IPods Get Altitude Sickness (IPAS)
You’re planning a big mountaineering trip, maybe up Orizaba or Kilimanjaro or even one of the 8,000-meter peaks. You’re going down the equipment list: Stove, check. Ice axe, check. Sleeping bag, check. You reach Music, but your buddy scratched a line through it. “Hey man, I gotta take my music!” “Can’t,” she says. “Can’t take your IPod above 10,000 feet. It’ll get altitude sickness.”
Yep, that’s what Apple and the experts say. If you do, there is the possibility your IPod will not only stop working but can be irrevocably damaged. Don’t believe me? Then check your IPod specs: “Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet (3000 m).”
We never think we can’t take our IPod everywhere we go since they're part of us. Here in Colorado, lots of climbers I know regularly tote their IPods up Fourteeners or on alpine faces like The Diamond on Long’s Peak. The technies, however, say it’s just not a good idea and it’s probably a matter of time before it has a high-altitude hiccup. An IPod’s hard drive heads use air pressure to float on a cushion of air about 5 millionths of an inch thick with the platters spinning at 53.55 miles per hour. Since air pressure decreases the higher you go, the greater is the possibility that the air pressure is too low to produce the air cushion, resulting in the hard drive head smacking against the spinning platter, leaving gouges and you without tunes. This also applies to laptop computers.
If you need the sound of music in the mountains, then you’re better off taking a Nano or a Shuffle since they’re solid-state like a flash drive and are unaffected by altitude. Oh, extreme temperatures also affect IPods. A stored unit can sustain temps from -4F to 115F but if you operate it, then its optimal temps are between 32F and 95F.
I never listen to music when I’m climbing, but I do carry a little 1G Sandisk player in my pack so I can listen at a bivouac or laying in the tent on a long winter night. I use it because it holds plenty of music and it’s cheap so I don’t worry about losing it or breaking it. What do you think? Does your IPod work at high altitudes? Or does it get what I call IPAS (IPod Altitude Sickness)? Let me know what your IPod’s high point is.
Photo above: You would be waving your arms too if your IPod stopped working on top of Mount Everest.
Photograph courtesy Miura Qomolangma 2008
Comments
Surprisingly, even the solid-state Nano lists the 10,000 ft. altitude limit. Maybe that’s just an oversight.
Even if you don’t go that high in altitude, wouldn’t you still be exceeding low-temperature operating specs, if you were to summit Mt. Everest even at the warmest times of the year. Extremely cold temperatures would usually shorten battery life considerably.
Do they sell any heated, pressurized containers you can keep an iPod in just for this purpose? Just kidding.
I would think flash memory iPods wouldn’t be damaged by such extreme use. They might not work well, but I can’t see why they would be damaged. Hard drive iPods would most likely get damaged as the drive lubricant would probably freeze and the head wouldn’t be able to move even if the disc platter could spin. Too risky to experiment with.
Stew
Ann Curry is climbing Kilamonjaro (bad spelling) on NBC and she is wearing her Ipod! She must not have read your blog.
I have used my Ipod Nano’s to the summit of Kili, Aconcagua (22,900′) and Denali (ok not wearing on summit day since that’s stupid), but certainly in the tent at highcamp at Aconcagua at around 20,000′. The biggest issue is keeping it warm so I try to keep in my closest vest pocket for some warmth, this seems to help (kind of like my camera). At night, I keep it in one of the pockets in the sleeping bag also near to me. When we did Denali this July, the iPod died around 11,000′. But miraculously, when I hooked it up to the Solio (solar charger) just before descending from base camp – it came back to life, so go figure! Was a great companion on the descent through the glaciers (turned reasonably low of course) and the guide listening to Pink Floyd
I´ve seen an iPod grumble and go comatose enroute to Lhasa.That might have been coincidence, but I´ve also seen three portable hard drives (used for storing photos…ouch !)conked out in Ladakh & Tibet.
Otterboxes may not be heated , but they offer really good insulation against the cold as well.And they are pressurised , you have to open an air valve to get them open at lower altitudes.
I´ve climbed both Cotopaxi (5897m) and Kilimanjaro (5895m), and had no problems with my pod all the way to the top, although my mates stopped working on Kili at about 5500m (we think due to the temperature). I knew about batterry issues, but wasn´t aware about the effect decreasing air pressure has, so thanks for that! Happy climbing, Mark.