Climbing Kilimanjaro - Smarter Every Day 302

0:00 Hey, it's me, Destin.

0:00 Welcome back to Smarter Every Day.

0:02 Years ago, my buddy, Brady Haran,

0:04 made the coolest video I've ever watched on the internet, or one of them,

0:07 where he boiled water at different altitudes

0:09 on his way up to base camp for Mount Everest.

0:12 I love it.

0:13 Okay, the water is boiled now, and the boiled water temperature rates are 88.

0:19 [soft piano music] I love it.

0:25 You should totally go watch this video.

0:26 But today we're in Tanzania, and this is the first part of the trail to go

0:33 all the way up to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

0:35 I asked Brady if I could replicate his video because I loved it.

0:39 And he learned a few things along

0:41 the way about using certain types of thermometers.

0:43 And we're going to try to incorporate that stuff today.

0:44 And a long time ago, I made a video about hypoxia.

0:47 Nasa did an experiment where they put us

0:49 in a chamber and we removed the oxygen from the tank.

0:52 We simulated an altitude of 25,000 feet elevation,

0:55 and I lost my mind, literally.

1:08 And it had to do with something called hypoxia.

1:10 And it's a fascinating thing that happens when you have lack of oxygen.

1:13 So today on Smarter Every Day, we're going to boil water at different altitudes.

1:16 And along the hike, we're going to see how the temperature of the water changes,

1:20 and we're going to talk about that.

1:22 But I think the water is almost boiling over here.

1:25 Shedrack.

1:26 Shedrack, right?

1:27 [S] Yeah, Shedrack.

1:28 You're very right.

1:28 [D] Okay, this is my guide.

1:29 He's the man.

1:30 Are we boiling?

1:31 [S] Yeah, we're still now boiling.

1:33 [D] Okay, let's go see.

1:36 So how many different places you think we're going to boil?

1:39 We are going to boil the water like this in every camp.

1:43 So this is our starting point.

1:45 This is our beginning point.

1:46 [D] What's our altitude here?

1:48 This altitude is 8,170 feet.

1:53 [D] 8,170 feet?

1:54 Yeah.

1:55 Where we are going is 9,127.

1:58 [D] Tonight?

1:59 Tonight, where we are going to sleep.

2:01 [D] How high is the highest we're going to go?

2:02 The highest we can go, and probably we're going to have time to boil

2:07 the water like this, even if it will be difficult.

2:10 But we will try to boil the water at Uhuru peak.

2:14 [D] Which is 19,000.

2:15 Okay, we're boiling.

2:16 You ready?

2:17 [S] Yeah.

2:19 You're in Celsius.

2:20 Oh, okay.

2:21 This is Celsius, yeah.

2:22 Yeah, I'll turn on the Celsius.

2:23 All right, here we go.

2:24 Celsius.

2:26 92...

2:29 92.7 on one.

2:32 You're 92.7, I'm 92.6 [S] Okay.

2:38 [D] Now you're a guide.

2:39 You used to be a porter, right?

2:40 [S] Yeah, I miss.

2:41 I miss to be a porter,

2:43 but sometimes I can carry even more about what I'm carrying right now.

2:47 [D] Yeah.

2:49 Was it fun being a porter?

2:51 [S] Very fun, and actually, it's a very tough job.

2:54 And for me, I think it's good.

2:56 For those who want to become guides, it's good to start as a porter.

3:01 So it will be like...

3:03 It's a very good consideration for someone

3:05 to start as a porter and become a guide.

3:08 So at least you can know how it feels being a porter.

3:13 [D] So you can relate to the team?

3:16 [S] Yeah.

3:17 [music continues in background] Boom.

3:25 This is First Camp, and we are at the elevations of 9,200 feet,

3:29 and now we have 91.8.

3:33 [D] Yeah.

3:34 Mine's 91.6, and you hit lock.

3:36 [S] Yeah, the same.

3:38 91.6.

3:41 Okay, no joke.

3:43 Earthquake, right?

3:45 [T] Yes.

3:50 [D] We're in the rainforest right now.

3:51 You can see all the vegetation, and the trees are big.

3:59 [S] We are crossing the natural border between forest and heather zone.

4:05 We are now entering the different ecological zone.

4:09 [D] The heather zone is characterized by what?

4:13 [S] The heather zone,

4:14 actually this name is derived from the trees which dominated this area.

4:19 I mean, those heather trees like Erika Borea and Philippia excelsia.

