Byron Smith Summit Bid Data
	Camp	Heart Rate	Oxygen Saturation	Breathing Rate at rest
Day 1	Basecamp	80	87%	14
Day 1	Camp II	102	80%	16
Day 2	Camp III	104	76%	16
Day 3	Camp IV	NO	DATA	AVAILABLE
Day 4	Camp II	100	82%	14
Heart rate is beats per minute and breathing rate is breaths per minute. Click on the headings to find out more.

Over the course of the expedition, team doctor Virginia Robinson kept track of the Byron's vital signs, including heart and respiration rates, to make sure his body was withstanding the increasing altitude.

Basecamp test

Virginia: The higher you climb, the more your resting heart rate increases and your maximum heart rate decreases. This is shown in the data below and has been demonstrated in previous experiments. Once your resting heart rate equals your maximum heart rate all you can do is rest.

At Basecamp, we performed the two minute step test on climbing Sherpa Mingma. Notice how even after exercising at maximum capacity his breathing or respiration rate is only 20 breaths per minute, while Byron and Brad are breathing twice as fast.

Phakding test

With time our climbers will acclimitize to the thin air and not breathe so fast after exercise. Mingma's body, on the other hand, has adapted over many generations of his people living at a high eleveation. Mingma can do more work at altitude than Byron or Brad.

The tests: At Kathmandu, Phakding, Namche Bazaar and again at Basecamp, Virginia put Byron and Brad through a "two-minute step test" to test their respiration and heart rates. Earlier on the trek Byron's son Zack went through the steps. At Basecamp, Sherpa Mingma joined the test.

Here are the results in beats per minute and breaths per minute:

Basecamp 5,300 m	Byron Smith	Brad Wrobleski	Mingma Sherpa
Heart Rate Pre-test	122	80	80
Heart Rate Post-Test	164	140	156
Resp. Rate Pre-test	20	18	12
Resp. Rate Post-test	48	48	20

Namche Bazaar 3,445 m	Byron Smith	Brad Wrobleski
Heart Rate Pre-test	106	70
Heart Rate Post-Test	170	150
Resp. Rate Pre-test	18	18
Resp. Rate Post-test	42	50

Phakding 2,840 m	Byron Smith	Zach Smith	Brad Wrobleski
Heart Rate Pre-test	92	102	62
Heart Rate Post-Test	178	181	164
Resp. Rate Pre-test	14	12	15
Resp. Rate Post-test	40	60	54

Kathmandu 1,340 m	Byron Smith	Zach Smith	Brad Wrobleski
Heart Rate Pre-test	77	102	62
Heart Rate Post-Test	143	173	161
Resp. Rate Pre-test	12	10	12
Resp. Rate Post-test	21	42	36