High Altitude Living – 8,000 Ft and Above (2021)

He asked me to explain my work on card shuffling, so we traded. He taught me about altitude sickness, for which he was the foremost expert. I then read his books before my own mountaineering, and his advice worked for me.

In a nutshell, where you sleep matters. 7,000' is free, and a conservative pace is to sleep 1,000' feet higher each night. (Good luck finding a Kilimanjaro ascent that climbs that slowly, but have you met anyone who was comfortable at the summit?)

My wife's brother lives at 10,000'. As it happens the last hotel is at 8,500'. One night does the trick for her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5126u88E7E

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mi_Telef%C3%A9rico

Wouldn’t be surprised if this were another contributor to less heart disease- so much incentive to get outside and do stuff.

I once cooked a stew for friends at 8000 ft. I thought I had made a mistake because it tasted so bland. After the trip I had the leftovers at sea level and realized it tasted just fine. It gave me an appreciation for the fragile relationship between location and following recipes. (Humidity also changes taste)

Mountains also allow tons of various sports most of the year as you mention and attract such crowds.

Overall, people go in droves to mountains every year, summer and winter, to recharge. And its a different recharge compared to some beach holiday, much more active and I dare to say a more effective one (active vacations simply recharge better mental tiredness of modern living and working).

I live near Geneva, Switzerland and after moving here basically became mountain sports addict. Hiking, ferratas, climbing, a bit of alpinism in non-winter, and skiing / ski touring in winter. For exotic places there is diving to keep a bit of balance. Did also some paragliding too but had a nasty accident last year that almost killed me so stopped that. Rest I continue, and will do till the last moment I can still do them, they make me properly happy like a toddler. I live in best possible place in the world for people like me, 1h drive from home and I am right below Mont Blanc, towering almost 4km higher than Chamonix valley.

One drawback as you mention - higher mountains are basically high altitude deserts, snow and ice everywhere but humidity easily below 5% ie in Himalaya. Many folks trying ie Everest didnt get higher than base camp simply due to being often sick up there, amateurs and pros alike.

Huh, interesting. A friend of mine moved from sea level to ~6000 ft a few years ago. She said it took her a bit of time to get used to running at the new altitude, but eventually felt as comfortable with it as she had down here at sea level. I asked her if running feels easier to her at sea level now, when she comes down the mountain to visit, and she said it doesn't; it's basically the same as it used to be when she lived here.

Maybe the extra 4600ft you went up to made a difference in that, and of course everyone is different, but that's still interesting to me.

Then I remember Denver was the mile-high city.

For your health sure. But for happiness, only if you actually like sporty activities. I don't, and it feels like a chore. Having to do chores all the time makes me unhappy. I've always hated anything to do with sports.

In think some people get an endorfin hit from it but for me that doesn't do much either. I just feel empty and exhausted after it.

You have to. There's no activities besides outdoor activity and drinking and almost every other aspect of living in the mountains is more difficult (versus a normal, big city in a more hospitable terrain and climate).

When I lived in the mountains everyone was either there for the activities, or was a drug addicted hospitality worker there because they couldn't find jobs in cities.

I've lived mostly outside cities though so no major pollution. I'd imagine for Delhi folks the pollution must have a big effect on their lungs - but you'd think it would translate to working well for high altitude.

Boulder is a small college town of mostly affluent younger people. Memphis is an urban city in a hot climate that is older, poorer, and in the middle of the section of the US that has some of the worst health overall.

Millions isn’t that many people :)

I think the highest up I've ever been for any solid amount of time was 10,500 feet, and sure, I could tell the difference, but it wasn't debilitating or anything remotely like that, and I could do moderate-plus physical activity without anything bad happening.

I've also been up to 15,000 feet (Salkantay Pass in Peru) for a very short time, and definitely felt it. A few people in my hiking group had to take some medicine, and one or two availed themselves of camels. But I would also consider this hike a high-exertion activity; they were fine when we took a break for a while and relaxed.

But I'm just not convinced that most (generally healthy!) people need that much acclimation before doing day-to-day tasks, including regular levels of exercise.