4:24 That's why we call this area.

4:25 [D] Are those Latin names that you're saying?

4:27 [S] That is Latin names, yeah.

4:28 [D] Okay.

4:29 [S] You're correct.

4:30 [light upbeat guitar music begins to play] [D] Asante.

4:34 Mambu, Mambu.

4:40 Coming up on 10,000 feet.

4:49 89.7 [S] 90.0 Very curious to see what the temperature will get at the summit.

4:56 As you can see, we started with 92.6.

5:01 Yesterday was 91.4, and now we have 90.0.

5:07 As we're going higher, it seems like the temperature is going down very quickly.

5:16 [D] All right, I think this is Kilimanjaro.

5:18 Two days in, you finally get to see it.

5:23 Altimeter says 11,500.

5:25 [S] Which is very correct.

5:27 [D] Is that close?

5:28 [S] Very, very correct.

5:29 Yeah, it's very correct.

5:30 [D] 89.4.

5:31 [S] Yeah, let us go with 89.4.

5:33 [D] Okay.

5:34 We were in the Heather yesterday.

5:36 Today, we're in what's called the Moreland.

5:38 But this feels like Utah or maybe, I don't know, parts of Arizona.

5:43 So we're in the third region in terms of climate.

5:47 [S] The correct number is 87.8.

5:50 [D] 87.8, I got 87.3.

5:52 [the porters begin clapping and singing

5:56 an upbeat happy song] Mine's 86.9 [S] 87.4.

6:04 [D] So this was 13.7?

6:06 (13,700 FT) [the porters singing louder] [a call

6:11 and response part of the song] Jeffrey.

6:18 [J] Yeah.

6:19 Let's go.

6:20 Let's go.

6:20 [D] Let's go.

6:27 I wasn't fast enough with the camera,

6:32 but Olaes is up there carrying my pack, the big pack.

6:37 He was past me before I could even pull the camera out.

6:41 Insane.

6:57 [S] We are the Pofu camp.

7:01 Actually, according to the elevation yesterday, now we lose like 500 feet down,

7:07 and we still carry on with our measurement.

7:10 If you tap this side of the mountain,

7:13 first you have to cross the ash pit down to the Crater Camp,

7:18 and then up again like 500 feet to the summit.

7:21 [D] So we can't see Uhuru peak.

7:22 [S] You can't see Uhuru peak from here.

7:24 [D] Okay, but that's where we're going.

7:26 [S] Yeah.

7:27 [D] So where are we at right now?

7:28 We're on the north side.

7:28 [S] We are on the north side.

7:29 [D] Okay.

7:30 [S] Yeah.

7:31 [D] Okay, the next zone that you walk through is the Alpine desert.

7:34 This flower is everywhere.

7:35 [guitar and percussion music begins to play

7:37 in the background] [S] The elevation here is 13,000 feet,

7:44 and we carry on with our temperature measurement.

7:48 [D] Okay.

7:51 It's a little bit different, yours was..

7:54 [S] 87.9 [D] and mine is at 87.5 Okay.

8:01 I'm going to go also measure the pressure in the atmosphere.

8:04 It could be that.

8:05 That could be the difference.

8:06 [S] It's different even than the one we had yesterday.

8:09 [D] We were 100 foot higher.

8:11 Yeah.

8:12 Here we're lower...

8:16 Here were lower and it went lower.

8:19 It could be salt content in the water, too.

8:22 If there's mineral content in the water.

8:23 [S] The different in the water source.

8:25 [D] I wonder if that- [S] It's a different water source.

8:27 [D] That could matter.

8:29 [S] Yeah.

8:30 [D] Because if this comes from a different

8:31 spring and it has different minerals in the water.

8:33 [S] Exactly.

8:34 And this actually coming from the ground.

8:38 [D] Okay.

8:40 That could be it.

8:41 Every morning, they have to check our pulse Ox levels

8:44 to make sure that our brain is getting enough oxygen.

8:47 Ope, 90.

8:48 I got to 90.

8:50 All right.

8:51 Currently 13,100 and ascending to 16,000 over the next 3 hours.

8:57 We're seeing how our bodies handle altitude on this day

9:01 because that's going to be a big indicator for summit day.

9:05 We're moving up into thinner air and we'll see how we do.

9:14 Epeta, what's our elevation?

9:16 [E] We are 15.

9:18 [D] 15,000?

9:22 Okay, we're at 15, 700 tomorrow's summit day.

9:25 What are we doing?

