Rain, Mauna Kea, Skiing, and Altitude Sickness

[randomq]

No no no, we bottle it and sell it to all the city folk and tourists 500ml at a time...

[shave_ice]

I closed all the windows in the house and turned on the dehumidifier. First time in five years I've shut every window in the house. It's so cold and damp inside. Really sucks not having a dryer this time of year []

[Kenney]

These really cold seasons come so rarely, but every time they do, I start day dreaming about a small wood stove to take away the cold/damp.

[TomK]

There are some here getting the shovels ready...

[1voyager1]

When we left AK I couldn't bear to throw out all my wool shirts, plus fleece pants, vests and jackets.
I have found them useful for an hour or two, one or two days a year since moving here.

I'm really glad I kept them for this week.
There has been a day or two where I did wear them the full day.

And, she had said: " You're keeping too many un-needed things. Get rid of them. You'll never wear'em in Hawai'i".
Hah!

EDIT
Another thing I was given a bad time about bringing was my ski gear.
When we vacationed here, before making the move, Mauna Kea had enough snow drifted into the lee areas that could be skied nicely.
Since moving here, I've never seen enough snow to tempt me up to try.
I'm thinking that this week may change that.

One major problem, though.
Every time I've gone to the top, I end up oxygen starved.
I really don't think I could expend the energy to ski up there unless I went up and lived there for an extended period, or carried an O2 bottle.
How do people that live near sea level and are no longer adolescent deal with it?


Welcome to Puna, the land of the Vocal Lunatic Fringe.

[TomK]

"One major problem, though.
Every time I've gone to the top, I end up oxygen starved.
I really don't think I could expend the energy to ski up there unless I went up and lived there for an extended period, or carried an O2 bottle.
How do people that live near sea level and are no longer adolescent deal with it?"

You acclimate slowly. Best thing to do if you're only going up for a few hours is stop at the VIS for an hour and, if possible stop for five or ten minutes every so often after that to let your body adjust.

It doesn't work for everyone and even the odd well-conditioned athlete has had problems up there whereas some of us old fogeys do just fine. But I woudn't try skiing if you haven't acclimated.

[My 2 cents]

Voyager, you have rekindled some fond memories for me. I have skied Mauna Kea several times, all were fun, but mostly it's just a novelty....a quick run down the bowl that takes only a few seconds, or you can traverse back and forth and stretch it into a few minutes. But one time the snow level was at 7000' and there was 4' of the stuff at the top. We were able to ski off the back side and meet up with the road after about a 4-5 mile run. There were 6 of us, and we each took a turn driving the truck back down for pick up, so we all got 5 runs in. It was a spectacular day, but not without a price. That night I had the worst headache of my life, and my face was so sunburned that by mid-week I looked like Elephant Man and a few days later it peeled off basically in one big sheet. Still, it was well worth the experience of an epic day at Mauna Kea.

[1voyager1]

As I think back over my prior trips up the mountain, I remember one thing that did help with the thin air.
Living near sea level I tend to breath quite shallowly.
When at altitude, if I concentrated on breathing more deeply, drawing more air in with each breath, the lightheadedness seemed to dissipate and not be so bothersome, and became "normal" after a while.
It helped when driving the length of the upper road, and during excursions to the top.

I agree that it would be purely for novelty.
It has probably been 8 years since the last time I used the skies.
My expertise is probably now little more than making bomb craters.

So, with little doubt, the local snow is wet and heavy and freezes up at night.
But, by afternoon it should soften and improve to simulate spring "ego" snow.
Right?

Are there any "bunny" areas that might make it easier to acclimate to using the gear again, and test my high altitude ability?
Then, my gear is freeheeled Telly gear.
I have no desire to lose a kneecap to a boulder.
Are there any areas without boulders or large rocks that could be skied?

Finally, I did not bring my studded winter tires, she won that argument, or chains, I only had one set anyway.
How does one monitor the opening of the road after a snow fall?









Welcome to Puna, the land of the Vocal Lunatic Fringe.

[terracore]

Ibuprofen has been shown to be a potentially effective drug to prevent altitude sickness. Best of all it's cheap and over the counter. They are recruiting volunteers for a study to see how it compares to drugs sold specifically for altitude sickness: ( https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03154645 )

Altitude Sickness: Does Ibuprofen Prevent or Mask It? https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/776950

Ibuprofen decreases likelihood of altitude sickness, researchers find: https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2...-find.html

These are just some starting points, these studies are all preliminary...

And for TomK: "The authors acknowledge study limitations, such as the older age of participants compared with those who were excluded from the study; previous studies have shown that age may have a protective effect on brain volume and possible lower incidence of AMS."

[Justin]

Not sure if ibuprofen actually works, or just masks the headache. Acetozolamide does work, with the only side effect I've had being tingly fingers. What works best are Coca leaves, but they're much harder to get in Puna than Peru. Going up from sea level to that high, and doing something that requires a fair amount of oxygen (e.g. skiing) is almost impossible to acclimate without a fair amount of time at the top.

That being said, there is one "trick" that I was taught in the Atacama a few years back. We were staying at 11,000 feet, but went to climb an 18,500 foot peak one day. We were able to drive up to about 16,000 feet, so we "only" had to walk a few miles (about 2 hours) to get to the top. Our guide told us that usually it takes 2-3 hours for the altitude sickness to kick in, and by the time it did, we'd be on the way down, getting more oxygen by the minute.

So if you don't think you want to sit around and acclimate, consider skiing for just an hour or two, then calling it a day.