Why Mongols Are Altitude Machines

Welcome to Mongolia where the grasslands sit higher than Denver’s peaks and the average herder

lives at 1,500–2,000 metres… without even noticing. Up here, barometric pressure drops

20 %. Every breath holds less O₂, so your lungs must work 30 %

harder just to match sea-level output. But that hardship is a natural EPO factory.

Within two weeks the kidneys triple erythropoietin release, boosting red-blood-cell count 8–10 %.

More cells = more oxygen-carrying capacity = longer endurance when you drop back to sea

level. Now add physics: at altitude, VO₂ max can fall 15 %.

To keep power, muscles rely more on slow-twitch fibres and fat oxidation. Translation: