Preventing and Treating Altitude Sickness While Skiing

If you've ever had a ski day fall apart before lunch and couldn't figure out why, this episode is for you. Jessica — PSIA-certified ski instructor and mom of five — breaks down altitude sickness: what it is, why it hits kids especially hard, and how every ski parent can prepare for it before setting foot on the mountain. Skiing with kids at elevation requires more planning than most families realize, and this episode gives you the framework to do it right.

What You'll Learn

• Why altitude sickness is one of the most overlooked reasons kids (and adults) struggle on mountain ski trips — and why fitness level has almost nothing to do with it
• How to spot altitude sickness symptoms in young children who can't tell you what's wrong, and what to do immediately when symptoms appear
• The simple acclimation strategy Jessica recommends for any family traveling to a high-altitude ski resort — including what to do on that first day instead of heading straight to the slopes
• Practical family skiing tips for staying hydrated at elevation, including why kids need regular water breaks built into the ski day (not just at lunch)
• How protecting your child's body at altitude connects directly to children learning to ski with confidence — and why a depleted kid can't learn, take correction, or enjoy the mountain

Resources & Links

• Want a complete plan for teaching your kids to ski — not just surviving the day, but building real confidence on the mountain? Check out First Tracks: A Parent's Guide to Teaching Kids to Ski at skiingkid.com
• More tips on how to ski with kids, gear guides, and resort recommendations: skiingkid.com

Key Takeaway

"Altitude sickness doesn't care how fit you are, how excited you are, or how much you paid for your lift tickets. It's a physiological reality of skiing in the mountains. But with preparation, you can dramatically reduce the risk."

00:00 Welcome to the Show

00:24 Altitude Sickness Story

02:37 What It Is and Symptoms

03:54 Who Is Most at Risk

05:28 Kids and Nervous System

06:35 Prevention Steps

10:38 What to Do If It Hits

12:37 Common Mistakes and Planning

14:06 Key Takeaways and Wrap

Skiing with Kids is hosted by Jessica Averett, a ski instructor and mom of five who has spent more than 20 years helping kids learn to ski. This podcast helps parents create calmer, happier ski days by focusing on confidence, connection, and simple strategies that actually work with kids on the mountain.  She's the founder of First Tracks: A Parent's Guide to Teaching Kids to Ski, a course that walks parents through everything they need to know to skip overpriced ski school and confidently teach their own kids to ski.

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More Skiing with Kids Resources

For more tips, gear reviews, and ski parenting advice visit Skiing Kids
You can find me on Instagram @theadventuretravelfam
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Free Guide for Ski Parents

Want to avoid the biggest mistakes most parents make when teaching their kids to ski?
 Download the free guide:

The Most Common Mistakes Ski Parents Make (and How to Fix Them)
https://skiiingkids.myflodesk.com/ffy45squub
This quick guide will help you avoid the common ski day meltdowns and create a much smoother experience for your kids on the mountain.

