The Conventional Wisdom for Acclimatizing to Altitude Is Wrong

[Pivo]

There’s an old adage among mountaineers: “Climb high, sleep low.” It takes time to adapt to a lower-oxygen environment; in theory, this strategy aims to periodically expose the body to higher altitudes, which avoids putting too much stress on climbers all at once. But in practice, acclimatization isn’t so straightforward.


https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-a ... %2Foutdoor

[Jim]

I found nothing got me acclimated to altitude like living in Flagstaff. I would breeze past people from low elevation when hiking 13ers and 14ers, and even on Humphrey when I would get to the top in less than 2 hours and maybe 90 minutes back in 2008 or 2009, if I recall correctly.

I guess Kayenta and Alamogordo were high enough that I never lost my altitude acclimation until I got to Tucson or Phoenix, and then I just was a little sluggish on Humphrey. I never really felt altitude on Whitney two years ago.

I remember people claiming that they would stay in Flagstaff for two nights before Humphrey, but I doubt that did anything. Probably they were justifying a longer stay, which is fine.

I do know that as time has gone on I don't particularly care about the very high summits over roughly 13,000'. There is very little life up high, the UV gets more intense, and some of the most scenic and interesting summits I have been on the last decade were only in the 11,000' range. Factor into that the effects of high altitude on the brain, that most people live fairly low, that the best year round weather is at lower altitude, and while I get that people want to acclimate to altitude for big mountains, it almost seems like a waste of time. Does one really need to acclimate to hike Whitney, Elbert, or Massive? What about Engineer Mountain near Durango? Sure, for a 6000 or 8000 meter mountain, but how many people are even doing those?

[RedRoxx44]

For years before I go to the Winds or the Unitahs I try to get on Mt Graham for some hiking and then take my time in the travel up so I can sleep at some elevation for at least two nights before starting out on a full day with the pack. It seems to help me as far as I can tell. That and hydration and low dose ibuprofen.

[big_load]

I'm not sure why, but elevation doesn't get to me like it did in my early backpacking days. Maybe it's because I get to elevation more often. I always do spend a night or two high up before a big trip.

[ShatteredArm]

@big_load
Do you have better aerobic fitness now? I'm pretty sure overall aerobic fitness is going to do far more to help at high elevation than any of the quick hacks. I know some ultrarunners who swear by not sleeping up high unless you're able to spend a full week at higher elevation first - not sure what the reasoning is there, but they swore by it.

Anecdotally, back when I was younger and in great shape, I drove up to Silverton and the next day ran a marathon that climbed up to 13k, and did it at a fast enough pace to win. The day after that I climbed Sunshine and Redcloud (and went halfway up Handies). Don't think I can pull off a feat like that now, but I have done plenty of high elevation climbs since then, and haven't felt anything like altitude sickness, even if the effort seemed harder.

[big_load]

@big_load
Do you have better aerobic fitness now? I'm pretty sure overall aerobic fitness is going to do far more to help at high elevation than any of the quick hacks.

My aerobic fitness is probably worse, although I'm stronger. I was a serious distance runner when I started backpacking. For a couple years before that and into my first few years, my weekly long runs were in the 13-15 mile range. I never really got out of shape after that, although I scaled back and eventually transitioned mostly to elliptical after some injuries. That's about when I increased strength training. My VO2max is still supposedly around 56, but I'm dubious given my age.