Earlier today I had a customer as a question about altitude and sleeping. As you know the Ski Silverthorne lodge is sitting at about 8500 ft elevation (that’s about a mile and a half high!). I found this question about high altitude sleeping resonating because I also have had problems sleeping in the mountains. In fact I’ve spent night after night trying to figure out how to sleep without waking up to sleep apnea in the middle of the night.

Here is the question from the customer:

“I have a place on Steamboat Lake, it’s close to 8000 ft elevation. I smoke moderately, recent test show I’m within normal lung and breathing limits and i have no trouble below 5000 ft. I want to live the rest of my life up here, but I wake up fighting for air, and that has me scared to death! What a terrible way to wake up! Is there anyway outside of wearing an oxygen mask to bring me relief in my home?”

And here is my answer:

I don’t smoke, but I am about 30 pounds overweight. My place is also just over 8000 elevation. I also wake up fighting for air in the middle of the night. I’ve even stayed up there nearly the whole summer, and never got used to it. I did find two things that worked for me.

1.) Put the temperature in the room down to around 68.
2.) Put a fan on the end table right next to the bed and have make it blow right on your face.

These are the best things I’ve found as personal remedy. Here is another article I’ve written in the past about adjusting to elevation that I think will over more insightfulness to the question:

9 Ways to Adapt Yourself to the Elevation

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