?

Don't you see the answer in the words "Deng" and "Zou"? Is the word "Deng" difficult to write? Is it hard to remember? Conversely, is the word "go" good? Do you remember? It can be seen that Chinese is so profound! Furthermore, there is a saying: nothing is difficult in the world, as long as you are willing to climb. If it is not difficult, is it necessary to climb up and down?

Why is it so difficult to climb Mount Everest only 8848 meters, but it is easy to walk 10 thousand meters? Even with Sherpa logistics team and guides, climbing Mount Everest is not an easy task! Mount Everest is only 8.8 kilometers, so it is quite easy for us to walk for dozens of kilometers on the ground. Why is it so difficult to climb the mountain?

How much energy does it take to climb and walk on a flat road? In middle school, we know that climbing is gravity work, while walking on a flat road is generally friction work. What's the difference between the two? What's the proportion of energy consumed?

Suppose our body weighs 60 kilograms, and the energy consumed to climb to the top is consistent with the theoretical gravitational potential energy at the top. Of course, we ignore other influences and just make a simple calculation. The gravitational potential energy of climbing to the height of 8848 meters is about 5202624J, and this energy is converted into 1242.9 kcal.

Common food calories

According to the heat of rice: every100g is 1 16 kcal, only about 1.07 kg of rice is needed to reach the top of Mount Everest. According to our daily staple food, it is only 2-3 meals. It seems quite easy!

So how much energy does it take to walk 10 km? According to the normal person's 60 kilograms, it is about 650 kilojoules, that is, about 155.285 kilocalories, which is about 1/8 of the climbing height of 8848 meters. It seems that this climbing height is really a little tired. After all, walking 10 km is enough!

I would also like to remind you that if you have a snack of about half a meal, you need to walk about 10 km to finish it. Of course, this is beside the point, so I won't say much!

Climb Mount Everest and climb it? How difficult is it to climb Mount Everest? Our time for continuous climbing is very limited. After all, it is similar to rock climbing and consumes a lot of energy. The longest climbing route in the world is Kawaguchi Pagoda in Pakistan, with the highest peak of 6286 meters. Only a handful of people climbed to the top! Why is it so easy to walk but so difficult to climb a mountain?

In 20 12, David Rama and his partner Peter Ortner repeated the classic route "eternal flame" on the unknown tower peak.

In the above article, when we calculate the gravity function of climbing, we only consider two factors, one is weight and the other is height, but we don't consider the difficulty of natural conditions, such as human body's altitude reaction. Ordinary people will have mountain sickness after 2700 meters, and well-trained people will have a reaction after 4000-5000 meters!

This phenomenon is caused by the decrease of the total amount of oxygen in the air (the ratio of oxygen to nitrogen changes with the height, but the difference is not particularly great, mainly because the altitude increases and the air is thin). The total amount of oxygen at 5500 meters is only about half that of the plain, and at 8500 meters it is only 30%. In the state of natural breathing, the human body can't get enough oxygen, and the result is obvious, such as general weakness, fatigue, weak heartbeat and dizziness.

And it will be accompanied by insensitivity, emotional restlessness, high spirits, decreased thinking ability and memory, and hallucinations, so the result of hyperreflexia is very serious, and many situations are unpredictable!

Since there is no oxygen, why not take an oxygen bottle? Indeed, modern climbers do not use oxygen bottles, but oxygen bottles can only solve one problem, lack of oxygen, can not solve the problem of low temperature, excessive physical consumption, nor can they replace supplies, so the difficulty of climbing Mount Everest is beyond our imagination!

The route to the summit of Mount Everest

The vertical height of Mount Everest is 8848 meters, but there is a base camp for climbers at the foot of Mount Everest, which can be reached by car. The altitude here is 5200 meters, which means that the real height of climbing Mount Everest is only 3644 meters! But this 3.6 km road may be one of the most difficult roads in the world!

North line of Mount Everest

East section of Mount Everest

Southwest route of Mount Everest

The picture above shows the summit route of several sides of Mount Everest. Needless to say, this route twists and turns, which is more than ten times the vertical height. Of course, for mountaineering, distance is never the key, the key is difficulty! On the way to Everest, there are frostbite, sliding, falling rocks, ice collapse, falling into cracks, physical overdraft and so on. Any hidden danger may kill the climber!

Hilary steps

For example, Hillary steps, the last steep position before the summit of Mount Everest, is close to the cliff, and the human body has to climb the cliff under extreme conditions. This is indeed a challenging task. However, in the earthquake in Nepal on April 25th, 20 15, the Hilary steps collapsed somewhat, which seems to be less difficult than in the past, but it is still a very challenging task.

Height distribution of Everest's corpse

The above picture shows the height distribution of the remains of the victims of Mount Everest. It is estimated that the cost of moving a corpse from Mount Everest is about $70,000 to $80,000, and many locations are inoperable. This money is impossible to earn! Up to now, hundreds of people have been buried on Mount Everest, some of them had accidents on the way to the summit, some were sick or exhausted, and some were killed on the way back after the summit. Most of the victims still stay on Mount Everest, because it is more difficult to remove the body from this height than to climb to the top again!

Proportion of corpses on Mount Everest in various countries and regions

Obviously, Nepal has the most victims, because most Sherpas, the guides of Mount Everest, are from Nepal! Everest tour guide, the salary is really high, but the mortality rate is extremely high, this money is definitely not easy to earn!

The infinite scenery is in the dangerous peak, so even if it is difficult to climb Mount Everest, there will be many people to challenge, because there are many brave people among mankind!

In life, some friends like walking, and some friends like climbing mountains on weekends. By comparison, we will find that it is much easier to take a flat road than to climb a mountain. Why?

When people walk on a horizontal road, according to the decomposition of mechanics, the gravity of the human body and the supporting force of the ground cancel each other out. In this process, the human body can do work only by overcoming the resistance of air.

But mountain climbing is different. In the process of mountain climbing, we need to raise the height of the human body relative to the ground. In this process, we need to do work to improve the gravitational potential energy.

As shown in the above figure, the working formula is w = fs cos θ. On the plane, θ is 0, then F traction only needs to overcome air to do work, while on the inclined plane or vertical plane, θ is 0, it needs to overcome gravity to do work.

So everyone can understand why climbing a mountain is more tiring than walking on a flat road.

The above is only one aspect, and other issues need to be involved in climbing Mount Everest.

The oxygen concentration, atmospheric pressure and temperature in the air will decrease with the elevation, and the most important things for human survival are air and water.

Maybe many friends went to high altitude areas and felt altitude sickness. Altitude sickness is caused by the lack of oxygen in the air and the inability of the human body to fully carry out aerobic breathing.

As shown in the above figure, aerobic respiration will produce water and carbon dioxide, while anaerobic respiration will produce lactic acid in anaerobic state, and lactic acid will accumulate in muscles, causing muscle pain.

For example, altitude sickness also has muscle aches. We usually do strenuous exercise, and anaerobic breathing will also produce lactic acid, so strenuous exercise will cause muscle aches.

In the process of climbing Everest, on the one hand, it is necessary to increase the height to do work, on the other hand, it is necessary to overcome anaerobic glycolysis, which seems to be a vicious circle.

(formula for calculating gravitational potential energy, where m represents mass, g represents gravitational acceleration and h represents vertical height of uplift)

To sum up, let's explain:

Therefore, climbers need professional equipment, and professionals climbing Mount Everest need very professional oxygen supply equipment!

You may have heard that people living in high altitude areas have higher hemoglobin content in their blood and bigger hearts than people living in low altitude areas. Why?

The oxygen concentration is low at high altitude, so it is necessary to make effective use of oxygen and improve the transportation and utilization rate of oxygen molecules in the blood, so that the human body will produce more hemoglobin.

A bigger heart is good for transporting blood.

So, Dr. Bobo reminds everyone:

Be sure to exercise more and exercise more. People who exercise more are really better and have stronger resistance. People who exercise more have stronger heart reserve function and lower risk of heart disease.

