High Altitude Living – 8,000 ft and above (2021)
13 comments
·September 14, 2025exabrial
WalterBright
Thanks for the marvelous story!
sparrish
I wonder if they're confusing the cause and effect.
Do people who live above 8k feet not die of heart disease or do people with heart disease find it too difficult to live above 8k feet so only people without heart disease live above 8k feet?
I live at 7200 feet and I know several people who have moved to lower altitudes because it's "too hard to breath" here.
leetrout
I visited Mexico City a couple weeks ago and it is at 7200 feet. As I got off the plane I was gasping a bit and I woke up 3 or 4 times the first night gasping for air. I didn't have any problems visiting Denver at 5000 feet in years past but I was absolutely feeling it at 7200. I didn't stay long enough to see if I would acclimate as I continued to feel bad and returned home early.
WalterBright
My dad visited Machu Picchu. He was doing poorly and the guides put him on oxygen. They were well prepared for it, as it happens a lot and is not very predictable.
It's at 8,000 feet.
I remember staying overnight at Estes Park, 7500 feet. I got a headache. I didn't try anything strenuous.
I recall reading about Mt Everest climbs. Even on supplemental oxygen, your brain measurably dies a little. No thanks. People who climb it repeatedly are, in my not-so-humble opinion, idiots.
nojs
On the other hand, if it’s too high it’ll just kill your brain cells: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/brain-cells-into-...
purpleflame1257
One other fun thing about living at altitude is that the recipes you use need to be redesigned because the boiling point of water is lower.
addaon
Very asymmetrically, too. There's a (relatively) small impact on cooking grains and pasta and stuff, but even at 5000 ft where I live beans can easily take 2x as long to cook. It's a challenge.
kaonwarb
As a child I lived for two years at ~11k ft (La Paz, Bolivia). I can vouch for the impact of both Acute Mountain Sickness and the sun at that elevation.
bix6
> The best defense is to start at 5,000 feet and stay there for 3 days, drinking water like crazy and resting. Then, come up to the higher elevation and give yourself a day or two to adjust. That usually works.
This is crazy to me as I usually only get 1 acclimation night in before going up. I’m curious how people can find their limits / needs?
tonkinai
"Living at high altitude reduces risk of dying from heart disease", but you're litereally locked in your house because the sun takes every chance to fry you. I'm okay with not reducing my risk of dying from heart disease.
randomfool
So easy to protect from the sun and the reward in the mountains is so wonderful. Terrible waste to stay locked in.
Wouldn’t be surprised if this were another contributor to less heart disease- so much incentive to get outside and do stuff.
rc_kas
Wait that was super short. I liked this article I wanted it to be longer.
I lived at 10,600 feet for 6.5 weeks last summer, coming from essentially sea level.
I felt like I was adjusted 90% adjusted about 2 weeks in, like I could walk at a normal speed. My Garmin watch agreed with this adaption. However, trying to mountain bike with the locals was hilarious... even at week 6 I barely started to be able to keep up on climbs. I rode my mountain bike nearly every day, or at minimum took a several mile hike
Near the end I had a bender with some coworkers. I started developing a persistent "altitude" cough after that that never really went away until I got back down to sea level. The cough disappeared in 36 hours. And wow, did I feel like superman when I got back racing my peers.
Did you catch the important point in my story though? I live an active life style at sea level, but man, people living in small towns in the mountains _love_ the outdoors. We were active every day of the week: riding, hiking, climbing, etc. I could definitely see how altitude helps with cardiovascular health, but it's already been proven that leading an active lifestyle is one of the most amazing things you can do for your health and happiness.