Highest altitude you've been?

[ewmayer]

Mt. Rainier, spent about 3 days above 10,000, first 2 were practicing crevasse rescue (incl. self-rescue), then summit attempt, which was aborted a few hundred feet below the top due to lack of visibility. So around 14,000'.

Close 2nd would the Grand Teton (via the north face), a few hundred feet shy of 14,000. Lots and lots of lesser stuff above 10,000'.

Had the ever-higher progression all mapped out: Alaska, South America, then Himalayas, but never made it to the really high stuff. somewhere along the way, life intruded. Was fun while it lasted, though.

I have been at some pretty high latitudes though, and without even needing supplemental oxygen. :)

[Spherical Cow]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

...I have been at some pretty high latitudes though, and without even needing supplemental oxygen. :)

My highest latitude (not counting over-the-pole airplane flights) is a little more than 70; north of Prudhoe Bay, north of the North Slope of Alaska, out on the ice, in the winter. Didn't need oxygen.

Highest altitude on foot is a little more than 13,000, in Colorado. Airplanes with engines are cheating, but in a glider, I've ridden desert thermals to 12,000+ (could have gone higher, but didn't have oxygen, so it would have been illegal to keep going. And I would never do anything illegal....)

Norm

[Uncwilly]

68.36 North is my highest latitude on the surface, during the summer solstice.

[cheesehead]

As a child, I rode with the rest of our family to the top of Colorado's Mount Evans via auto.

As an adult, I took the Sunset Tour from Hawaii's Kona coast to the top of Mauna Kea in three hours. Fastest near-14,000-foot ground ascent anywhere in the world and, thus, one of the easiest ways to experience altitude sickness, we were told. I was all right at the top. We got invited into the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility because a (rare) slight overcast was preventing them from proper viewing. We stood on the rubber mat over the refrigerated floor in the dome.

Then we descended to 11,000 feet and our tour guide got out his 14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain. As he pointed out, the clear air there just about canceled out the lower oxygen, so stars appeared to us about as bright as at sea level (though instruments would benefit). When I stumbled over the cable from his battery pack to the telescope drive, nearly knocking it over, I realized that I was a bit impaired.

[akruppa]

Mine was the Schwarzenstein at an altitude of 3368m.

[Flatlander]

I once climbed a 20ft ladder while carrying 2 mugs of tea. Didn't spill a drop.
A real painter.

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by cheesehead

When I stumbled over the cable from his battery pack to the telescope drive, nearly knocking it over, I realized that I was a bit impaired.

as long as you weren't impeached - At those kinds of altitudes one must choose one's fruits carefully.

[cheesehead]

[Richard Cameron]

Africa: Gilman's Point, Kilimanjaro 5680m
Asia: Thorung La, Annapurna Massif 5416m
S America: Dead Woman's Pass, Inca Trail 4250m
Europe: Musala, Bulgaria 2925m
N America: Pico Turqino, Cuba 1974m

I find it perverse that I've been higher in Africa than in Asia or America. Also the first three on my list aren't summits.

[Batalov]

Actually, I find that to be not perverse, but rather logical (if by height we'd take the distance from the Earth's center).

[davieddy]

Originally Posted by Batalov

Actually, I find that to be not perverse, but rather logical (if by height we'd take the distance from the Earth's center).

And google "Geoid".

Obviously centrifugal force lifted him up Kikimanjaro

David