Sleeping or Not Sleeping at High Altitude

The wind, the cold, and altitude all contribute to a poor night's sleep on the mountain. Periodic breathing or Cheyne Stokes breathing is common. A person takes 3 to 5 deep breaths followed by several shallow breaths or even a complete pause in breathing for 5 to 15 seconds. This pause in breathing ends with a gasp which often wakes the individual or their tenting partner. For a scientific explanation of what is happening in the body to cause this type of breathing see http://www.altitude.org/sleep.htm