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Transcript

0:01

Welcome to Skiing with Kids. I'm your host Jessica, a ski instructor, mom of five, and someone who's seen just about every ski day meltdown that you can imagine. After 20 years of teaching kids on the mountain, I've learned that great ski days aren't about perfect technique. They're about confidence, connection, and knowing what actually works. And this podcast is where we break it all down. Today on the podcast, we are talking all about altitude sickness. This is something that can take a perfectly H healthy, excited kid or even an adult and turn them into a headachey nauseated mess all before lunchtime. This can happen before they've even had a chance to really ski. Now I know what you're thinking. That's not us. We're healthy. We exercise and we'll be fine. And I'm here to tell you that's exactly what the guy I had to call ski patrol on thought to. Let me tell you the story because it is burned into my memory. I was at the top of the ski lift with my kids when a man approached me asking for directions. Now, something immediately felt off. Uh, he kept repeating himself, his hand was pressed to his head, and he wasn't even really aware of it. And he kind of looked like he was in actual pain. I asked if he was okay and he said, oh, I just need to sit down for a minute. So while he sat down, sat down, I just started talking to him for a little bit. Turns out he'd flown in from the east coast that morning, same day, and had gone straight to the resort. Now we're living in Utah, so we are at pretty high elevation here, and he said he used to live in Colorado, so he figured he would be fine. He looked pretty young, probably in his thirties and seemed pretty fit, but the altitude sickness had made him so sick within a few hours that ski patrol had to help him down the mountain. Now, he obviously lost that entire day of skiing, but he probably also lost a few more to recovery. These are days that he had probably paid for and planned to ski for months in advance. And the frustrating part is so much of it was probably preventable. Now, maybe not all of it, because altitude sickness doesn't always play fair, but with a little preparation, his body would've at least had a fighting chance. So today we're gonna talk about what altitude sickness actually is. Who is the most at risk? And yes, your kids are on that list, so pay attention and some specific TE steps that you can take before and during your ski trip to protect your family. Now what actually is altitude sickness? Altitude sickness happens when you go too high in elevation too fast because your body needs time to adjust to lower oxygen levels at elevation, and when you don't give it that time. Things start to go wrong fast. Now the symptoms could range from something that's just annoying to something that's really dangerous. Now, on the mild end, you might experience headache fatigue, um, a little bit of lightheadedness or loss of appetite. The last one actually matters more than most people think, because it's a good trigger for kids when your kid suddenly doesn't wanna eat. Their lunch on the mountain altitude might be part of the reason why. So you need to pay close attention. Now moderate symptoms add nausea, vomiting, and severe symptoms include shortness of breath, confusion, and in serious cases, unconsciousness. Now, here's a rule I want you to remember. Any symptom of altitude sickness is basically your body telling you that you need to slow down and get to lower elevation. Do not push it. I'm speaking from personal experience that it will only get worse. Don't tell yourself that you'll feel better after one more run because I promise you're gonna feel worse. Just get down and start taking it easy. Now I wanna talk to about who is most at risk. Now, obviously anybody can get altitude sickness, and I wanna say that clearly because I have seen it humble, the fittest people on the mountain. Uh, I personally first got altitude sickness when I was a teenager. I was a very, very active kid in great shape, and I was climbing a fourteener in Colorado and it knocked me flat. Now I've experienced altitude sickness many times since. I've come to understand that some people are just more prone to it than others. I am obviously more prone to it. It has very little to do with your fitness level. In fact, most of the times that I've gotten altitude sickness, those were the times where I was in incredible shape. But there are two groups of people that need extra attention with altitude sickness, and that's young kids and older adults. Now kids' bodies are still developing. There are systems for, um, regulating things like breathing and body temperature at altitude aren't as efficient as in adults. Now, here's the tricky part with kids, is they can't always tell you what's wrong. The symptoms in young kids. Often look like something else entirely, right? They could be really irritable, have a poor appetite, um, maybe they're having trouble sleeping or they're vomiting. A parent might just think their toddler is overtired or coming down with a bug or just being difficult. Now if your baby or young child seems off at altitude and you can't explain it another way, altitude sickness definitely needs to be on your radar. Now, here's where this connects to something I talk a lot about on this podcast, and that's that kids do not just ski with their legs. They are skiing with their entire nervous system. When your child's body is. Fighting altitude. Their nervous system is already under stress, and that's before they even clip into their skis. Okay? They're just not physically depleted. They're like so dysregulated on every level, and a dysregulated nervous system can't learn. They can't take correction, and they're not gonna have any fun that, oh, I'm so tired. I wanna go inside. You know, maybe it's happening at 10:30 AM. Sometimes it really is the altitude and no amount of encouragement or gummy bears or hot chocolate breaks is going to fix that physiological problem. Now, this is why I want you to take altitude seriously as part of your ski trip preparation, not just as a health issue, but as a performance issue. You do all this work to set up like these great ski days for your family, right? And altitude sickness can sneak in and quietly undermine every single bit of it. Now let's talk about what you can actually do to prevent it, because this is the part that matters the most. Now, step one, you always need to build in an acclimation day. That is, if you're flying from sea level or lower, lower elevation, your body needs time to adjust. Now, I know you're on a ski trip. I know you wanna ski every possible day of your trip. I get it, but one lighter day of activity when you first arrive can save you from losing two or three or more days to sickness. On that first day, I recommend you staying moderately active at a lower elevation. Walk around town, swim at the resort, swimming pool. Um, go snowshoeing, let your body quietly start adjusting without demanding a lot from it. Step number two, I want you to hydrate like this is your job. The air at altitude is significantly drier than what your body is used to. You're losing moisture with every breath, and because it's cooler on a ski trip, you're often not feeling as thirsty as you should. Now by the time you feel thirsty, you're already behind and dehydrated. And on top of that, being active and helping your body resilient, you just really need a lot of water