Old injury and bureaucracy blocked Jorudas from special operations forces

Alpinist, photographer and climatologist Vilius Jorudas says an old injury and bureaucratic obstacles thwarted his attempt to join the armed forces’ Special Operations Forces, LRT reports. He discussed the experience, his mountaineering expeditions and the effects of altitude sickness on LRT Radio’s “A Closer Look” programme.

Jorudas developed a love of mountains as a child, first travelling with his parents and later joining Vilnius University’s hiking club. At 17, he went on his first serious expedition, to the Tian Shan mountains, carrying a pack that weighed up to 36 kilograms. At the time, he weighed 55 kilograms and was also responsible for photographing and documenting the expedition.

During another expedition, Jorudas and his team came across a human skeleton on a trail. A local climber who helped with logistics said he knew the remains were there but did not know how they had arrived. Jorudas took a photograph, which was later displayed in an exhibition.

He said a fall down a slope was among the frightening moments of his early climbing trips. Other climbers caught him, and he was not seriously hurt.

Jorudas described acclimatisation as one of the main challenges of climbing. As the amount of oxygen decreases at altitude, climbers can experience headaches, nausea, tiredness and weakness. He said that if symptoms do not pass and a person’s condition worsens, they may have altitude sickness and should turn back and descend.