Can YOU carve all day for 6 straight days???

[Guest]

For the last 5 years I have spent 2-3 weeks every winter in Aspen. Normally living at sealevel and then staying at 2400 meters is a challenge for the body. Water and streching is good. But what you NOT should do for the first couple of days is riding hard in the upper parts of Snowmass. Acclimatise in Buttermilk for the first couple of days is the thing to do. And cruise a bit in the afternoons. Lots of greens in West buttermilk. After this go for it!

One year I crashed after some powriding in Snowmass and had to stay in the hot tub for a whole day:D It was on my second day in Aspen. I just blacked out.

But riding for 3 weeks every day is no problem:biggthump

Eh, there's not THAt much difference between the top of Buttermilk and Snowmass. Hyrdation is the key thing, in addition to eating properly. Lots of water/and or sports drinks, whatever you prefer. Keep a big bottle at the bomber tent, so that when you are back at it, drink a ton (camelbacks tend to freeze up, even the insulated ones). I also recommend a good snack to have on the hill, my personal favorite being Larabars. Start your day off with a big breakfast, high in protein, carbs, and yes, fat, and make sure you get enough food after you get off the hill to make up for all the work you did on the hill. If you get hungry, be sure to grab a bite to eat on the hill, but don't go to any of the places at the top. Too expensive, and the food is much better at Fuel (best place for food on the village mall) anyways.

Obsiously chapstick is a must, but you may want to have a nasal spray or eyedrops if you are especially sensative to dry air.

[Mats]

Eh, there's not THAt much difference between the top of Buttermilk and Snowmass.

From my own experience riding/hiking high altitude peaks and from what wikipedia says the limit for when hiking get´s tough is above 3000 meters around 10.000ft. The limit for altitude sickness is at Aspen baselevel aprox 2400 meter. If you get serious symptoms you need to get below 2400 meter to recover. Snowmass is 800 meters/2610 ft above 3000/10.000ft. It´s those last meters that zaps your energy. From wikipedia: "the available amount of oxygen to sustain mental and physical alertness decreases above 10,000 feet (3,050 metres)" So yes there is a big difference riding upper Snowmass for someone who´s not used to altitude. The limit is exactly at the peak of Buttermilk.

[SWriverstone]

Kinda goes without saying...(and will probably fall on deaf ears here, LOL)...but I've found getting 8hrs of sleep each night makes a BIG difference too.

People who say "I only need 6hrs of sleep" are dead wrong. You may think you only need 6hrs...but your body needs more...and not consistently getting a good night's sleep has been shown to have the same long-term negative effects as smoking.

But I'm no stick-in-the-mud...I just try to not to pull all-nighters every night. :)

Scott

PS - Ditto about getting low if you start getting sick from the altitude. I did a "sprint hike" up the South Sister in Oregon once (on not enough sleep!) and minutes after reaching the summit, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Man, that was the worst I've ever felt in my life—WAY worse than a bad hangover!

I knew exactly what it was (I suddenly had a wave of severe headaches and nausea) and scrambled back down the scree slopes at top speed to get lower. That worked. 2,000 feet made a big difference!

[queequeg]

Stamina aside - does anyone have any tricks that can better prepare the body for the air (or lack thereof) at high altitudes?

[mr_roboteye]

Stamina aside - does anyone have any tricks that can better prepare the body for the air (or lack thereof) at high altitudes?

I can't really think of anything other than taking an iron supplement to make sure that you red blood cells are able to carry as much oxygen as they possibly can. Oh yeah.......and breathe really deep.

later,

Dave R.

[pow4ever]

Stamina aside - does anyone have any tricks that can better prepare the body for the air (or lack thereof) at high altitudes?

I took 3-4 week long ski trip every year to West Coast/High Altitude area.

If you are in decent shape; it should take no more than 24 hours to get used to it.

Arrive a day earlier, drink tons of water and get plenty of rest.

I also take baby asprin (81mg) a week before my trip. Which might also help as it thins out your blood.

However check with your doctor first.

HTH

--

David

[Mike T]

Its weird, I live at a measly 3800' and whenever I travel to sea level I feel congested... but 12000' never bugs me.

[BadBrad]

Stamina aside - does anyone have any tricks that can better prepare the body for the air (or lack thereof) at high altitudes?

Maybe do some training in a hypobaric chamber, but that's probably pretty expensive.

You can look up altitude sickness on the internet and get the usual advice to hydrate well, get lots of rest, get to altitude early to acclimate before exerting yourself, eat light meals, and avoid alcohol and caffeine.

