Dr Ash Willmott presented Para-Monte funded research titled:

“Does backpack load affect susceptibility to acute mountain sickness (AMS) during intermittent walking in hypoxia?”

at the European College of Sport Science (ECSS) conference in Rimini, Italy.

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This work was undertaken by the altitude research team at the Welkin Laboratories, Eastbourne at the University of Brighton Mr Serdar Hussein, Miss Ellie Noble,

Dr Ash Willmott, Dr Mark Hayes and Dr Neil Maxwell over the past few years.

The project investigated the effects of carrying additional backpack load on physiological strain and symptoms of acute mountain sickness(AMS).

The results showed that when individuals carry a backpack loaded with20-30%of their body mass, they experienced an increased heart and ventilation rate, as well as exacerbated symptoms, such as a headache, associated with AMS.

These deleterious effects may result in hikers feeling tired sooner, needing more rest breaks and/or experiencing headaches/light-headedness- which may prevent enjoyment and raise safety risks whilst hiking at altitude.

This applied work is important as it adds to our previous research that shows inexperienced hikers have poor knowledge of altitude sickness/safety measures and that those preparing for an upcoming trek/challenge to areas of altitude may need to pack carefully and plan equipment and clothing choices wisely.

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Ash presented this work to an audience at ECSS in Rimini Italy as well as having several discussions around the charities previous/future research with experts from the field as well as sharing the message of raising awareness about AMS and our charity simultaneously.

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Ash then went onto practice what he preached as he climbed up Monte Baldo, which is just off of Lake Garda, reaching elevations of >2200mwhilst carrying a backpack loaded with equipment, clothing for the rain, thunderstorms and sun, and plenty of drinks in ~30C.

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We send a massive thanks to everyone involved in the research at University of Brighton for their outstanding continual hard work for our charity and also like to congratulate Dr Ash  Willmott for an impressive successful presentation at ESCC in Italy of our vision to globally raise Altitude Awareness.

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Grateful@ Para-Monte

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