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 Miura Everest 2008 Yuichiro Miura changes route to Mt Everest Nepal for Miura Qomolangma 2008 Project | |||||||
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|  Yuichiro Miura and Team Miura have decided to change its route for Qomolangma (Everest) ascent to Nepal from its original plan of taking its course from China. Yuichiro Miura has been preparing the ascent of Qomolangma from the Chinese side with his record breaking age of 75 this spring with his second son Gota (age 38). However, due to the civil unrest in Tibetan plateau erupting in mid March, the Tibetan area had been restricted of its entrance, and the team was unable to proceed to Qomolangma Base Camp area on April 5th in accordance to the original plan. It is still unknown for all foreign expeditions to Mt. Qomolangma including Team Miura as to when the area will be cleared for entrance. In ascending the world’s highest peak Mt. Everest (8848m), having ample time is crucial for acclimatization and transferring of goods to higher camps. Weather condition also restricts the window of opportunity for ascent to a certain period in May in this season, as wind jet streams of more than 40m/s lingers in extremely high altitude above 8000m at this time of the year and monsoon season soon arrives after late May. Thus, setting of base camp by late April at the latest is necessary, and Team Miura had been considering the option of changing the route to the Nepalese side in case the entrance to Tibetan area leading to Qomolangma base camp did not clear in time. As the time ran out, Team Miura had officially applied for the climbing permit to Nepal yesterday on April 6th. After the 2003 Everest ascent as the oldest summiter at age 70 years and 7 months at the time, Yuichiro Miura had been suffering serious case of arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) and arterial fibrillation (irregular shaking of atrium) and had undergone two arrhythmia operations (Catheter Ablation). Yet to fulfill his dream of standing on the highest peak of the world once again, he had been training and gone to four training expeditions in the past 4 years, targeting his personal peak both physically and mentally to the ascent in spring 2008. After departing Japan on March 20th, his first acclimatization trekking in Nepal to 5000m point in altitude was a great success as his condition was at its best in the past 4 years. The ascent from Nepalese side will not be easy this year, as the climbing activities will be restricted until the Chinese Olympic Torch expedition succeeds in its summit, and the area is expected to be heavily congested as many expeditions that originally planned the Chinese route are changing its course to Nepal just like Team Miura. Yet, with Yuichiro’s strong will and motivation of “We are here to climb, so we will” spirit prevails within the team, and will not give up its long desired dream to summit the highest peak on earth. Team Miura will depart Kathmandu for Lukra(2800m) on April 8th, before the Nepalese constituent assembly election, and will arrive at the Everest Base Camp (5300m) on April 21st, after 13 days of 60km Caravan. Since the climbing activities are currently restricted on Everest up to Camp 2 (6400m) until May 10th, acclimatization will be conducted to C2, and will attempt for the summit according to the weather after May 10th. Team Miura would like to express deep appreciation to many people including Chinese Embassy in Japan who have expended their utmost care and effort for our expedition, and also a heartfelt wish for peace in Tibet and China. Earlier: Yuichiro and Gota Miura Departs for Final Conditioning and Training at Qomolangma ABC (Advanced Base Camp; 6400m) in Anticipation for Miura Qomolangma 2008 Project: Only six months left to the launch of Miura Qomolangma 2008 Project, Team Miura is on their final training to the start. Yuichiro Miura (Age 75) and Gota Miura (Age 38) will conduct their final training and conditioning at the Qomolangma’s Advanced Base Camp (6400m) and its higher Camp for 1 month from October 10th, 2007. Immediately after the summiting of Mt Everest at age 70 years and 7 months in 2003, Yuichiro Miura has drawn up his next adventure of summiting Mt Everest (Qomolangma) from the Chinese side at age 75, challenging the limit of human capacity and ability. However, soon after his return, he had suffered serious arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) and arterial fibrillation (irregular shaking of arteries) due to aging and severe physical activities from climbing the Everest. These symptoms are not rare, as one in every four elderly experience them, in which their risks can be minimized with appropriate medication under normal living circumstances. However, under a severe condition in high altitudes over 8000m where the oxygen concentration level is extremely low, the risks of arrhythmia and arterial fibrillation are tremendously high and difficult to control. Thus, Yuichiro decided to undergo an arrhythmia operation (Catheter Abberation) last December and went on a training expedition to Island Peak in the Himalayas this spring to examine his health progress. Unfortunately, his arrhythmia was again observed in a high altitude condition, hence, Yuichiro underwent his second arrhythmia