“PEDALSALCEL- 2005”
(Pedals-to-sky 2005)

July and August of 2005 we have measured the heights of up to now considered highest rideable passes in the world. The measurements that we were taken with GPS Leica GS20 and so, can safely confirm that, Semo la, a pass in Tibet of which there is enough information in the same web, it's 5565m high.
On the other hand, the up to now considered highest rideable pass in the world, Khardung la, to Ladakh (in the north of India) Guiness Record highest accessible pass for vehicles, it's 5359m high, instead of 5600m.
Notice that in Internet, in
http: // en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Khardungla _ Pass /
one already finds this information, which agrees with other trustworthy and independent measurements.
The measurements of the pass , recorded in GPS Leica GS20, have been postprocessaded and recalculades by Leica Geosystem, the “Cartographic Institute of Catalonia” and “Instituto Geografico National (Spain)”. We hope the difference of more than 200 m that we have found between both passes will be use for obtaining the Guiness for the Semo pass.

One of the problems to reach the Semo la pass it's height. Another big problem one has to face is the isolations of the place: paths are awful conditions, there is hardly any village and it's really difficult find supplies, shelters, spare part; in additions to his, the traveller has to do with the lake “salty” waters... Those who want to repeat the experience will need a considerable amount of time to recover their energy.

We encourage people to continue the search and we will collaborate with those take part into who cheers up in the search of other possible highest passes in Asia or in Southamerica.

 

“PEDALSALCEL” (“Cycling-to-sky” 2005).

Summary

The project, as its name refer, tries to locate the highest mountain passes of the world that can be raised by bicycle, as well as compare them and measure then altitude. Moreover it intends to solve a meteorological problem and carry out a relevant contribution to the mountain medicine.

We think that we have found a pass (Semo la) in the Chinese Tibet, which is 150 m higher than one considered to be the highest the world (Khardung la), placed in the Indian Tibet (Ladak). We affirm this because of the information obtained from images taken by the satellite Landsat and also from the digital model of elevations of the area made with the information gathered by the spaceship Columbia/Endeavour. The stories of the travellers in the zone have confirmed us these facts.

Taking advantage of the least cold summer time and that the monsoon comes to the Tibetan plateau in a weak way, we want to climb by bike both passes in the summer of 2005 and measure then the area, using the GPS skills most adapted to this zone of the world.

We use the suitable geodesic studies. The participants have the necessary training and experiences for such a trip.

The physics problem of the atmosphere hears in relation with the mountain medicine: the rarefaction of the air at heights exercises a minor pressure when it is in motion, sometihing that we will try to prove in a clear way in collaboration with a specialist professor in meteorology of Universitat Politècnica of Catalunya. The same phenomenon might have altered the measurements of spirometry of the mountain-climbers during the expeditions to high altitudes, which traditionally was assumed to degradation of sportsmen in the heights. We will try to clarify it with the assistance of a pneumologist of the High Sports Yield Centre of Sant Cugat (C.A.R) Barcelona.

 

Three Catalan cyclists will take part in the project: Manel García, Jordi Pons and Xavier Romero, members of Foment Martinenc and of the Cycle Club of Gracia.