Ease into high altitude
Give your body a day or two to adjust when you move to or visit high elevation, and go easy while it does.
- How often
- As needed
- Recommended for
- 5 factors
How to do it
- When you arrive from low elevation, keep exercise light for the first two days.
- Skip alcohol for the first 48 hours.
- If you are heading higher, avoid jumping from low elevation to a sleeping altitude above about 9,000 feet in a single day.
- Treat a headache with nausea, dizziness or unusual tiredness after arriving as possible altitude sickness. Do not go higher to sleep until it has passed.
- If symptoms get worse despite rest, go down to a lower elevation and get medical help.
Why it helps
Air at high elevation holds less oxygen per breath. Most people adjust within a few days, but going up quickly, exercising hard or drinking alcohol on arrival makes acute mountain sickness more likely. Its symptoms feel like a hangover, and they usually start within hours to a day of arriving.
Be careful
People with lung disease, heart disease or sickle cell disease should talk to a doctor before spending time at high altitude.
Recommended for
Colorado
Thin air, stronger sun, high-radon soil and summer smoke.
hobbyHiking
Miles of uneven ground, steep descents and long days outdoors.
placeNew Mexico
Thin air, intense sun, and well water that deserves a test.
placeUtah
High elevation, intense sun on snow, and winter inversions.
placeWyoming
High, windy, sun-blasted country with radon under nearly every county.