Karakul. Pamir. Freediving 2015.


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Ñòàòüÿ íà ðóññêîì.

Stafeev Sergey (Novosibirsk, Russia) – Freediving Federation instructor, hobbies: mountaineering.
Miroshnikov Boris (Novosibirsk, Russia) – freediver, hobbies: snowboarding, mountaineering. Mixed mountaineering and freediving, they were first of russian freedivers, who dove holding breath at an altitude of 4000 meters above sea level. This may serve as an impetus for the development of freediving in yet another, new direction.

We are at the Pamirs!!!

The first thing that strikes in the Pamirs - scales. Everything is giant. Distances - hundreds of kilometers. Altitude elevation – thousands of meters. Insignificant mountain, seeming no more than a hill and lost among dozens of others, dominates the plateau in the good half a kilometer.

Space
Space

Entry to the Pamirs through the south of Kyrgyzstan. The road that runs all the capital of Tajikistan - Dushanbe - the famous Pamir Tract. Mount-Badakhshan autonomous region, which occupies almost half of the country. Altitude - 4000 meters above sea level. Only in the highlands of Tibet and Bolivia, have human settlements at this altitude.

Skies. Clouds. Silent but insistent wind. Powerful mountains around and snow masses of peaks on the horizon.

The village of Karakul. Flat roofs of one-storey houses. Stockade poles of power lines, scraps of wires - centralized electricity is long gone. The smell of dung and some thorns. They burned for heating and cooking food.

Pamir. Karakul village
Pamir. Karakul village

Time stopped. Rare car will travel on the highway, tangentially touching the village. More rarely cars slowing down and rolling into the village to visit the "homestay". Tourists from around the world: America, Australia, Europe, Asia. They are stopping often for a couple of hours - for a meal and relax. Some others stopping to stay the night.

We have been here, "the old-timers." We spend the night for the second time (the first - immediately upon arrival) and are now back from the acclimatization in the mountains. Tomorrow we will go to dive deep, southwestern part of the lake. Near the village the bottom is flat, even no hint of depth.


How was the acclimatization

On the second day, according to the approved plan - acclimatization. It was decided not to wait for favors from nature. That meant not to wait passively when the body finally realize that with every breath of oxygen it receives less (approximately 40 percent) than in the plains, and give it a thrust. It is necessary to maintain certain parameters, so as not to "derail" acclimatization, and since we had no medical equipment with us, we were guided by three criteria:

- Pulse at rest - the difference between evening and morning;

- Duration of breath holding;

- Feeling (appetite, sleep).

Well, and the head. The head is always with you - and if it does not hurt - that is good.

His head ached the first night at an altitude of 4000 kilometers. Four Ibuprofen tablets for two solved the problem. We went to the foot of the mountain Urtabuz, walked up to 4150, put the tent and walked up to 4250 before bedtime. In the morning, the following decision matured - climb to the top because:

- It is necessary to move;

- We wanted to see and shoot panoramas of Pamir;

- We need water.

The fact was that there is bad with water – below 5000 meters there is snow only at north slopes, and water in liquid form is absent in this mountains. Therefore it is necessary to rise to the snowfields on top and pick up some snow with them in the package to drink later – in the morning remained a half liter from our water supplies.

The path to the top is not technically difficult, but in the end, we had a bit of scrambling over rocks.

We gone, each at their own pace - Boris slowly, almost without stopping, me - faster, but more often stopping to catch breath.

4400. 4500. A little bit hard. "Everywhere life" is around. Huge bumblebees - and they only fly in such rarefied air! Black wasps - wasp-stunners specializing in spiders, including the karakurts - those "black widows," who are not averse to bite the male. We should be wary of them too - can crawl under a sleeping bag or other things, and their bite is very poisonous even though we have the antidote. We did not have used them, and fortunately - did not have to. Moreover, the antidote, by the way, is simple – cauterization with the match’s head immediately, before the poison had sucked in your blood.

4600. 4700. The rate of motion falls. It is hard, but without strain. As luck would have it - hares jumping not too far from us. Cheerfully jumping. They are about a size of a bedside table. Leverets are sitting under the stones. We have even managed to take a picture without disturbing them too much. We are climbers here, and they have leverets, you know.

4800. 4900. Clambering the rocks. We saw snow in a niche and noted the location. During the descent, we will gather the package, because water has long ended and we are thirsty. Burner is there, the bowler too. We will heat up the snow to drink and restore the balance until nothing bad happened.

We came out on top. Below - the lake, away – Lenin’s Peak in all its glory. Weather and visibility is excellent. Ten hours of climbing and we can relax for half an hour.

