Altitude Frisco Colorado: A Must-Read Guide To Avoid Altitude Sickness

Altitude Frisco Colorado

If you have ever been to Colorado and experienced the altitude sickness, then you know how miserable it can be. To make it easier to enjoy your vacation in Frisco, the following is a guide is all about altitude of Frisco Colorado and our top tips how to avoid the altitude sickness.

Altitude Frisco Colorado

Altitude Frisco Colorado sits at 9,097 feet above sea level. Neighbors to Breckenridge, Frisco is a popular town among skiers and mountain travelers because of its convenient location.

  • Frisco CO altitude - 9,097 ft (2,766 m)

While Frisco doesn't host it's own ski resort, it's in the middle of many resorts and other popular destinations. This includes the world famous Breckenridge Ski Resort, Copper Mountain Ski Resort, Lake Dillon (Dillon Reservoir), and many 14ers (mountains over 14,000 feet). Being only a short drive from Denver to Frisco, about an hour and a half, Frisco is a great place to stay for all your outdoor adventures and activities.

These elevations are considered high altitudes, and we recommend taking precautions with regards to altitude sickness.

Can You Get Altitude Sickness in Frisco CO?

Yes, you can get altitude sickness in Frisco CO.

University of Michigan states that altitude sickness can start at 6,000 feet.⁷ Even in Denver at 5,280 feet, some visitors get altitude sickness. Jump up to 9,097 feet of elevation in Frisco, and you have a much higher chance of getting altitude sickness.

Frisco CO Altitude Sickness

Altitude sickness can occur when you ascend to a higher altitude, and your body has trouble adjusting to the low oxygen levels causing hypoxia.

Altitude sickness is a common problem at the higher altitudes of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. It can afflict anyone who travels to these high elevations, whether you are a local or a visitor with symptoms including headaches, nausea, vomiting, rapid pulse and shortness of breath.

High altitudes causes physiological stress on the body including oxidative stress, and with the dry climate of Colorado and increased respiration at higher elevations, dehydration can be a problem too.

Frisco CO altitude sickness symptoms include:

  • Headaches
  • Dizziness or light-headedness
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Fatigue or weakness
  • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
  • Trouble sleeping or insomnia
  • Feeling ill or malaise 

Altitude sickness symptoms usually appear within 24 hours upon arrival. If you're planning on visiting Frisco Colorado, we share our top researched tips below on how to avoid the altitude sickness there.

6 Tips To Avoid Frisco Altitude Sickness

Frisco Colorado is an amazing scenic destination in Colorado, also one of the highest towns at 9,097 feet where altitude sickness is common.

Being based in Colorado with a lot of altitude experience, we'll share with you our best and most researched tips to help you avoid Frisco CO altitude sickness.

Here's Six Tips To Avoid Frisco CO Altitude Sickness:

1. Maximize Hydration

It is important to drink plenty of water when you are at higher altitudes like Frisco. High elevations leads to increased respiration from lower oxygen levels, and can increase fluid loss.

You can lose water twice as fast at high altitudes than than at sea level, according to The Wilderness Medical Society.⁸ This increases the chance of dehydration.

Drink plenty of water before and during your trip. Experts recommend drinking half your body weight and water, and we suggest increasing that if outdoors like hiking or skiing.

TIP: To maximize hydration, add sea salt (electrolytes) to your food or drink, and try Zaca hydration tablets to enhance water absorption.

2. Gradually Ascend

When going up in elevation, it's best not to go too quickly or too far each day because this will put stress on your body and cause more problems than necessary.

If possible, spend a few nights at an intermediate elevation prior to going higher up in elevation to help your body acclimate.

To help transition the body, it's popular for visitors of Colorado to stay a night or two in Denver at 5,280 feet, before ascending to destinations like Frisco.

3. Take It Easy & Rest

Take it easy and rest don't push yourself too hard when you're still getting used to higher altitudes, even if that means skipping  a day of skiing, hiking or biking.

Don't go on strenuous hikes or engage in any other activity that could make you feel short of breath — until you show no symptoms of altitude sickness. This could increase your level of fatigue and make it harder for you to adjust as quickly as possible.

4. Sleep Well

Altitude sickness can actually cause sleeping issues or insomnia. You want to get quality sleep, which can assist in altitude adjustment.

Sleep has been shown to help increase blood flow and oxygen — and be a key ingredient to recovery — according to OrthoCarolina.⁹

7-9 hours of sleep is optimal in most recommendations. Also getting plenty of sun during the day and complete darkness at bedtime can help your circadian rhythm (the 24-hour cycle that regulates our sleep-wake cycles), which can help you sleep better.

5. Limit Alcohol

Alcohol increases fluid loss from the body, which can lead to dehydration. If you drink alcohol when going up in elevation, your risk of getting sick goes up even more — hangovers have a lot in common with altitude sickness.

Furthermore, alcohol has been shown to lower oxygen saturation and decrease sleep quality, which are detrimental to altitude adjustment.¹⁰

Limit alcohol until after you've been at altitude for several days, or until you know you don't have any signs of altitude sickness.

6. Supplement Antioxidants

High elevations are known to induce oxidative stress on the body.¹¹ Antioxidants are the way your body can fight and protect against that damage.

Glutathione particularly, is considered your body's master antioxidant, which can reinforce your body's ability to fight oxidative stress.

  • In a study from India, glutathione was found to deplete in high altitude conditions by 45%.¹²
Supplement antioxidants, especially glutathione, to replenish your body's antioxidant levels and fight high altitude damage.

In conclusion, follow these top researched tips to help avoid Frisco altitude sickness — which includes maximizing hydration, gradually ascending, taking it easy and resting, sleeping well, limiting alcohol, and supplementing antioxidants.


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SOURCES:

1. Frisco, Colorado Elevation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisco,_Colorado
2. Breckenridge Ski Resort Elevation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breckenridge_Ski_Resort
3. Copper Mountain Elevation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_Mountain_(Colorado)
4. Dillon Reservoir Elevation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dillon_Reservoir
5. Silverthorne Colorado Elevation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverthorne,_Colorado
6. White River National Forest Elevation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_River_National_Forest
7. Altitude Sickness University Of Michigan Health Service
https://uhs.umich.edu/travel-altitude-sickness
8. Why Do You Need to Drink a Lot of Water at a High Altitude?
https://www.livestrong.com/article/360485-how-to-train-for-high-altitude-hiking/
9. Sleep: The Secret Ingredient of Injury Recovery
https://www.orthocarolina.com/media/sleep-the-secret-ingredient-of-injury-recovery
10. Effects of Alcohol
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/01.HYP.29.6.1278#
11. High altitude and oxidative stress
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17482529/
12. Effect of high altitude (7,620 m) exposure on glutathione
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11320641/
13. Frisco Elevation Colorado Rockies
https://www.friscogov.com/your-government/maps/