9:26 [Loma] Right now, we are going to 16, which is our acclimatization.

9:30 Then come back to the camp.

9:31 You don't need to go further more than

9:33 16 because we have to keep energy for tomorrow.

9:35 [D] Even if everybody's feeling okay, you recommend staying at 16.

9:38 Don't go higher.

9:39 [L] 16 is enough.

9:40 [D] Okay.

9:41 [L] 16, then we come back.

9:43 Keep energy for tomorrow morning because we are going to use the same trail.

9:46 [D] Yes, sir.

9:47 [L] Yeah, that's it.

9:48 Loma knows what's up.

9:49 This is the briefing before Ascent.

9:51 We're learning everything that we need to know.

9:53 It's the trickiest day.

9:57 You can see all the guides are lined up and they're taking turns,

10:00 telling us what to expect.

10:03 85.7.

10:05 You have 85.6?

10:06 [S] Yeah.

10:07 [D] You think we'll get to the 70s?

10:09 [S] Yeah.

10:09 [D] You think so?

10:10 [S] Yeah.

10:11 We have to test our oxygen.

10:19 Whoa.

10:21 79....

10:23 Is that normal?

10:26 [someone yelling from background] Turn the camera off!

10:28 [D] Turn the camera off!

10:29 [Laughter] that's it.

10:30 That's it.

10:31 Hold on.

10:33 [Saji, the Guide] Try again.

10:34 [D] Yeah.

10:35 [Woman in background] Is your hand cold?

10:37 [D] Yes, it is.

10:38 [Destin takes a deep breathe] [Deep breaths] Eighty-six (02%),

10:50 94 (Heart rate), Saji!

10:52 [S] Yes, 96.

10:55 91, 91.

10:56 Write that one.

10:57 Write that one!

10:58 [S] Come on, man.

11:34 [D] It's like walking in loose gravel at this point.

11:37 [the mics begin to pickup the loud wind] Go ahead.

12:03 18,300.

12:04 It's kind of like a scramble.

12:08 Climbing some rocks.

12:13 You kind have to take a step and stop

12:16 and breathe because there's not a lot of oxygen up here.

12:21 I wonder what the partial pressure is of O2 we're at 18,355,

12:30 about a thousand away from summit.

12:35 There's Master, beautiful man on the mountain.

12:43 I would like to introduce you to a killer step.

12:47 This right here takes all of your oxygen.

12:54 Then you have to stand there and you breathe.

13:00 Then there's another one.

13:05 All right, man.

13:07 Yeah, that's good.

13:09 That's good.

13:10 The mustache, mustache.

13:11 Yeah.

13:12 Yeah, it's good.

13:13 Beautiful.

13:14 Yeah.

13:15 Yeah.

13:16 It's good.

13:18 The mustache.

13:19 You get it?

13:20 Oh, mustache.

13:21 It's good.

13:21 Very good.

13:22 Beautiful.

13:22 That looks good.

13:23 We're ready.

13:24 [S] Push to the top, push to the summit it's getting hard now.

13:39 Just now crossing 19,000 feet.

13:46 Head's throbbing.

13:48 Heart rate's pretty high.

13:52 Just got to keep moving.

13:55 [background music begins to build] Final push it's last 80 feet.

14:11 [S] Good job.

14:14 Good job [D] Thank you, buddy.

14:17 You made it happen that's the sign.

14:26 Thank you, Okay, we're at the peak, altitude 19,341.

14:44 I see the gas cylinder.

14:53 Canini is building a shield.

14:57 Think we can do it?

14:59 [S] Oh, yes sir.

15:08 [D] I can't believe this is happening.

15:10 We're about to boil water on the peak of Kilimanjaro.

15:19 [S] Mine is 81.2.

15:22 [D] Mine's 81.0.

15:24 [S] Yeah, we did it.

15:25 [D] We have the data.

15:26 [S] We did it.

15:27 [D] Thank you, sir.

15:30 [the sound of wind rushing] Okay,

15:40 before I show you the descent down the mountain, which is a whole other thing,

15:43 and there's special rescue hardware they have and stuff like that.

15:47 I want to talk a little bit about things

15:49 that I didn't put in the video here because it's fascinating.

15:52 I've got some bullet points here.

15:53 The first thing I want to say is climbing Kilimanjaro is dangerous.

15:57 There's a handful of people that die every year doing this, and there's

16:01 a large percentage of people that don't make it to the top.

16:03 So this isn't just something you do.

