Altitude Sickness Sucks

I think I might be the cursed one causing this crappy winter

As I posted I am attending a Psia clinic at Copper Mt this week.  Because my son had a race on Sunday which he ripped the second best time on the 2nd run to place 4th after starting 95th in the first run.  I couldnt fly to Denver until Monday night went right up to Dillon at 9100 feet.  Didn't sleep all that well.  Skied well Tuesday at the event making it to the end past some of the locals.  Felt fine and Went to bed early and woke up at 1 when my body decided to expel everything in it.  

By 4 I decided no way was I skiing today. By 5 I decided I had to go lower or go to the hospital.  Hung out and worked remotely from Eagle Co at 6500 feet.  Tingling in hands and dizziness stopped.  On a med to help acclimation after seeing a nice doc here with pretty much classic AMS symptoms.  I still have no appetite so I'll have to see if I feel well enough to ski tomorrow.  Cancelled the Cat skiing I planned to do Friday at Cooper.  Doc said getting low was a smart choice.

Wow that bites Coach.

I was told it's not about conditioning but more heredity.  

When I did hut-to-hut in Colorado I got pretty hammered too. I probably live at 200 feet and even flying into Denver I wasn't exactly comfortable. They told me to drink a lot of water and no alcohol. I worked out extensively before both my trips.

We were based in Beaver Creek (8000 ft?) and when we headed into the mountains as soon as I got above 10,000 the headache was intense. One of the huts we slept in was above 11,000.

By the end of those trips I was a bit better, and I had a great time, if that is possible with a headache that lasted for 2-3 days.

I feel your pain bud, hope you get better.

Every trip to the mountains can bring different results..I am able to go high with out any issues. But that doesn't mean the next time will be the same..
Did the doc put you on diamox?
If he did I bet you are pissing up a storm..Stay hydrated and rest..

Yes

Sorry to hear. Been there. I'm convinced it has something to do with the recent air travel. I just drove to Taos over five days, and I'm having a much better time than in the past. Still out of it, but, it's ok. Losing fifteen pounds and being aerobic all summer may have helped.

I feel like I lost 15 pounds today

Now that I am lower it feels more like food poisoning

That sucks, hoping for a quick recovery and hoping you can still get out and enjoy some of your days out west.  The tough thing about altitude sickness.  Even if you haven't had issues when you've been up high in  the past, you're still susceptible.

Sucks. Feel better and try to enjoy some skiing.  I've never had it bad but one of the reasons I like ataying down in the valley in SLC when skiing Alta is I just don't sleep well up at altitude.  

IIRC, that medicine makes carbonated beverages taste funky, no?

Hydrate, go for a jog to fight through it, sleep low. Good luck and feel better.

Coach Z wrote

I feel like I lost 15 pounds today

Now that I am lower it feels more like food poisoning

Sorry your vacation in the mountains got F'd up, you did the right thing ant dropped low.

Food poisoning, are you sure it wasn't the realization that you might actually have to choose between Bernie and Donald.

Hope you feel better ASAP Coach.

That sucks!

Feel better man,you DID  the right thing ,skiing CAN wait .

This morn still not ready to ski so I pulled the plug and am flying home today.  After another night of not holding food down doc suspects I picked a bug up that normally my body would fight off at lower altitude.  Down in Denver and able to eat a bit.

I think future trips I will go back to staying in SLC and skiing the cottonwoods

i feel for ya coach. safe travels

I only experienced minor issues when I was at Steamboat.  We slept at 6900 feet there.  On my first day, I got rather winded when trying to ski hard and was beat by the end of the day, even though I didn't make it out till 11:30.  I think I'd go back there again since I didn't experience many issues with elevation.  I can't imagine what it's like to sleep at 9000 feet without some time to adjust to higher altitude.

I had a lot of difficulty at Vail when I was on a family trip at age 13. Flu-like symptoms, dizziness, vomiting, could barely stand up without wanting to collapse. Lasted 2 good days.

I'm hoping I've gotten better because I might have to go to Breckenridge in April, and I really don't want to go out a week before to acclimatize (seems like a waste of much needed vacation time) for a team that I probably won't make anyway.

Sorry to hear Coach. This totally bites. I have a friend that no matter how much he prepares himself he becomes extremely debilitated above 12k or so.

My only western skiing trip was to Breck/A Basin.....on the heels of a two day business conference in Denver.  With a couple of days to acclimatize in Denver my brother and I didn't have any trouble when we got to Summit Co.  We were fortunate to have those two days.  Agreed, I couldn't see taking valuable vacation time to acclimatize, although it would be the prudent thing to do.

Sorry things went badly Coach.

Matt

the only place I have ever encounter these issues is summit county.  Its pretty much the only resorts where you are sleeping above 9k feet in this country

after this experience I will go to the doc ahead of time and get one of the two drugs to help with the process.  One works thru your kidneys and the other is a steroid so unless PSIA drug tests go with that one LOL

I've had no trouble in Vail, Beaver Creek, Aspen, or best of all Steamboat which is below 7k.  For me that 9k and almost 10k mark in Breck depending where you are staying and if you are staying where the academy is I think its like 9600 feet.

I'm in Charlotte now on the way home and besides feeling tried and really pissed off I am better and probably 5-10 pounds lighter.