I'm currently on Tenerife. I was supposed to go up to the top of Teide by cable car yesterday and hike down but the ride was cancelled due to too strong winds. I was only able to rebook for the 7th, my last day here. If this gets cancelled again I am considering hiking up.
Now, there's a little problem with this: I'm fit but have never been able to hike uphill properly in my life. It's a blood pressure problem: basically blood starts pooling in my legs with the smallest incline and traps lovely oxygen along the way. My heart rate is then lower than it should be for the effort. Basically the opposite of POTS. Never have any problems on flat terrain or downhill though.
I've made a few adjustments involving lower leg compression and lots of salt and am now able to hike uphill, if not as fast as most. I hiked Ben Nevis this year and needed 4.5hrs up, 2 hours down (mainly due to too many people). I also hiked to the top of Pico Viejo (3100m at top) about a week ago, needed 5 hours up, 90 minutes down. Interestingly, this was the first ever altitude effort where I didn't have high altitude problems at all. A few years ago I walked through Addis Abeba and visited a few concerts (2300-2500m) and basically felt short of breath, altitude headaches, weak muscles for most of the trip.
So I'm kind of positive about the whole thing. But I'm still a bit uncertain. My cable car would leave at 11:00, thus I guess I'd be informed at about 08:00 if I'm able to go. Basically looking for opinions. Also looking for advice on temperature at the top. The forecast says 5-7 degrees. Just being 600m above Pico Viejo I wonder if it's really that cold as I was running around in a shirt on Viejo and felt warm.
Post edited at 12:13