So tomorrow morning my wife and daughter fly out to Denver. It will be their first time visiting there. My wife made the mistake of reading about altitude sickness in the town (evergreen) they are staying in. I believe its roughly 7000ft ASL. She is now getting anxious because the article mentioned visitors having difficulty breathing. I told her at 40 yrs old she should be fine, but its already in her mind. I'm sure many in here have visited Colorado, an was wonder if you had any issues or tips for it. Thanks
Not sports related: Colorado bound
- Thread starter budman1976
- Start date
7K is nothing. I go up and down through those kinds of elevations often. If she hits Pikes Peak (CO Springs/ 14K) she'll notice it. Ears pop, water bottles pop, and bags of chips do weird things.
The gardens of the gods is one place I know they are going but I don't think they are going anywhere near what you mentioned. I'll pass that along to her. Like I said she read that article and they made it sound as if it was pretty bad.
Yea, 7,000 feet will barely be noticeable. She’ll get out of breath if y’all go hiking, but after a couple of days (maybe even a day), she’ll get acclimated at that altitude.
They will be fine. If she tries to do any intense cardio for the first 24hrs, I'm sure she will notice a difference, but if just walking around and doing normal tourist stuff? Nah.
Yea nothing like that, just visit friends and driving around. I know tue garden of the gods is one spot they are going but other than that just taking it easy. But I knew when she read that article the anxiety would start.
Pikes & Garden of the gods are right next to one another. GoG is always packed & it's hard to find parking. If they leave early, they might be Ok.
Pikes is so far up, it's like looking out the window of an airplane. There's also a cog train that runs up.
The road up is scary.
Aren't most plane cabins pressurized at 6000 - 8000 feet? If she's comfortable on the plane ride out, she should be okay at 7000 feet.
I live just south of Colorado Springs. Others have given some good advice. The only thing I would add is to drink LOTS of water. The climate here is so arid that you'll dehydrate in no time.
Also, due to the wildfires around Steamboat Springs, the air quality can be low for anyone with asthma issues. Yesterday, the sun was shining bright, but we couldn't even see the mountains due to the smoke and haze.
Also, due to the wildfires around Steamboat Springs, the air quality can be low for anyone with asthma issues. Yesterday, the sun was shining bright, but we couldn't even see the mountains due to the smoke and haze.
I've been at 10,000 feet many times and it didn't bother me whatsoever. I visited Laramie and walked out on their football field of U. of Wyoming which is 7220, the altitude is actually printed on their field.
Last edited:
My son is also flying to Denver tomorrow. We go out a ton. I don't think they'll have any issues. Are they flying out of clt?
The alcohol kicks in a little faster, so it should be cheaper!
My wife’s family is from there. Have taken numerous trips there and had no issues. Have driven up to Pikes Peak and Loveland Pass. Never had a problem. If you’re doing any kind of strenuous activity or have asthma or something, maybe there’d be a problem, but I wouldn’t otherwise expect to.
Many years ago I was in Cusco, Peru, elevation over 11k feet. I was Ok initially, but after walking for about 30 minutes I felt like I had been hit by a hammer. Went straight to bed, felt better the next morning. I'm pretty sure the speciality tea helped as well.
King, not really. This is her first time flying in 13 years so that and reading that article just triggered the anxiety
She will like that part with her wine lol
If you are going to Garden of the Gods, I suggest going to Cripple Creek. Its a old gold mining town on the southwest side of Pikes Peak. Good roads and not bad elevation.
Here's a fun fact for those may not already know it: At Coors Field, there's a single row all around the upper deck painted in Rockies purple that marks the exact Mile High point.
Ill pass that along to her, the friends they are visiting have lived there for about 15 years so hopefully by now they know where all this stuff is =-)
The current bad air quality out here right now will probably be a bigger factor. My nephew (30 years old) gets altitude sickness when he comes out here from NY and he is in good shape. Can be a bit of a crap shoot. Take it easy the first day and drink water
When we were in Colorado Springs, we tried to drive Pikes Peak but the employees at the gate would not let us drive up the Peak, they said the weather was too bad and we couldn't see anything. That was a great disappointment to me, I was so looking forward to that drive.
Freddie...when I drove up it, 2 water trucks were ahead of me. One of them lost traction on one of those S curves and started rolling back down. He finally got traction and I let them get way ahead of me. That's when I realized there was no guard rail on some of those steep grades. Let's just say it was scary. 😬
Before we took that trip, I had this guy at work tell me that he drove Pike's Peak once and he bought a brand new Bic Lighter. He said when he got to the top the lighter would not light. Don't know if that was true or not but I was going to try it and was so disappointed that we didn't get to make the drive. That particular year we drove most of the state of Colorado (not all of it but a lot) and we didn't stay in any one place more than a day or two.
To the op, if your wife has any reservations about going to Colorado, I’d gladly take her place. I’ve been there a few times for work, and I loved my time there. The limited places I’ve been to and seen are incredibly beautiful!
That drive can be a little unnerving. But it's nothing compared to parts of the Rocky Mountain National Park. There are stretches there that have no guard rail and the edge of the road ends in a sheer 2000 foot drop.
It was probably my imagination, but it really felt like like it was messing with my equilibrium. 😶
Trail Ridge Rd! I'll hit it in a few weeks. One of the best drives in the US (IMO).
The Pikes thing got me because it was so steep in sections. If something happened mechanically to your car, you were in the crap.
Both of these are visible in Google maps street view.
Tell her to drink lots of water. In fact, at the first sign of a headache, start drinking lots of water. Altitude sickness occurs in large part because water evaporates from the human body faster at higher elevations. If you head to Pike’s Peak definitely drink plenty of water before heading up.
Flew out there a few years ago and had no issues with breathing. We went from Denver to the Rocky Mountains and then up to Mount Rushmore and back over the course of several days. The traffic was really bad...that will be the biggest problem inching along on interstates.
Hit the dispensary on your way into town. Smoke early and often. Careful with the edibles unless you're @uscwatson21 tier
They don't have guard rails because they interfere with pushing the snow off when plowing the roads.
And they used to have races up that mtn.
thanks guys for everything....so last night she get home after photographing a Senior/family photo session and we get a email saying American Airlines has cancelled the flight and moved them to Wednesday! Even going as far as taking the direct flight they had and now had them leaving Wednesday at 1pm, flying to Chicago waiting 4 hours then go to Denver. Ironically NBC nightly news had a special on how all airlines had been changing flight details across the country but usually for just a few hours but some the whole flight plan like they did hers. Luckily 2 people late last night backed out of a flight and we got them on an American flight that leaves tonight at 730 out of CLT and is a direct to Denver. Just something to add to her stress level.
yea i don't see my daughter giving this up. Her and my daughter are going and staying with some friends. My daughters best friend since kindergarten is the reason they are going. They haven't seen each other in 6 years and we wanted to make this happen for them as they are both 12 now and haven only kept in touch through facetime daily. The reaction she got when she found out was priceless, its one of those videos you see where the person cant even speak due to tears.
Similar threads
Volleyball | Georgia at USC | Wednesday 8 p.m.
- Brian Shoemaker
- Gamecocks Forum
Volleyball | USC at Winthrop | 7 p.m. Thursday
- Brian Shoemaker
- Gamecocks Forum
Volleyball | Kennesaw State Classic | 7 p.m. Thursday
- Brian Shoemaker
- Gamecocks Forum
Volleyball | Georgia at USC | Wednesday 8 p.m.
- Brian Shoemaker
- The Insiders Forum
