The body doesn't adjust to thin air as quickly as we would like.

Altitude sickness brought a Bend man close to death in South America

By Markian Hawryluk / The Bulletin
May 5, 2005

Last December, Sam Carpenter, a 55-year-old Bend businessman, traveled to Argentina to climb the continent's highest peak, the 22,841-foot Aconcagua. The standard route is not over difficult terrain, but the altitude can make even the simplest task difficult, as Carpenter would find....

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