Top Urtabuz. In the distance - Lenin Peak. Below - the lake Karakul
Top Urtabuz. In the distance - Lenin Peak. Below - the lake Karakul

By the evening, we came down to the tent. Tired, of course, but not prohibitive. We drank tea, ate. Checked pulse - 72 -78 at rest, fine. If by the morning it will not be higher, then all is great. Only throat tickle - too dry, and I inappropriately drank some water melted from cold snow. For prevention, I rinsed my throat with chlorhexidine – sickness is quite useless at at an altitude. In the morning, I forgot about it and we slowly came back to the village. Half an hour later, we came to the tract. About three hours we laid on the roadside on backpacks, covered by sleeping-pads from the sun, waiting for the passing cars. We went away in the back of a pickup truck, stuffed by various cargoes to the eyeballs. By the way, this truck was the first vehicle going in the required direction. Before that, there were only three oncoming Land Rovers with the British, of course, tourists, and two Pajero with tajik numbers, too, with tourists exploring the Pamirs.

Now - the rest, making plans on diving. Tried to "dry" static. At first – one minute. Afterwards brought to a one and a half. We mentioned the interesting contrast to the static on the plain - a different character of the respiratory discomfort. No contractions, but the pressure in the middle of the chest grows rapidly and becomes hard to tolerate. We have to make restorative breathing after tries very careful and not less than 5 - 7 cycles of actively gathering additional air. However, the restorative breathing is all-understandable - the partial pressure of oxygen in the atmosphere at this altitude is nearly forty percent smaller, so it is much less oxygen in the lungs, and becomes significantly fewer in the blood. And another interesting point - fully felt the "periodic breathing" or spontaneous apnea. At full rest, breathing suddenly stops, then there is the urge to breathe - doing three deep breaths and several breathing cycles as usual, until the next spontaneous breathing stop. Boris took video as I was breathing during sleep - the same picture. This is due to a small accumulation of carbon dioxide, but also as freedivers we, in the process of training, reduced sensitivity to excessive accumulation of carbon dioxide. So this is a simple reason for the 'reluctance to breathe’, if we talk in.

Enlightened Boris
Enlightened Boris

The first exit on diving

Since arrived in Tajikistan light, it was necessary for us to collect the necessary equipment first. Of course, we took the suits (7 mm.), But the beacon and cargo were improvised. 50-liter oil canister was appointed as a beacon, and a 12-pound stud of an unknown mechanism performed the role of bottom cargo. In the morning, we went to the southwestern part of the lake, crossed the peninsula separating the lake on the eastern and western parts, and landed on a deserted beach. We agreed that after five days we’ll be picked up, and after that we put the tent and began to prepare for diving.

Pamir. Preparation for immersion
Pamir. Preparation for immersion

Lake, contrary to expectations, it was even very friendly. Not too cold, 8 - 9 degrees water temperature, less than expected, and the transparency and abundance of light in the water column were pleasantly surprised - the visibility was about ten meters. More than favorable conditions. But the density of water was a surprise. The taste of the water was quite a bit salty, even bitter, but diving was very difficult. Me, in my pretty "crimped" 7 and two pounds of cargo, hardly tightened myself under the water going over the rope and raking fins. However, you are flying out of the water backwards at least to the waist. In addition, Boris, when we folded, simply "stood" in the water without fins, holding this pin on his shoulder. For safety reasons, of course, such a buoyancy is "plus", but hard work in the beginning of the dive does not contribute to its quality and duration - the pulse quickens immediately, and this is not a plain dive. Since we have two kilograms of cargo for two, then we decide to increase the weight of the load on the cable tomorrow to ease the dive somehow.

Pamir. Immersion
Pamir. Immersion

Moreover, the second surprise: from the shore it looked very attractive in terms of depth, it seemed, here it is, twenty meters from the coast has a dozen, but... The same "dozen" in the 200 and 300 meters from the shore, without any "stall" and changes in the bottom relief. We searched the depth on the second day. And the third (moved half a kilometer along the coast), but with no results. Humbled. Then we began to increase the time. With no difficulty, we reached the minute. Sensations were interesting. Different than on the plains. Contractions occured almost immediately after a dive, already at 5-7 meters of downward movement. After turning, they are immediately releasing and you do not want to breathe. Slow, slowing down on the rope, you are popping up. You can still stay under the surface, but after coming up, they are immediately ‘rolling’, and to breathe you need to long and hard "get" air with a deep breath. We were not diving until blackout, because firmly agreed for not being heroes and not to dive "on the verge". Although, as it turned out almost immediately - a verge in terms of hypoxic stress it appeared to be very thin. We still go back to it later.

