Stranded on Mount Teide, Tenerife (3,718m) - Sea to Summit in 1 Day, PRTF41, altitude sickness!

Having hiked the 3 big hills in the UK, my girlfriend and I set about looking for our next big hill to walk up. Naturally, I sought out the biggest we could feasibly walk up in a weekend and this video documents our trip, and experience on the mountain.
The route we took is the 040, starting in Playa del Socorro, walking south to the summit. It's a 28km route up, with 4,000 meters of elevation gain, at an average gradient of 8%. It's spectacular, and I recommend it everyone, just be sure to plan accordingly, and double check the key information that screwed us!
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:00 Motivation
1:35 Teide & Ruta 040
2:36 Start of the hike
4:13 2000m up
5:03 3000m up
6:18 STRANDED
8:05 Descending
9:01 Wrapping up

[@zoyayousef6626]

Oh no what a disaster- glad you both were able to (somewhat) stay positive throughout!

[@Luke_Duggan]

Just about!!

[@humungerdungar]

Didn’t realise how rogue that climb got 😂

[@Luke_Duggan]

You coming next time tho yeah? It's actually a stunning cycle ride to I reckon - not this route, but the road up must be mega. Above the clouds etc...

[@cnxtrailrunning]

Great video, thanks for making the time to put it together. I'm planning on doing the same thing in April, really excited about it! Can you share a bit more info about what time you started, and how long it finally took you? I noticed that you also did it in April, so if there are any things you would have done differently, then i'd be happy to hear it. Thanks!

[@Luke_Duggan]

Cheers! Certainly, we started at 0900 on Playa Del Socorro. We arrived at the summit for 1630 and the cable car for 1745, it then took us about another 2hrs to jog down to the car park ( where we had managed to arrange for a taxi to meet us. If I were to do it again I’d triple check the cable car times. take a bit more food in case of any incidents and also take some ibuprofen to stave off the headache from the altitude that’s quite common given the rate of ascent. We drank 1L per 500m so definitely be sure to carry a lot of water also. Good luck and enjoy it, it is very beautiful.

[@miahurr23]

I want to take my girls (10 and 12) on the hike from route number 10 and take the cable car down. I work out everyday so I feel fit. My 12 year old has a warrior's heart. I am wondering if it will be too difficult for my 10 year old. They had no issue in the Dolomites (Tre Cime) but that was only 2700 meters. I climbed Mt Evans on my bike decade plus ago at 4300 meters so I understand how the difficulty of breathing will progress while also battling fatique over 5-6 hours hiking. We hike every Sunday (8-13 km) but it is all flat and sea level. I know it is hard to give your opinion, but how hard would it be (we aren't starting at the sea)? Does the smell of sulfur make the breathing much harder? I think we would be starting near the parking near where the cable car is. We would take that down.

[@Luke_Duggan]

Hey - for me I found the breathing noticeably harder above 3000m. I think in my case this was more a function of the 25km I had in the legs prior to this and the dehydration and poor fuelling etc. Given you guys would be starting higher up the mountain you’d certainly be fresher and you’d be able to pace it out to the top with suitable fuel and water. Make sure to get a summit pass and of course check the time the cable car closes ;). It also sounds like you’re all incredibly fit so should have no challenge in my mind doing this - providing you take it steady and listen to your bodies. The smell was fine and not an issue at all - however this may have been offset by how we smelled haha.