My 70+ cousin just went to the Jungfraujoch and hated it. She had a harder time breathing and moving and felt very uncomfortable because of the high altitude. The whole family had to take the next train down with her because they were frightened for her. It was a gorgeous day so you can't blame it on the weather.

My question: who's vulnerable to altitude sickness and shouldn't go up to the Jungfraujoch? Is there any way of knowing in advance who'll succumb to altitude sickness?

By the way, I've been up to the Jungfraujoch and the Kleine Matterhorn this year and also moved slower and my whole body felt heavier. It wasn't bad enough to make me want to leave but I did feel a bit uncomfortable. Luckily, there are nice restaurants in both places where I could have a schnapps to take the edge off being uncomfortable. And I'm just 45!

I'm younger and in good health, but when I was up on the Jungfraujoch I did find it difficult to breathe. Moving up the stairs caused me to feel a bit dizzy, so I just took my time and went up slowly.

I don't think there's any way of knowing in advance who is ok with altitude and who isn't. I was surprised that I felt dizzy and slow myself! Age is not an indication, either.

Has your 70+ cousin never been to such high altitude living in Switzwerland? Or maybe she desn't live here? If she had done it before, usually she knows if she is fine with altitude or not.

Similar to above poster, no way to tell or perhaps I even thought, younger persons tend to get sick than older. Perhaps the older need less oxygen. I have a friend who works as a tourist guide and she told me a few times like "I take tourists to l'Aiguille du Midi - Chamonix, 3842m and one or 2 girls in their 20's got a bit sick but older people in their 60, 70's had no problem". She says if you rest/sleep well the night before (no party/ not much alcohol), that might help. her record was she took an lady of 80 y.o. She had no problem.

> By the way, I've been up to the Jungfraujoch and the Kleine Matterhorn .... and my whole body felt heavier. It wasn't bad enough to make me want to leave but I did feel a bit uncomfortable.

That's absolutely normal. Your body/brains get less oxygen when you are high up there. Majority of people have no serious problem, just a light dizziness/heavy head. Once you are back to the normal altitude, you feel fine pretty quickly, usually.

For your 70+ cousins or any, next time, if you are worried you could take an oxygen cylinder. There is a product called O-Pur sold at pharmacies all over Switzerland. It comes at different sizes and with a mouth piece.

I am susceptible to altitude sickness and have been since I was a child. Drinking a lot of water for a day or two before ascending may help. Taking time to acclimate to higher altitudes gradually also helps.

Hi. I can't comment on the Jungfraujoch, but echo the other posters re: altitude sickness having been back and forth to the Colorado Rockies too many times. There's no telling who will get it, and it has nothing to do with age or fitness. In fact, studies show that long distance athletes may be more susceptible to it.

Apart from drinking LOTS of water, eat plenty of carbohydrates while at altitude to help lessen your symptoms. Dehydration does make it worse. Symptoms (headaches, sleeplessness, etc) tend to get worse at day 3 and should dissipate after a few days.

Thanks for your posts.

I think stopping at Kleine Scheidegg would have helped acclimate to the higher attitude.

I agree with drinking lots and lots of water, no alcohol, eye drops and nose saline. If you're at altitude for a short time then advise the person to breathe more deeply as you would going up a long flight of stairs.

Getting used to altitude takes days/weeks so stopping for a short time to acclimate really doesn't help. It gets worse for me too on day 3 but I've never been at high altitude long enough to acclimate so I can't say when the symptoms subside. Also lots of sleep helps.

Some people say immediate exercise such as walking helps - gets the oxygen flowing faster.

Most people will feel the effects of that altitude if they live near sea level. You body is just getting less oxygen than it's used to and many people feel a little light-headed or funny. The answer is to just do things a little more slowly.

However, if someone has chronic breathing problems, COPD, asthma, are heavy smokers, etc - they probably shouldn't travel in places where the air has significantly less oxygen.