16:05 This is a once in a lifetime thing for me and my wife.

16:08 And this is just a really big deal.

16:10 And so you don't want to do this unless you're prepared.

16:13 We worked out a lot.

16:14 I tried to limit the amount of oxygen intake

16:16 during my workouts to try to stress my cardiovascular system.

16:20 We also went to altitude to try to see

16:23 how our bodies would react to over 14,000 feet.

16:26 Altitude sickness affects different people in different ways.

16:29 And so you need to know what your body is going to do.

16:32 And so we tried to prepare for that as much as possible.

16:34 Another note I have here is there's a moment

16:38 at 17,500 feet that happened to us that was incredible.

16:42 We looked up and we could feel our hearts pounding

16:45 We saw two guides rushing a man down the mountain.

16:49 They were clearly saving him.

16:50 It was a rescue situation.

16:52 He had an oxygen mask on, and it was an eerie moment because we were like,

16:56 Oh, my goodness, this is the real deal.

16:58 We are not playing around.

17:00 At that moment, the porters, who were just so amazing, they started singing.

17:09 They were calming us down.

17:11 Inside, we were all freaking out.

17:13 Wondering if that was going to happen to us.

17:16 But they were managing our mental state and helping us

17:19 chill out and just focus on the next few steps.

17:22 It was amazing.

17:23 I would love to point you to a podcast

17:26 that I recorded that explains more of that.

17:27 I'll tell you more about that in a minute.

17:29 Another thing about how we did this, we

17:31 hung out at around 13,000 feet for several days.

17:35 We took what's called the Northern Circuit route.

17:37 That's one of the most conservative routes.

17:39 If we had not been with Killy Warriors expeditions, with these specific guides,

17:45 I'm not so sure I would have made it because they limited you.

17:48 They always say, Pole, pole, or slowly, slowly.

17:50 Pole, pole.

17:54 Pole, Pole.

17:55 Pole, Pole.

17:55 Pole, Pole.

18:00 They would limit you with how fast you could

18:02 walk so that you don't outrun your cardiovascular capabilities.

18:05 In fact, on the acclimatization hike, acclimatization hike,

18:11 on that one day to 16,000 feet,

18:12 I got out in front of the group and I was going too fast.

18:16 And my heart rate ran away,

18:17 and it took a really long time for me to get that back down.

18:20 So the guides really know what they're doing.

18:22 They go far slower than you think you should,

18:24 but they know exactly what they're doing.

18:27 I was leaving for approximately, what, two minutes?

18:29 Probably.

18:30 And I was a moron.

18:31 My pace was too fast and our heart rate shot up.

18:35 And then Loma said, No, right?

18:39 Loma said, Pole, pole.

18:40 It takes discipline that I don't have.

18:45 Thermometer calibration.

18:46 Do you remember when Shedrack said, Oh,

18:47 I think we're going to get down to the '70s, and at the top we didn't?

18:51 Well, calibration is an issue.

18:53 I boiled water here in Alabama, which is around 700 feet altitude,

18:57 and I got above 100 degrees celsius.

18:59 So Shedrack might have been right.

19:02 The water might actually have been in the '70s.

19:04 A really cool thing happened when we were on the mountain.

19:07 Nasa astronaut, Matthew Dominic, who's really good at taking photos,

19:11 was in the cupola of the International Space Station the day

19:13 before we summited and he took these photos of Kilimanjaro.

19:17 It is awesome knowing that that little

19:20 spot of Earth sticking up above the clouds, we're on that mountain.

19:24 That was incredible.

19:25 There's a couple of pieces of internet

19:26 that I think you should consider checking out.

19:28 The first one is that podcast episode episode I mentioned.

19:31 It's a podcast I do with my buddy Matt Whitman.

19:33 It's called No Dumb Questions.

19:34 And there's a particular episode called Songs of Ascent.

19:37 We talk about the porters and all the things that they did to make this happen.

19:42 It's really interesting, and I think you'll like it.

19:44 The other one is the videos that Brady Haran made.

19:47 The first video was the whole idea here.

19:50 Brady, when I asked permission to make this video, he said,

19:52 Look, I don't own the idea of boiling water at altitude.

19:55 And I was like, Well, you do to me.

19:56 Because 10 years ago, I watched a video that Brady made made, and it moved me.

20:01 And I've been thinking about it forever.

20:03 It was an intelligent, really beautiful piece of art and science mixed together,

20:08 and it's what I want internet videos to be.

