Give Your Body Time To Acclimatize
Some skiers pay a steep price for a week of powder, even if they get good rates on flights, accommodations and lift tickets. That’s because the most savvy traveler can’t negotiate altitude out of the deal.
Everyone reacts differently to a change in elevation, but it is not unusual for the human body to do a physiological snow-plow during the first few days of a ski trip.
“You will probably feel the worst about 48 hours after arriving,” said Dr. Barry Mink, an internist at the Aspen (Colo.) Clinic who grew up in Highland Park but moved to the Rockies 24 years ago. “Headaches, nausea, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, stomach gas, dry mouth and nose are all possible symptoms. We see the whole range every winter.”
The main difficulties of what’s called acute mountain sickness begin at 5,280 feet - or one mile high, the point where oxygen density starts to drop in geometric proportions. In fact, the change from 5,000 feet to 7,500 feet is deemed harder than going from sea level to 5,000 feet, and the same holds for each 2,500-foot increase after that.
“You will feel it for a few days even climbing stairs or walking up a small hill from the lodge to a restaurant,” said Jack Daniels, a respected exercise researcher teaching at Arizona State University in Tempe. “Your heart will beat faster at rest. It’s not necessarily risky; your body is simply adjusting to less oxygen in the air.”
Scientists estimate oxygen density is 40 percent less in Aspen (7,930 feet) than sea level. Consequently, when we breathe at such higher altitudes, our blood won’t carry as much oxygen to individual cells.
Daniels said this makes the typical skier feel “about 15 percent worse” for the first two to five days - it varies per individual for intensity and duration. His misery index goes to 20 percent at the Park City summit in Utah (10,000 feet), about 23 percent at the Sunbird summit in Utah (11,000) and Vail, Colo., summit (11,400) and 25 percent at the summits of Crested Butte, Copper Mountain or Keystone in Colorado (roughly 12,000).
“You need to respect the change between the base and peak of the mountain,” said Daniels, who has worked with many world-class athletes on altitude adjustment. “I’m not saying don’t ski the first two or three days, but to ease into it.
Mink offered some basic guidelines for the first 48 hours of a trip: Eat lightly, don’t drink alcohol, get to bed early, nap when drowsy and consume about 50 to 80 ounces of water. His party-pooper advice is especially directed at the opening 24 hours.
“Give your body a chance to acclimatize. It will pay dividends. You will have significant more energy for the remainder of the trip.”
Mink said the optimal time to rest in a weeklong trip is day two or three, rather than skiing like mad for four or five days before taking a slow day.
There is good news for anyone staying beyond a week: You’ll get stronger. By the seventh day, the body compensates for the oxygen shortage in the blood by taking more air into the lungs.
Daniels said there are other ways to protect against altitude sickness, provided you have about four to eight weeks before departing for the snow.
Enough iron in the diet is perhaps even more critical, said Daniels. He cited studies that showed decreased performance by elite runners with slightly anemic levels of hemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying protein that gives red blood cells their color). Adding sources of iron to your meals - lean meat and poultry, clams, tuna, salmon, baked potato with skin, almonds, baked beans, lima beans, raisins - in the weeks before a trip can help boost hemoglobin levels. But consult your physician or nutritionist before adding an iron supplement; too much iron in the blood can be detrimental.