With less than two weeks remaining until he takes on Mount Kilimanjaro, Leeds Rhinos Foundation’s Head of Partnerships and Development Dan Busfield was kindly invited along to Leeds Beckett University to undertake some high-altitude training.
Busfield, who begins his ascent of Africa’s tallest peak on October 7th to fundraise for Leeds Rhinos Foundation, as well as raise awareness for Motor Neurone Disease, visited Beckett’s Headingley Campus on Wednesday to complete the training in one of their state-of-the-art altitude chambers.
The visit gave him the chance to experience and acclimatise to some of the symptoms he may feel whilst scaling the mountain, which stands at approximately 19,340ft tall, as well as take on some expert advice from University lecturer Dr Mark Cooke.
Having worked with several groups preparing to take on some of the planet’s most difficult mountains climbs, including Everest and Kilimanjaro, Dr Cooke is well-versed in preparing people for the challenge of how the body performs high altitude and believes that Busfield will benefit greatly from the training.
“Being in an altitude environment for the first time can be quite a shock to the system. Although Dan hasn’t experienced that before, that’s why this training is so useful because we can get him more habituated to the conditions which will be a big help when he gets out there.
“The best advice in an altitude environment is to go slow, take your time and walk at a nice gentle speed. We want to balance the physiological stresses of being in a hypoxic environment, but also the exercise. Equally, it’s important to consume plenty of fluids to combat the diuretic effects of high altitude.
“Hopefully today it will be a good experience of what it will be like during the climb and some of the common symptoms, whether that’s feeling a little bit light-headed, dizzy or a bit more breathless than you would normally in sea-level conditions. Dan is clearly training hard which is good, this will be really beneficial when he’s on the mountain and he’s with a really experienced team which will also be a big help.”
With the construction of their ground-breaking new £45m Carnegie Sports Research and Teaching building, Leeds Beckett University will soon be home to two more climatic chambers, adding to their existing hypoxic tent and the chamber which was used by Busfield.
Though challenging, Busfield believes that the opportunity to experience the effects of high altitude was a vital step-up in his preparations for the climb.
“It’s quite an interesting experience, obviously in terms of shortness of breath at high altitude and the effect it takes on you,” said Busfield.
“I’m incredibly grateful for the help I’ve received from Dr Mark Cooke. He’s taught me that it’s important to stay hydrated and go at a steady pace, as there’s no prizes for running up there effectively!”
“I’m obviously getting quite nervous as the date gets nearer, but I’m prepared as much as I can be and the altitude is obviously something you can’t control, which Dr Cooke also explained to me today. I’ve just got to be positive, get in the right mindset and do my best for the charity, myself as an individual and everyone who has kindly supported me.”