operation this June soon after his return. Both operations were operated by the team headed by Doctor Iesaka, the world pioneer of arrhythmia treatment, and Doctor Uno of Tsuchiura Kyodo General Hospital, and Doctor Kobayashi and Doctor Koyama of Nippon Medical School. With a close observation and treatment, and with continual training, Yuichiro’s physical ability and health had recovered to the point where he was at when he summited Everest at age 70, results observed after physical fitness test conducted at National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya this late September. Gota Miura’s detailed report on this subject is as follows: Gota Miura’s Report on Physical Fitness Test at National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya (September 24th & 25th, 2007) Yuichiro and Gota Miura underwent a two-day physical fitness test at National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya under the supervision of Professor Masayoshi Yamamoto on September 24th and 25th. Kanoya’s physical fitness tests have been conducted every year since year 2000, and aim to observe Yuichiro’s long-term physical changes caused by aging. The main objectives of this time physical test were to examine how the two Catheter Abberation operations have influenced Yuichiro’s physical fitness, and to compare his current fitness level to his fitness level observed immediately before departing to Everest expedition in 2003. It was observed that the Volume O2 Maximum (VO2Max) was most influenced physical fitness value by the two Catheter Abberation operations. VO2Max is an indicator of an individual’s aerobic capacity, thus determining its endurance level. In 2003 before the summit of Mt Everest, Yuichiro’s VO2Max was 32.08ml/kg/min. This amount exceeded the average VO2 Max value of the age 70’s, which is 27.7ml/kg/min, and his estimated age equivalent to the VO2Max value at the time was age 56. However, due to his arrhythmia and arterial fibrillation observed soon after the summit, his VO2Max decreased to 27.9ml/kg/min, a 16% decrease in aerobic capacity, equating to the average amount of his age 74. This result was explained as due to Yuichiro’s heavy load activity that limited his cardiac output (blood outflow from the heart), triggering arterial fibrillation. Yet, after undergoing two operations, Yuichiro’s arterial fibrillation was almost fully controlled, and he was freed from the medication, which he was on for more than a year to control the heart rate and the rhythm. As a result, his VO2Max valued up to 32.7ml/kg/min, a higher mark than the value in 2003 before the Everest summit and more than 17% increase from the value observed in 2006. This number indicates that his fitness level is in age 50’s. According to Dr. Iesaka and Dr. Uno who had operated on Yuichiro in both operations, this result was due to the improvements on Yuichiro’s cardiac output, as it had increased 20% since the operations. Moreover, Yuichiro’s value for back strength and vertical jump showed a small but significant increase. This increase may have resulted from this summer’s two-week training camp that involved stretching, muscle training, and mountain climbing in Salt Lake City. However, Prof. Yamamoto advised that Yuichiro’s leg extension and reduction values need to be improved considering maintaining leg muscle strength required for long climbing activities. Concentration in training on leg muscles will be anticipated. In conclusion, physical fitness test showed significant increase in overall fitness, which is an astonishing outcome considering the fact that Yuichiro has aged 5 years since 2003. With the success of arrhythmia operations, the safety level of mountain climbing activities can be said to have increased and the necessary physical fitness is attained for Yuichiro’s next challenge. The summit of Everest that seemed so far to reach until last year is alas in clear view. Our main objectives now, are to reach ABC as safely and with less strain as possible in this final training expedition, and closely observe and maintain Yuichiro’s physical strength and fitness during his remaining period for acclimatization to the X Day in 2008, a valuable quest for ultimate physiological anti-aging. Expedition Schedule: 2007 MIURA ABC Training Expedition Schedule Period ：07.Oct.10 ～ Nov.１3 Team Members： Yuichiro Miura, Gota Miura, Kazuya Igarashi Day Date Team Activity Altitude 1 Oct. 10 Narita - Kuangchou - Katmandu 2 11 Preparation in Katmandu 3 12 Preparation in Katmandu 4 13 Preparation in Katmandu 5 14 Katmandu - Rasa 3,800m 6 15 Acclimatization in Rasa Temple Village 7 16 Acclimatization in Rasa Temple Village 8 17 Rasa - Shigatse 3,800m 9 18 Shigatse - Shigarl 4,200m 10 19 Shigarl - BC 5,200m 11 20 BC Shigarl 4,200m 12 21 Acclimatization in Shigarl 13 22 Acclimatization in Shigarl 14 23 Shigarl - BC 5,200m 15 24 Rest at BC 16 25 Acclimatization at BC 17 26 BC-C１ 5,500m 18 27 C1-C２ 6,000m 19 28 C２-ABC-C２ 6,400m(ABC） 20 29 C２-BC 5,100m 21 30 Rest at BC 22 31 Rest at BC 23 Nov.1 BC-C１ 5,500m 24 2 C1C２ 6,000m 25 3 C２ABC 6,400m 26 4 ABC 27 5 ABC (Reserve Day) 28 6 ABC (Reserve Day) 29 7 ABC-BC 5,200m 30 8 BC Zanmu 31 9 Zanmu Katmandu 32 10 Wrap-up in Katmandu 33 11 Wrap-up in Katmandu 34 12 Wrap-up in Katmandu 35 13 Kuangchou Narita
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