You can also run or climb mountains at ordinary times, so you must keep exercising ~

Mount Everest's 8848 is not flat, because most of the oxygen is concentrated within a few kilometers of the ground under the action of gravity. The higher the altitude, the lower the oxygen concentration and the lower the temperature. There are many cracks in the glacier on Mount Everest, so you must be very careful when you take a step.

The earth is a spherical planet with rock structure all day, but due to crustal movement, there are protrusions and depressions on the crust, which are mountains and canyons for human beings. Everyone who has attended junior high school knows that the role of gravity is related to mass and distance, so the role of gravity is to shrink matter, so most of the atmosphere on the earth is concentrated within a few kilometers of the ground. With the elevation, the atmospheric pressure is decreasing, and oxygen, as a gas with a density lower than the average density of the atmosphere, is also affected by gravity. So one of the main problems facing Everest is lack of oxygen. If you climb Mount Everest without oxygen, the oxygen above 5000 meters above sea level will be thinner and unable to support heavy physical activities.

Because of the existence of the earth's atmosphere, sunlight is filtered layer by layer. When sunlight reaches the ground, most of the short wave and cosmic radiation have been consumed by the atmosphere and the earth's magnetic field. Only part of the medium and long wave electromagnetic waves can easily reach the ground, which has a weak direct heating effect on the atmosphere, while the ground will radiate infrared long wave radiation after receiving sunlight radiation, which has a strong heating effect on carbon dioxide and water vapor. The water vapor and carbon dioxide of the earth are mainly distributed in the troposphere near the ground, so the temperature of the troposphere is mainly caused by the heating of the atmosphere by long-wave radiation on the ground. The farther away from the ground, the lower the radiation and the lower the temperature. According to the calculation, the temperature drops by about 0.6 per 100 meter above sea level, and by about 50 at the heights of Mount Everest at 8848 and 8.5 kilometers above sea level, while the average temperature on the earth's surface is 15, which is more than 8400 meters above sea level.

Cold and lack of oxygen are two factors that limit people's climbing. Humans on earth mainly live in places where the altitude is not very high, and their lungs adapt to low altitude, but it is difficult to adapt to ultra-high altitude. Altitude sickness is easy to occur above 8000 meters, which can lead to emphysema and septicemia in severe cases. These are all fatal factors on the plateau. Not long ago, more than a dozen Indian soldiers died in the plateau because of injuries, cold and lack of medical security. High altitude and low temperature have made the places above the snow line of Mount Everest covered with ice and snow for thousands of years. Due to the action of gravity and the melting of glaciers in summer, there are many cracks hidden on glaciers, ranging in depth from tens to hundreds. When climbing Mount Everest, we should pay attention to avoid the influence of glaciers.

Another factor is that the weather at the top of Mount Everest changes dramatically. Due to the high altitude, the water vapor in the Himalayas rises, and the top of Mount Everest is prone to severe weather such as fog and strong wind. The peak wind speed is as high as 17 meters per second, and the wind force is above 8. It is obviously difficult to walk against the wind when the wind is 8, not to mention the low temperature and hypoxia environment at high altitude. In such an oxygen-deficient and low-temperature environment, people need to carry a lot of materials, oxygen bottles for emergencies, and of course, heavy winter clothes. Even if they wear thick clothes in winter, they feel uncomfortable, what's more, Everest is steep, cold and oxygen-deficient, and the equipment is also very labor-intensive. We must also guard against abnormal conditions, such as abnormal climate, glacier cracks, avalanches and falling rocks. Every step is full of danger.

In fact, many people climb Mount Everest every year, but they need short-term and nearby weather forecast and climb Mount Everest within a suitable time window. In May each year, the climate at the top of Mount Everest is relatively mild, but there are also severe short-term extreme weather. Climbing Everest and reaching the summit need to be combined with ground meteorological monitoring data. If you climb Mount Everest at an inappropriate time, it will even be blown into the canyon by the wind, as shown in The Climber.

(Southeast Ridge Route) As a contrast, climbing 100 meters in daily life is quite tiring and needs to stop and have a rest. Being at high altitude will only accelerate the consumption of the human body, and the sense of fatigue will be stronger. So climbing 8000 meters up and walking 8000 meters on the ground is not a concept at all, and the climbing route can't be straight. The climbing route is at least three times the height of Mount Everest.

