My first trip to the Rockies: Monarch Pass.

Greetings,

I am finnally going to have a chance to ski on a mountain. Early February my
brother, father, wife, and aunt are going to visit my cousin in Colorado.
He is not too far from Monarch Pass.

What does this Midwestern skier need to be prepared for? Monarch Pass seems
to be fairly high up.

Thanks


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Mark A Framness wrote:
Greetings,

I am finnally going to have a chance to ski on a mountain. Early February my
brother, father, wife, and aunt are going to visit my cousin in Colorado.
He is not too far from Monarch Pass.

What does this Midwestern skier need to be prepared for? Monarch Pass seems
to be fairly high up.

Thanks


Do you mean other than riding a lift BEFORE you ski down as opposed
to skiing down into a hole and THEN riding a lift out?

But seriously.
Altitude can affect you. My life is lived between 1,000 feet and 4,000
feet. At 10,000 feet in the Sierras, I find myself breathing harder
when I'm exerting. But that's all. Some people will have headaches
and other symptoms. Avoiding alcohol is recommended at altitude, but
again at 7,000 feet a beer didn't affect me any more than a beer at
2,000 feet. YMMV (which is: Your Mileage May Vary)

The other thing you might consider and it's related also to altitude.
It's my impression that skiing hard in the MidWest is like sprinting,
while skiing in the West (or the East for that matter) could be
compared to marathoning (if that's a word). Ski runs in the MidWest
tend to be short. You can probably get down without taking a breath.

Ski runs in the West can be miles long and you damn well better breath.

Drinks lots of water as this helps with lactic acid absorption.

If you have any of the symptoms commonly associated with altitude, get
advice from someone who knows how to deal with it. You might also
Google on "Altitude sickness" before you leave just for more handy
pointers.

My own attitude about altitude is that if I know too much, I'll make
up some symptoms that don't really exist and that I'll just go and
see what happens.

After I went and had next to no symptoms I then read up a bit on what
others suffer at high altitude. My own mom suffered greatly at
5,000 feet in Edmonton but she was also anemic and the reduced pressure
seemed to cause her to faint from time to time.

hope this helps
VtSkier

Check MattB's posts over in rec.skiing.alpine.moderated
He skis at Monarch regularly.

Mark:

If you get headaches at altitude, try a single aspirin with lots of
water before you start skiing, it seems to eliminate any headaches I
might get, and helps with the aches and pains from the first day of
skking as well. After the first day, don't take an aspirin, but carry
one with you just in case the headache comes back. ENJOY COLORADO!!
H. R. (BOb) Hofmann

Mark A Framness wrote:
Greetings,

I am finnally going to have a chance to ski on a mountain. Early February my
brother, father, wife, and aunt are going to visit my cousin in Colorado.
He is not too far from Monarch Pass.

What does this Midwestern skier need to be prepared for? Monarch Pass seems
to be fairly high up.

High altitude can cause problems for someone not used to it but should
not be of concern if you prepare yourself for it. Two things help
considerably. Do not ski on your first day at altitude. Let your body
adjust for a day. Second is to drink lots of water. It will greatly help.