Traveling to CO, worried about altitude sickness!
 

Hello Travelers!

So me and my family will be traveling to the Alma, CO area this March! I have heard that altitude sickness is present above 8,000 ft (we will be at 11,000 ft!) I just want to make sure if altitude sickness is something to worry about, or if I should just ignore it. Thanks!

Some people get it; some don't. Some get it one trip and not another and vice versa.

What you need to know is how to recognize it; what to do about it; and that sort of thing.

<b>If you get it, you won't be ignoring it as it is pretty unpleasant. </b>

http://www.ismm.org/index.php/preven...ubexpandable=2

Golden Rules:
http://www.ismm.org/index.php/the-go...ubexpandable=2

Watch you kids!

Thanks! We will stay safe!

Drink lots of water. If you get a headache it may be from altitude sickness. Or you may feel like you have the flu. Sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't but being well hydrated helps.

Avoid the Continental Divide. Quite a few people at my husband's conference got fairly sick from the altitude.

It will be pretty hard to avoid the Divide! It's all over the place!!

What everyone has said--take it easy for at least a day or so, drink more water than you ever thought you would, cut the alcohol. An aspirin may help.
And you may or may not get it--even at lower altitudes (like Denver).

Are you sleeping in Alma or just going up there for day trips? Ten-thousand plus feet is pretty high to immediately start out a trip.

The best thing you can do is spend a couple of nights at lower elevation, say the 5,000-8000 foot range, if possible, before going up that high to stay. On those days drive up someplace higher for a few hours, and then come back down to sleep.

If you get severe case you should head down to lower elevation ASAP.

Odds are you'll be OK, but it's good you are looking into this.

Just to add - the first time I had altitude sickness was taking the tram up to Pikes Peak. I had a crushing headache and felt like each limb weighed 500 lbs. I stayed at the top just long enough to use the facilities and went back down after a quick look around. For me, the decline didn't help all that much as the headaches lasted a full day. I lived at sea level then and been in Denver for a day or 2 before going up. That was in 2000. Hadn't had issue since.

Fast forward - I have lived at 5800+ ft for well over a decade.

We went to Mont Blanc 2 years ago. I took the 2 gondolas up from the base in Chamonix. 12,400 ft or so. I thought it would be no problem.
WRONG! I was worse than I was at Pike Peak; this time in addition to the above, I was nauseous and my lips were turning blue!

Again, descent did help a bit, but the headache lasted a day.

I now live at 6700 ft and it is no problem but forewarned is forearmed!

Yes, I will be staying in Alma

Hopefully you can spend at least one night at an intermediate elevation before heading up there.

Debit, you may not have noticed immediate relief by going down, but had you stayed up high for sleeping the possibility exists that your symptoms would have gotten worse.

Most people don't progress to a real serious stage, but I've seen it happen at higher elevations. In any case, you don't want to feel miserable on vacation. Braxton, maybe more info than you want here:
http://www.altitudemedicine.org/altitude-illness/

Nelson, you are of course correct - especially @ Mont Blanc!

Listen to Nelson - stay a night in Denver (around 5,200 ft), drive to Alma the next day. Denver is a great place anyway, so no harm no foul.

As you drive, stop in a few places and walk around a bit. Any lightheadedness goes away when you move and breathe deeply. Water is good, alcohol not so much (the potency just about doubles or triples at altitude!)

I've never had it and I've been skiing in altitudes of 5000-10000 several times (at the base). Last year I went to Breckinridge for the first time which was the highest altitude town I've stayed in at 9600' (higher than Aspen where I've been more and is about 8000'), so I wondered as a friend of mine got altitude sickness there and was sick for a day or two last year. It didn't bother me, I didn't feel anything unusual at all, thank goodness.

So no, it isn't an automatic given that you get altitude sickness above 8000'. I never have. Of course I've been above 10K' on every ski trip out there when at the summit of the mountain, but I never stay there long.

Ok update: We have decided to go to the Black Hawk, CO Area, is there still a threat there?

It's 8500+ feet there; so generally speaking it is possible but since it's lower than Alma, perhaps a bit less likely. It really can't be predicted as my experiences have shown.

As suggested above, a night in Denver before heading out is a good idea.

[Might I ask what the purpose of this trip is since you have moved it quite a distance?]

Debit asks a good question. Are you staying in Alma to ski in Breckenridge? And is Black Hawk replacing Alma or is that for one night?

My first visit to Copper Mountain was torture. We were there 4 days, and I only felt better at day 3 and a half. Headache, nausea, lethargy.

But then last year we went to Jungfraujoch and stayed about 4 hours. From Wengen. Nothing. Hard to explain.

Good luck to you, and hopefully there will be no problems. And next time, if there is a next time, I will stay for a day or two in Denver first

We were looking to do the Breckenridge area but decided to move to the Fraser area.

As I and others said above, I have had altitude sickness in Denver where we visit often, and not in Vail where we skiied before kids lived in Denver.
It is hard to tell, but when you have it--you have it. It can be very unpredictable.