AMS - Acute Mountain Sickness Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) is a
constellation of symptoms that represents your body not being
acclimatized to its current altitude. As you ascend, your body
acclimatizes to the decreasing oxygen (hypoxia). At any moment,
there is an "ideal" altitude where your body is in balance; most
likely this is the last elevation at which you slept. Extending
above this is an indefinite gray zone where your body can
tolerate the lower oxygen levels, but to which you are not quite
acclimatized. If you get above the upper limit of this zone,
there is not enough oxygen for your body to function properly,
and symptoms of hypoxic distress occur - this is AMS. Zone of
Tolerance Go too high above what you are prepared for, and you
get sick. This "zone of tolerance" moves up with you as you
acclimatize. Each day, as you ascend, you are acclimatizing to a
higher elevation, and thus your zone of tolerance extends that
much higher up the mountain. The trick is to limit your daily
upward travel to st