New “must-have gizmo” in mountain homes?

Most of Park City is roughly at 7,000 feet elevation. While not as high as most Colorado ski resorts, that in certain areas can be approaching 10,000 feet, there are many people who are not able to tolerate the thinner mountain air for a number of medical reasons (COPD and other respiratory ailments among others). 

This creates problems that could be seen as linked to altitude sickness, like fatigue, dizziness, and headaches. So, it’s not uncommon to have visitors, second or even permanent homeowners looking forward to living in a beautiful mountain-high environment but unable to enjoy it fully because of rarefied oxygen levels in the air. 

Slowly acclimating to high altitude is one way to prevent these discomforts. When traveling to over 8,000 feet above sea level, it would be a good idea to take several days to climb to your final altitude or to ease slowly into strenuous exercise. In fact, doctors recommend spending two to three days of gaining altitude slowly to adjust to changes in elevation with some suggesting gaining only 1,000 feet per day. Ascending slowly enables the body to adjust to higher elevations by allowing red blood cells to carry more oxygen to different parts of your body. 

This is however not what visitors typically do. As lengths of stay are becoming shorter, every visiting hour counts, and as soon as visitors gets to Park City, they can’t wait to hit the slopes. Then, there’s the recommendation to “play high, sleep low”. This means that one can play and ski at a high altitude but travel lower to sleep, which allows the body takes in the oxygen needed to combat the thin air affecting a full days of “playing”.

That’s where companies that precisely can provide “oxygenated” nights come into play with new technology and equipment able to oxygenate bedrooms in Rocky Mountain vacation homes. There are a number of these companies going after affluent homeowners that can be persuaded to minimize the debilitating effects of rarefied oxygen in altitude by outfitting their sleeping quarters. 

The air unit is controlled by a small tablet size controller on the bedroom wall and can also be controlled by a smart phone app. The room must be airtight with strict safety features to prevent risk of fire so the system can safely pump oxygen into the bedroom. 

So the rationale goes that a tired body is able to absorb more oxygen at night while sleeping in such a control environment, rejuvenate itself and wake up with the energy needed to enjoy a full day of skiing. As you can imagine, I find these solutions a bit extreme and gimmicky and the systems required to make them work are very complicated and not cheap. Installation alone can run $300,000 for an average home, so it’s not for everyone. 

At that rate and if I happen to feel short of breath at the end of the day, I might have to ski a bit less aggressively next time I’m on the slopes!