In reply to UKC Articles:
...being fit did not increase risk of the most common altitude illness – acute mountain sickness. It is most likely that Moyles didn't get sick on Kilimanjaro because his skull was big enough to accommodate his brain as it swelled at altitude,...
I realise this is only Part 1, but I see a large and illogical leap between these two sentences, with no evidence for the latter. It just introduces a whole new factor with no background. Given the range of physiological factors that affect acclimatisation, it seems odd to simply put Moyles' state down to a big skull, and, that will only reduce headache, not stop him getting 'sick'. Or is this just poor editing?
Sense of effort is a good measure of performance
Really? Both personal experience and quite a bit of reading contradict that. I think it can affect performance, but not 'measure' it. 'Sense' of effort is very subjective, and there is no mention here of the 'central governor' factor where psychological factors override physical properties. Thresholds of pain and perception of effort vary between people. It is such psychological factors that were offered for the success of Messner (and Kukuczka) in the absence of their quantitatively 'poor' test results.