Jamestown surgeon reaches the top of the world

That is how Jamestown orthopedic surgeon Dr. Louis J. Mariorenzi described his experience atop Mount Everest.

Mariorenzi, who went back to work Monday at his Cranston medical practice, reached the summit around 7:15 a.m. on May 24.

He had spent 10 weeks scaling Mount Everest, working through a series of smaller climbs and accustoming his body to hiking in extreme cold and at high altitudes until he reached 26,000 feet above sea level, the point where the body cannot do any more acclimatizing.

In an interview this week, Mariorenzi called his adventure to the top of the world “very enjoyable” and added he’d do it again “in a heartbeat.”

At the summit, he saw the peaks of the surrounding Himalayas “poking through the clouds like little pyramids.” He stayed about 15 minutes, he said, enough time to look around and take some photographs. Climbers don’t dally at the summit, which is precisely 29,025 feet above sea level, for a couple of reasons, he said.

“You still have a lot of climbing,” he said, referring to the return hike to the high camp that takes about nine hours. The oxygen supply is also a factor, he said. He carried a tank and wore a mask to deal with the thin air. And then he had to consider the danger.

“You want to head down before the snow gets soft,” when it turns heavier and the rocks start slipping underfoot.

But he did manage to snap a few pictures, including one that showed he did not forget his hometown on the way to Nepal. A Sherpa, who is a person from the ethic group that resides in the most mountainous regions of Nepal, snapped a photograph of Mariorenzi holding a copy of the Jamestown Press.

The final hike to the summit started at 10 p.m. on May 23 from “high camp,” some 26,000 feet above sea level. The plan was to arrive at the summit when the snow was frozen and to start back while the snow was still hard, he said.

It was 10 below when they started out. For the trip to the summit, he suited up in a down jacket, down pants and wore a hat, heavy gloves and a fighter pilot style oxygen mask.

Mariorenzi and his Sherpa guide walked through a snowstorm “that became a blizzard” until they literally climbed above the weather.

▷▷▷▷▷ Combat Boot, “Mickey Mouse” Extreme Cold Weather Boots ...

Combat Boot, “Mickey Mouse” Extreme Cold Weather Boots, Waterproof Rubber, Genuine U.S. Military Issue

High Blucher style, rigid rubber sole, ski strap shelf. These boots have an air pressure system for high altitudes and insulation, and are designed to keep feet comfortable at 20 below zero. | “Mickey Mouse Boot” is the nickname for the U.S. Army Cold Vapor Barrier Boots. Still in use in the Extreme Cold Weather Clothing System, these boots were designed for use for temperatures up to from 20 below zero. These boots are genuine U.S. Issue. | Originally designed and adopted around the Korean War, these boots offer a unique solution to water evaporation from the feet, the leading cause of frostbite and cold injury in winter. A layer of thick wool and felt is sandwiched between two layers of waterproof rubber, and compressed to make a thin, flexible, and completely watertight insulated barrier, unaffected by outside moisture or sweat moisture from the feet.

DOD excess property, management control breakdowns results in substantial waste and inefficiency : report to Congressional Requesters

Survival Wisdom & Know-How, Everything You Need to Know to Thrive in the Wilderness

Backpacker

Popular Mechanics

Boot