now. Drink water consistently throughout the day. Um, I personally see massive benefit benefits. From electrolyte mixes every day, but especially for ski trips. Um, like I honestly, my favorite is relight. I literally drink it every day of my life. But when I know I'm gonna be really active, like on a ski trip or in the summer, if we're going on like a big hiking trip or a bike ride, um, I'm definitely drinking more because it helps your body. Absorb and retain fluid rather than just letting you like pee it all out right now. You need to start hydrating at least a day or two before you even leave on your trip so that your body can adjust to that. And this applies to adults and kids as well. Uh, kids are often worse at recognizing their own thirst, so it's important that you're building in regular water breaks both on those travel days and once you arrive to the mountain. Um, I recommend considering, I recommend carrying a little collapsible water bottle in their pocket, uh, because that is such a good way to just take breaks frequently and to easily make it part of the routine without always having to go inside. Now, step number three, um, and this is for the adults listening, is to watch your alcohol consumption. I know Apre Ski is fun and I don't wanna take that away from you, but alcohol dehydrates you and it intensifies those altitude sickness symptoms significantly. If you're on your first day or two at Elevation, take it easy and avoid alcohol. Your body is already working hard enough to adjust. Step number four is to eat small and often big meals can actually make the altitude adjustment harder on your body. So instead of one or two large meals. Try eating several smaller ones, especially those first couple days as you're adjusting. This helps your body manage your energy without overloading your system, while it's still adapting. Now for kids, this looks like consistent snacking on the mountain, rather than holding out for like that huge burger and fries lunch, which honestly is good advice for keeping energy high for skiing in general. Right. Okay, step number five, uh, check any medications that you're taking with your family doctor before you leave for your trip. Some medications can actually make you more susceptible to altitude sickness, and so it's good to know that ahead of time. Uh, there are actually prescription medications that you can take to help with altitude sickness. But most are typically used at elevations that are much higher than ski resorts. But if you are especially concerned about that, or if you fall in a group or have medication that puts you at higher risk, definitely discuss that with your doctor. Um, personally, I have had mixed result with altitude sickness medications, but um, your mileage may vary right now. Now if altitude sickness, sometimes you can do everything right to prevent altitude sickness, and it still shows up because bodies are unpredictable, right? Here's what to do. You need to get lower, get at a lower elevation. This is the first and most important step. Even a few hundred feet of descent can start to make a difference. If you're on the ski hill and those symptoms hit you and you recognize, wait a minute, something's wrong, you need to ski down to the bottom. Don't try and take the gondola to a higher peak and just like power through it, guys, it is going to get worse. I'm speaking from personal experience here. Next. Once you get lower, you need to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, and rest. Um, that lower elevation and getting plenty of water and electrolytes is often enough for mild symptoms to ease. Um, after a nap or even just a good night's sleep, your body may ready, maybe ready to go out again the next day. Don't push through it. You guys, I have watched people try to gut it out on the mountain with altitude sickness. It doesn't work. Your symptoms are gonna get worse. Not better. And if you start getting dizzy or confused on your skis, you're not only a risk to yourself, but you are a risk literally to everybody around you. Now, if the symptoms are severe, the shortness of breath, confusion, inability to walk, call ski patrol immediately, just like I had to do at the beginning there. Don't try and manage that on your own. If you see it in someone else or you recognize it in yourself, call for help now. You leave altitude sickness untreated and just try and push through it. It can turn into days and days of misery, and sometimes it's gonna cause, and in some cases, it's gonna require some real medical attention. It can honestly wreck an entire ski vacation. But if you catch it early and treat it appropriately, most people can bounce back pretty quickly. Like I said, getting to that lower elevation quickly and spending some time there can really, really help. Now I've lived in Colorado or Utah for most of my life, and I see altitude sickness hit ski VI visitors every season and every season. I see the same mistake. People underestimate it because they feel fine when they land at the airport. Now, guys, altitude sickness, it's sneaky. It often doesn't really fully hit until you've actually been active at elevation for a few hours. Um, like you might be sleeping at a higher elevation and you feel okay in the morning, you're excited, you push hard, you think you like, you're not gonna have any problems, but by noon it's catching up to you. As you start getting more active, your body's moving more and you're needing more oxygen. Now, the families that I've seen navigate it the best are the ones who plan for it. They arrive a day early before they're gonna ski. They keep a water bottle in every jacket pocket. They're using electrolytes. They check in with their kids on the mountain, not just about how their skiing is going, but how their body is feeling. And this is really important for younger kids who can't articulate that. And as a mom, I can tell you that one of my kids, when one of my kids starts feeling off at altitude, the whole dynamic of the family ski day changes, they're more emotional, they're less resilient. Uh, they start having falls that they'd normally like brush off, and they become meltdowns. And basically everything just gets harder. Now, when you protect your body at altitude, you are protecting your ski day. You're protecting their experience, you're protecting their relationship with the sport. Now, here's what I want you to take away from today. Altitude sickness doesn't care how fit you are, how excited you are, or how much you paid for your lift ticket. I know it's shocking, right? It's a physiological reality of skiing in the mountains at high altitude. But with preparation, you can dramatically reduce the risk, build an build in an acclimation day if you can hydrate consistently before, during, after skiing, all the things. Watch for symptoms in your kids, especially since they often can't tell you what's wrong and they don't identify this as a problem. And if symptoms show up, take a break, get lower, don't fight your body. Work with it. You guys, the mountain will be there tomorrow. And the kid who is feeling overstimulated, who is. And the kid who has a good experience on the mountain, that kid is going to want to go back and have a ski day again and again and again. That is worth everything that you're putting into this trip. Now, if you found this episode helpful, share it with a ski family heading to the mountains for the first time. It easily could save their trip. I'll see you out there on the mountain.