There is also a drug called acetazolamide that is said to prevent altitude sickness, taken twice daily starting 24 hours before ascent and continuing for 48 hours after arrival at altitude.

[Allee]

Altitude's a weird thing. You either handle it or you don't, and you never know until you get there.

If you're really worried you could take Diamox. It'll certainly make breathing a little easier, but it can screw with your sleep, it makes you pee like a racehorse, and most people don't like the major side effect of the tinglies in their fingers and toes. Much better to just take it easy and acclimatise.

[Call me jack]

well, i know if i was going i'd bring a carve board and a park board. but thats cause i started as a park rider, and am just starting to branch into carve. (it'l also fun to carve tiny half circles at the bottom of the hill on a park board; good ol' 6 meter sidecuts lol)

maybe a soft boot freecarve set up of some sort, for you, though?

[OhD]

You can greatly increase your chances of having a good time at Aspen by getting there a day or two before riding and spending some time getting acclimated. Fly to Denver or Grand Junction and spend a night there. Go out walking or running, maybe take a day hike into the foothills but SLEEP LOW. Then travel to Aspen and again spend a day walking around, laying in your groceries, checking out the scene. Put on some mileage and hike up as high as the roads are open. Bring or rent snowshoes if you want to push it a little. Drink plenty of water and go easy on the booze (a little beer doesn't seem to do me any harm, but your mileage may vary..). Take a couple of aspirin if your system is OK with it. Get a good night's sleep. You may well have a hard time sleeping at 8000' - I found myself waking up and gasping for a few breaths several times a night there. While I've climbed a lot in the NW and am in good condition I live at ~300'.

On day 3 you may be fit to go high, but drink plenty of water, wear dark goggles and sunscreen, and pay attention to how you feel. If you get headachy or nauseous, head down to the lower lifts ASAP, and if that doesn't fix it, get back to town and lie low. If you continue to feel ill, either drive down to GLenwood Springs or go to a clinic.

The general acclimatization strategy is to exercise high and sleep low for a few days, gradually increasing the effort and the elevation. Overdoing it can set you back and prolong the process, so pay attention to your body, and don't let the excitement and peer pressure make you stupid. Get acclimated first, then let the beer make you stupid. If you spend three days and nights nauseous you will neither have nor be much fun. Ask my wife - she spent three days in Aspen - mostly in bed - before getting acclimated enough to ski.

Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) and High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) are nothing to fool around with. Either one can kill you. If you've never spent much time above 8000' you won't know how susceptible you are. Almost everyone has some threshold elevation for mountain sickness in some degree, and it doesn't seem to depend on general fitness as much as one would expect. You have to determine your limit and the severity by cautious testing. If you or a companion overdo it and start feeling really bad, get as low as you can as soon as you can. If you don't think you can ride down safely, get help from Ski Patrol. The early effects of altitude sickness can be reversed by putting the victim in a hyperbaric chamber (a pressure chamber - if it's done with a portable one on the mountain remember to tip the guy pumping it generously!), but serious damage can be done in the interval between the onset of symptoms and evacuation and/or delivery of hyperbaric therapy.

You can use pharmaceuticals as an alternative. Diamox is the "standard" countermeasure. It's effective, but not without complications: It takes a day or two to take effect and it can cause various side effects including tingling and numbness in the fingers and toes, diminished appetite and a loss of interest in alcohol. It's a prescription drug, but I had no difficulty getting it through my MD prior to a trek in Nepal (to 18000'+). There's a newer drug being prescribed recently - I don't recall the name of it offhand. Look into AMS and you'll probably find plenty of info on it. Diamox will ward off mountain sickness for most individuals, but not for everyone, and I don't know that it's any guarantee against HAPE. HAPE would be uncommon at 14000', but not out of the question.

THose of you attending who ARE acclimated - keep an eye on the flatlanders and don't push them into being stupid.

Have a great time. I won't be there this year, as I'm going to the Mt. Baker Legendary Banked Slalom then Whistler/BLackcomb for the week.

Dennis

[queequeg]

Altitude's a weird thing. You either handle it or you don't, and you never know until you get there.

If you're really worried you could take Diamox. It'll certainly make breathing a little easier, but it can screw with your sleep, it makes you pee like a racehorse, and most people don't like the major side effect of the tinglies in their fingers and toes. Much better to just take it easy and acclimatise.

Is it anything like seasickness? Like, once you've been through it once you wont get it again? I didn't have a particularly difficult time during my Summit County trip but it was a bit irritating (particularly walking up stairs). Wondering if now that I have been through that once my body will be like: "oh ok yeah, we're at high altititude now so it's gonna be like this".

