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. 2014 Sep;25(3):346-51.
doi: 10.1016/j.wem.2014.03.010. Epub 2014 Jun 19.

Extreme altitude: words from on high

Harvey V Lankford  1
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Extreme altitude: words from on high

Harvey V Lankford. Wilderness Environ Med. 2014 Sep.

Abstract

Medical science has its own objective language for describing the effects of high altitude. Mountaineers' words and metaphors tell the story with subjectivity and feeling. This essay will include only limited physiology about lowlanders and high altitude. Instead, the focus will be literary, using the quotations of 20th-century mountaineers and mountaineer physicians to provide color commentary about the hardship. These are Words From on High.

Keywords: Everest; Himalaya; altitude; literature; mountaineering; quotations.

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