Seriously, Does Altitude matter?

K

Kadabra

100+ Posts
Whether it's the NFL, MLB, or NCAA Football, those "teams in the Rockies" always claim that the "lack of oxygen" in higher elevations poses a disadvantage to teams "closer to sea level".

I have never experienced a need to play sports at a higher elevation, but whenever I visit Denver, I never feel a sense of "Oxygen deprevation".

So seriously, does it really make that much of a difference? Or does it only make a difference if the team lets it affect their psychy?
 
I was in Aspen a few years ago for a business meeting, and since I like to run I thought I would go do a few miles in the cool air. I got about four minutes into the run and I was sucking wind. Hard.

Aspen's elevation my be higher than Boulder, I don't know, but physical exertion is definitely affected in the higher altitudes.
 
If this is a close game in the fourth quarter and you don't have much depth. Sure, it could be an x-factor in a game.

Otherwise, I don't see the effects.
 
Aspen's about 1,500 feet higher than Boulder (5,400). I can tell you from my own experience, altitude DOES make a difference, and not just on your stamina.

When I visited Aspen in 1983, I developed an altitude-induced nosebleed that had me hospitalized for six days. I'd never had a nosebleed of any kind before, except the time I got hit in the nose with a thrown softball. But the altitude got to me in such a way that I almost had to have transfusions.
 
Yes it matters. Not if you are just walking around, but when running you can feel it. Of course these are young and well conditioned athletes, so they will feel it less, but it does matter.

As far as the Colorado Rockies, I think their main advantage comes not from conditioning (it is baseball, so not too much running), but from the effects of less air on the ball. Curves break less, balls fly farther and they are used to it and the visitor is not.
 
Have you gone drinking with someone from altitude at sea level? They have to drink Everclear like water to get a buzz. There is a difference. However, as stated, we have lots of depth, lots of oxygen on the sidelines, and it's not likely that we're going to be that close for it to make that much of a difference.
 
I used to go to summer camps in the mountains of Colo when I played football in HS. I ran & worked out on my own so I would be in better shape when I came back to Texas. It does takes your body 2-3 days to fully adjust to less oxygen in higher elevation settings, even if you are in good condition. I remember getting winded a little faster than normal at first but you get used to it pretty fast.

I think our players will arrive Thursday evening or early Friday, so they will get full day to do some light running and getting used to the thinner air. The temps will be significantly lower at game time than back in Texas, so that will help the big uglies and some of the players that will get winded a little faster than normal. I suspect the coaches may substitute a little more than normal to keep guys fresh, but I honestly don't think the higher elevation in Boulder will make that big of a difference for the players Sat.

The higher elevation was not a factor in 2004 when we last went up there and the Horns won 31-7
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It does to a certain extent have an affect. For most people Boulder isn't high enough to be a problem.

I don't remember what the altitude of Austin is but something like 500-600 feet or close to it. You will notice some difference but a young should be just fine.

El Paso is maybe 3800 feet above sea level and the Horns played well there.

I don't think you really start to notice it till about 7000 feet and doesn't seem to hinder most people til about 10,000 feet or so.
 
You could actually learn quite a bit about this subject here .

It's a Lance Armstrong/Greg LeMonde thread on Other Sports that goes quite a bit into blood doping. Further down, it gets into hypobaric chambers and high altitude training and how they affect the athlete's blood.
 
Yes the altitude probably has some effect on the game, but its psychological factor is much stronger. I think lots of playes who have never been there hear about it and focus on that instead of the game and make some mistakes.

Even with both working against us we will roll against the buffs. Texas is about the deepest team in the country, and we have been focusing on getting our entire two deep meaningful playing time anyways, so I wouldn't worry about the altitude.
 
As has been stated it will make a difference to the average person, but not so much for well-conditioned athletes from the University of Texas.

It don't make a ****.
 
University of Wyoming is higher than Boulder or Aspen. Much higher. If this were true, it would be the toughest stadium in the NCAA.

Aggies were up 21-20 in the fourth there last month. Ask their players how it felt to play up there.
 
It does make a difference but a few days and you will be good to go. And I know Austin isn't close to as high as Boulder but what is the elevation here?
 
I think it makes a difference. I go running a lot when I travel, I'm in good shape but in places above 5000 feet I get winded quicker.

But the other side of it is the cooler temperatures. Our adjustment to the altitude is probably not too different from the Buffaloes having to come down to a hot and humid Texas in September.
 
My first trip to way high altitude, Pike's Peak, I was 12, and didn't notice anything, so I was running around like I normally do. Then, all of a sudden, I got a massive headache, like the kind that makes you want to put a drill to your temple to relieve the pressure, and then felt like I had to puke, but wasn't quite able to, for the next 6 hours.
 
I know hiking is not the same as football, but when I went hiking around Durango in 8th or 9th grade I didn't notice one iota of difference.
 
I was always concerned about the altitude question cause I always been a low altitude fella. My girlfriend was always reassuring me that altitude didn't matter, but I still had my doubts. Then I come home early one night from pitchin shoes with the boys, and I caught her in bed with this Swiss fella. Well, if that wasn't traumatic enough for me, I come to find out she's the newest star of the web site "Bukkake in the Rockies."

So yeah, I come to learn, no matter what the gal says, altitude does matter.

-Spider
 
The Rockets used to have a tank of oxygen by their bench when they played in Denver, and Akeem Olajuwon would hit that thing like he thought he was taking his last breath.
 
I think the golf ball travels farther.

And with the whole theory of relativity, it will take those of us in Texas longer to watch the game than it will for them to play it. Or something like that.
 
It could have been worse, Spidey: your old girlfriend's encounter could have been with a guy from Mongolia.

I guess it's not the altitude but the angle of the dangle, huh?
 
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