20:11 It was gorgeous.

20:12 And to follow it up, Professor Polyakov at Nottingham University

20:15 explained everything about the experiment,

20:17 including some things that Brady could have done differently.

20:20 Now, videos like this don't just happen, especially in today's environment.

20:24 The sensationalism reigns,

20:26 and algorithmic pressure is applied to creators all the time.

20:30 And I understand that you want to get more views

20:33 and more listens so that you can get more money for advertising.

20:36 And that's not good for the Internet, I don't think.

20:39 I want intelligent, respectful content to have a place in the market.

20:43 Brady figured out how to do that.

20:44 He partnered with academia to make those videos,

20:47 but that's rare, and it's very difficult to figure out.

20:51 This video is not sponsored by a traditional sponsor.

20:55 It's supported by something new.

20:58 There's something called the Independent Media Initiative,

21:00 and they've given an award to Smarter Every Day.

21:03 And the only thing they've asked for in return is for me to ask

21:06 you to be thoughtful about the next

21:09 piece of content you consume after this video.

21:11 And I think that's really cool because a video is going to pop up after this.

21:15 Something's going to be there for you to click.

21:17 And the question is, should you watch it?

21:19 That's what they're trying to do.

21:20 When I was younger, I would watch PBS.

21:23 I would watch Mr.

21:24 Rogers's Neighborhood,

21:24 which was funded by both public money and private donations.

21:27 And it was amazing.

21:29 But TV is not a monolithic thing like it used to be.

21:32 So what IMI is trying to do is they're trying to connect large

21:35 institutions and foundations and even private

21:38 donors with creators who are making intelligent,

21:40 respectful content for the Internet.

21:43 So what ends up happening is IMI ends up

21:45 being this hub for people that are making thoughtful content.

21:48 So if you want to check out what they're doing,

21:50 go to the website, which I'll leave a link down in the video description,

21:53 and just look at what they're trying to do,

21:55 because they're trying to do something very important.

21:57 They're kicking against the algorithmic pressure

22:00 that creates sensational content on the Internet,

22:02 and they're trying to make a future with more thoughtful content,

22:05 and I'm excited about that.

22:07 Thank you, IMI, for supporting this video.

22:09 Thank you for considering checking out IMI.

22:11 I'm excited about what they're doing.

22:13 They're a nonprofit,

22:13 and they're working hard to make thoughtful content for the future,

22:17 which I'm very excited about.

22:19 So now it's time to go down the mountain.

22:21 All right, we're leaving.

22:23 [upbeat plucky guitar music begins] Thank you, Shedrake.

22:36 [S] You're welcome.

22:38 [D] You're an impressive man.

22:39 [S] You're welcome.

22:40 [D] And your team is the best.

22:41 [S] It's my pleasure.

22:41 We are very happy because all of you guys make this trip.

22:46 [D] It's because of Killy warrior.

22:49 [S] It's because of Killy Warrior.

22:50 [D] You have a good outfit.

22:53 [S] We have a very good team behind us.

22:55 [D] People like Boaz.

23:04 Are you relieved?

23:05 [S] Yeah.

23:08 [D] I appreciate your leadership.

23:32 Highest altitude you can be rescued with a helicopter.

23:35 Here's the stretcher.

23:40 15,000 feet.

23:41 It's pretty far up there.

23:43 She bumped me on purpose?

23:47 So these are little carts that are used to save people when they're hurt.

23:53 Of course, you got a stretcher here.

23:55 But I was expecting to see this all over the mountain, but I didn't.

24:00 But they're pretty cool.

24:02 They have shocks on them.

24:05 That's pretty neat.

24:14 It's incredible.

24:18 So I'm not filming as much on the way down,

24:20 and they're asking paparazzi why he's not being paparazzi.

24:23 It's because everybody gets hurt on the way downhill,

24:26 and I don't want to get hurt.

24:43 What do you feel?

24:47 [T] I feel very happy that we summited,

24:49 and I feel very happy that we are now back at the camp for the day.

24:54 However...

24:59 12 hours hours of exertion,

25:02 and I have no clue how I'm going to climb out of this bed tomorrow.

25:06 [D] It's not like a little exertion.

25:08 It's like all you can do, like limited literally by your cardiovascular system.

25:14 [T] No, because also it's limited by your knees.

25:17 Your knees on the way down?

25:20 Yeah.

25:21 That was a pretty epic journey.

25:24 It's a great thing to have done.

25:27 Yes.