Let's not talk about low temperature, lack of oxygen and natural disasters such as snowstorms and avalanches that will happen at any time.

Go home and climb the 10 floor in one breath, and you will know if it is difficult to climb the mountain.

Most people have misunderstandings about the causes and basic theories of mountain response. Always regard lack of oxygen as the only reason. In fact, altitude sickness has a more important factor besides lack of oxygen, that is, the atmospheric pressure around the whole body, which is absolutely indispensable to the human body. Humans can live for a few minutes without air, and the whole environment suddenly has no atmospheric pressure, and they can't even live for half a second. Those of us who live at low altitudes have to bear one kilogram of atmospheric pressure per square centimeter. In other words, an adult has to bear about 15 to 20 tons of atmospheric pressure, depending on the size of the human body. With such a large tonnage of atmospheric pressure attached to us, why are we not uncomfortable at all? This is to adapt to the environment, and the human body itself has the ability to resist. Just like a layer of paper, you can hold it with two fingers from both sides with the same force at the same time. The truth that enough paper is safe is not repeated here. But in deep water, whether it is light diving or heavy diving, the diving depth of divers is limited. Just like in the universe, astronauts walk in space. They must wear spacesuits worth hundreds of millions of dollars. If it were not for more than 90% of the composition of the human body and the pressure constraint of the spacesuit, the human body would explode like a bomb of more than ten tons. This has nothing to do with hypoxia and oxygen inhalation. For example, the fish salvaged from the deep sea broke up and died before they came out of the water. People living in low altitude areas, because of the change of rainy weather, people with respiratory diseases will feel that the discomfort caused by low air pressure has aggravated their illness. Passengers flying tens of thousands of meters, because of the protection of compression chamber, do not feel the side effects caused by low pressure. Submarines in deep water can only work and live in it, because the submarine shell made of steel beams and plates resists water pressure. During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period, the 73 1 unit of the Japanese army in Northeast China experimented with China people. They put people in a sealed room for monitoring. The air pump pumped out the air at full power, and the people inside immediately fell to the ground, urinated and swollen to death. Climbing more than 8,000 meters of Mount Everest, the pressure on the mountaineer 10 tons was reduced by more than half at once. I can't adapt for a while, so there will be a great mountain reaction. My head and chest seem to be splitting. Blood pressure has risen a lot, but venous reflux has reduced its intensity. Stiff fingers and feet at the end of the body are prone to frostbite. Breathing is also difficult, because breathing is too much and breathing is too little. It seems that one mouth will spit out the whole lung and stomach. I have no appetite at all. Although I breathed the pure oxygen in the oxygen bottle, I was still struggling, groggy, weak and slow, as if I had paid the limit of my life. There are many unsung heroes behind the mountaineering team, that is, the local Tibetans who sent them equipment. People have been living in high altitude areas of Tibet since they were born. They adapted to life at high altitude decades earlier than we did. If they hadn't delivered materials and equipment to the players. It is difficult for the mountaineering team to complete the mountaineering task.

If they are protected by spacesuits, not to mention the altitude of 8848 meters, it is not difficult to climb into space if there is a ladder. This is the secret of the close relationship between atmospheric pressure and human body.

This question makes me a 70-year-old man feel funny. I think you're here to earn traffic, right? Friends who have been to Tibet know that even in Lhasa, which is more than 5,000 meters above sea level, even if the altitude is only 3,600 meters, some young people in the mainland feel breathless when they walk fast. If you go to a place above 5300 meters above sea level, what does it feel like to try to walk at a brisk pace of 1000 meters I said in a circle of friends that I ran more than 30 meters on the road in front of the Rongbu Temple in Everest, panting. Some people say that I am old and useless! The person who said this is actually ignorant. Why is it so difficult to climb Mount Everest, which is only 8848 meters? Let's not talk about Mount Everest here. Go to Sichuan Daocheng Aden, Milk Sea and Wuse Sea, where the altitude is only over 4,000 meters. Can you run there?