We Dived
We Dived

We were not drinking water from the lake - for drinking and cooking we used fresh water, which brought with us. So the water consumption was estimated very accurately. Once again, we were surprised: it turned out one and a half liter per person per day. It was for all five days, without any symptoms of dehydration. Miracles! Air temperature was comfortable, but evaporation here is greater than on the plain. Moreover, diving for two hours a day spends a lot of moisture with deep breathing, divers are familiar this phenomenon in practice and that is why this is so incomprehensible.

The car arrived an hour before the appointed time. Punctuality + courtesy. Generally, the locals treated us very well. They sincerely encourage and help, always friendly and responsible. They said – and so it will be done. They listened about our not quite the standard "research" with great interest. They asked: ‘How do you dive like this?’, ‘What is at the bottom?’ With keen interest, they watched a video with our diving, shot by Boris for the ‘Go Pro’. They talked about how kiter came to the village and rode through the lake, about tourists brought an inflatable catamaran with an engine (here we were jealous!), and of course - about the legend of the lake. Dragon. They told us various testimonies - believe it or not. Officially, we declare - we can neither confirm nor deny the existence of such a creature in the lake.

Pamir. The lake and mountains from under a cloud
Pamir. The lake and mountains from under a cloud

Static

Again, we are in the village.We decided to do static, but in the water. We went to the beach through a deserted village (in the summer nearly all the working-age population goes to the surrounding pastures, as we were told). We started to make small fry statics in turn, protecting each other. Almost immediately, the audience appeared from nowhere, located on the shore and waiting to see what happens next. We started with forty seconds of static, easy to discomfort, and then – mush longer and much more uncomfortable. Boris made 2.20 on the fifth attempt. He rose himself, 15 seconds carefully done restorative breath, and then stood still for a moment, swaying in the incoming waves with a slightly defocused look. He is a bit too far, though, as he contends – he could be in the longer static, but knowing how difficult it is to breathe and how long are the symptoms of hypoxia, decided to play it safe and went up until control of the state was still very crisp. Nevertheless - here it is insidious, hypoxia at an altitude!

There was warm, we slowly, quietly dressed and went back. Just came for dinner. We had lunch, and then passed out, in the truest sense of the word. Three hours later we woke up, wanting to eat again and have a coffee. Boris complained of weakness and dizziness after the statics, and after a coffee he began to feel better. In the evening, we took a walk. Everything was fine. However, we learned the lesson. Statics at an altitude must be done carefully.

Ñòàôååâ.jpg
Stafeev Sergey

Still, the 2 minutes 20 seconds result, achieved on the tenth day at the 4000 meters altitude, I feel fantastic. In the first two days, hold your breath for a few seconds, just to take a picture, was difficult - there were dizziness and shortness of breath. And then - more than two minutes. In addition, suit presses, coastal waves swinging, and it becomes cool after 15 - 20 minutes in the water. Not ideal conditions, what could I say. The conclusion is the following - the whole thing in a successful acclimatization. On the tenth day, we ceased to notice that we are on top. All less worried about shortness of breath, household activities carried out as usual. It was possible for the second time to go to the mountains, already higher, for much more time and push the body closer to adapt to the altitude, but we did not have much time prior to departure, and wanted to dive deeper to realize the acclimatization that we already achieved.

Depth

Trusted the local driver, who said he would take us to the deepest place of the lake, through the pass on a large peninsula. Jeeps there are get stuck in the sand, so we used UAZ. If we will not reach the depths there, there are no other places - only a few passes by foot with all the equipment, or a dozen kilometers on the boat (which we haven’t). In the morning, we packed up and went there.

I will not bore you with a long story about sailing on the lake with the canister and a tremendous rock (bottom load) in search of depth, but we found the depth. We have already managed to get tired and began to freeze, but the depth, here it is. We rested for two minutes and came down, one by one. The computer showed 22-plus meters. Really, there was 2 - 3 meters deeper, since it is necessary to adjust the readings with altitude. 25 meters is not bad, considering the conditions and status. With this acclimatization, the limit would be 30 meters if diving FIM (hands on the rope, as we were diving). If needed more - everything is possible, but it is necessary to acclimatize better (we have already said that this is the most important thing), and the support group would be nice, but that is a different format of the expedition. We have done everything ourselves, autonomously.

So that's the whole story.

Color cloud
Color cloud

A brief conclusion: it is possible to dive at high altitude. Moreover, it is very interesting. The key point is a proper acclimatization.

Correct assessment of your own capabilities and forces. Health monitoring. Proper organization of living conditions, even if it is a tent camp.

Plans for the next year: diving into a mountain lake, higher attitude and deeper. At an attitude, which no one had ever dived with breath.

11.27.2015