Lots of interesting theory's put forth. Physical,& mental toughness sounds good. I've seen hunters come out a week before the hunt to condition themselves for the thin air. Problem is it takes your body a good month to produce enough extra red corpuscles to allow you to function reasonably & at least another month to get to full oxygen carrying capacity. . This does not take into consideration muscle strength. Mental toughness & determination sounds good but when you see a man down from severe a headache because of the thin air you get a different perspective. It doesn't happen to every one but does happen to some.Also some experience nausea. Makes me wounder why some & not others. . If you don't try you will never know what your limitations are. When you see a hunter drag him self out of a warm sleeping bag on a "COLD" early AM in the dark , them walk some distance to a hunt site , then back to camp in the dark,, then do it again & again for several days...That's determination. . Have seen hunters endure this for their whole allotted hunt time. Have seen others after 2 or 3 days just leave. Hunting can be tough especially elk on public land. I am not trying to discourage anyone just wish more hunters were more aware of what they can encounter. Fortunately for me I live here at an elevation of 7630. My ever day activity is at this elevation so I never have a problem & think nothing of it.
