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To the Editor: The use of supplemental oxygen by Himalayan mountaineers has been debated for more than 8 decades.¹ Although sometimes viewed as unsporting, supplemental-oxygen use may improve survival rates by increasing performance and lowering hypoxic stress.^1-3 Analyses of death rates of mountaineers descending from high summits may reveal an impact of supplemental oxygen on survival because descending mountaineers are often near exhaustion and vulnerable to accident, storm, or illness during their descent.

Methods

We analyzed interview data^4-6 and more recent data (Elizabeth Hawley, oral communication, May 4, 2000) on all mountaineers reaching the summit of the 2 highest peaks (Everest and K2) from 1978 (year both summits first reached without supplemental oxygen) through 1999. For "summit-team" analyses on Everest, we excluded recent data (1993-1999) to reduce the impact of guided expeditions, which may include inexperienced climbers. We used exact logistic regression (conditional maximum likelihood) with survival as the dependent variable . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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