[carvedog]

well, i know if i was going i'd bring a carve board and a park board. but thats cause i started as a park rider, and am just starting to branch into carve. (it'l also fun to carve tiny half circles at the bottom of the hill on a park board; good ol' 6 meter sidecuts lol)

maybe a soft boot freecarve set up of some sort, for you, though?

Trying to follow this here: So you are saying instead of hardbooting to soft boot so you can last longer?

Or is this a treatment for High altitude, ride the park board cuz the parks are at the bottom of the hill??

[Pat Donnelly]

The Hot springs baths after the 3rd day had a magical effect on my legs, plus eating right a few protein drinks and stretching.

If in Aspen drive to Glenwood springs for that hot spring Pool.

Ernie, that's the Rx and why we stay at The Hot Springs Lodge. With this and SportLegs I get 7 consecutive days

[D-Sub]

Stamina aside - does anyone have any tricks that can better prepare the body for the air (or lack thereof) at high altitudes?

CoQ10, or better yet, ubiquinol.

I am horribly out of shape, but even in my better years, the trip to mammoth from SoCal absolutely killed me the first couple nights. SO...one year I started a CoQ10 regimen a week before, and every day during, in addition to ginger capsules for stomach upset, and valerian to help with sleep at night and I felt and rode much better. Actually slept the whole night through even the first night.

Ubiquinol, if I understand correctly, is CoQ10 for older bodies.

[D-Sub]

Is it anything like seasickness? Like, once you've been through it once you wont get it again? I didn't have a particularly difficult time during my Summit County trip but it was a bit irritating (particularly walking up stairs). Wondering if now that I have been through that once my body will be like: "oh ok yeah, we're at high altititude now so it's gonna be like this".

Unfortunately, no. The acclimation will fade if you go back to lower altitudes for longer periods.

[D-Sub]

You can greatly increase ...

Dennis. You seem to really know your stuff. I've seen oxygen supplements in capsule and liquid form. Would something like that have any benefit?

[shawndoggy]

Hey, those TdF riders don't get hemocrit levels up to the mid 50s by picking the right parents... they sleep HIGH!

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[Hotbeans]

yep. I'm coming from pa, so probably 300ft above sea level and just spent 3 days tearing it up with thor, et al.

My advice: Start with a few Stella's, 8 capsules of sportlegs, and a smoke.

Evening of first day: 4-5 misc. beers, followed by hot tub, followed by some coffee... oh, and another smoke.

2nd day: 4 cups of coffee, 12 sportleg capsules, 2 burrito's, 2 smokes. Finish with 2 chocolate stout's, 3 spicy bloody mary's...and a smoke. Stay up 'till 2:30am, have coffee, go to bed.

3rd day: 10 capsules of sportlegs, 2 old slices of french toast, 2 really stout coffee's, some water. Finish with a bit of water, a smoke, and a good story.

That seemed to work for me..

[PaulY]

I read an article many years ago about altitude sickness. Your level of fitness has no bearing whatsoever, and it was pointed out that many that succumb are top athletes thinking they will be immune. It takes a body going from sea level to 5000' 24 hours to generate enough hemoglobin for normal oxygenation, and going from s.l. to 10,000 takes 3 days!

So, yeah, take the first day easy, stay hydrated, and then go have fun.

[Fastskiguy]

LOL, this flatlander is in Sun Valley right now, you know, the land of the 3400 foot vertical runs. It's day 4 and today I had to take stop a whopping 10 (ten!) times coming down warm springs in the afternoon. I think I have some necrotic quad muscles. My CPK has got to be thru the roof. My theory is that it's the deep burn that kills you, busting out 300-400 vertical feet then taking a short rest....well, it's my theory for this trip.

[gdboytyler]

I had a doctor friend tell me that viagra is suppose to improve athletic performance at higher altitudes.

[D-Sub]

Hey, those TdF riders don't get hemocrit levels up to the mid 50s by picking the right parents... they sleep HIGH!

Im not a scientist or physiologist but logic tells me those are a BAD idea.

[D-Sub]

I had a doctor friend tell me that viagra is suppose to improve athletic performance at higher altitudes.

just don't fall on a toeside.

[Call me jack]

Trying to follow this here: So you are saying instead of hardbooting to soft boot so you can last longer?

Or is this a treatment for High altitude, ride the park board cuz the parks are at the bottom of the hill??

well, it seems alot easier to relax in soft boots on a park board. idk.

i'm just starting with hard boots and i've been a park rider for the past 9 years. I maybe i'm still just getting used to hard boots. i like my soft boots and 148cm boards, still, what can say?