The air up there

Posted on 20. Mar, 2007 by John Roblinsky in Hunting Aides

High Altitude Training

Your average cougar can wear out a 20-something with little effort.  Even if it’s your back that’s slappin the granite/carpet/mattress, a cougar can make you feel like an out of shape bitch and it’s a feeling that we can’t stand.  It puts doubts in your head and breaks your game quicker than Gilbert Arenas.

Last week I spent five days enjoying the fresh air and powder (snow not blow) of Colorado’s Summit County.  My days were spent at an altitude of at least 9,000 feet and on skis I got up to around 13,000 feet.  I was lucky not to feel altitude sickness which can be caused by going from sea level to 12,000 ft in a few hours, but the real story here is how I felt when I got back to DC: like a fuckin T-Rex!

The pressure of oxygen in the air at sea level is triple of what it is at 10,000 ft (or something like that since everything I looked up was in meters).  Whatever it is, the increase in oxygen goes right to your blood and you are bestowed the power of a cougar predator—like a T-Rex.

I’m no expert on dinosaurology, but if you remember the scene in Jurrasic Park where the T-Rex gnoshes the goat and then gets his meal on with the scientist in the bathroom you’ll get my point.  I would even bet that the altitude-change boost could enable you to take on multiple cougars at the same time!  (Disclaimer: That’s a bet, not a fact so attempt with caution.)

Regardless, all the pro endurance athletes have been using this trick for decades so it’s about time for the serious cougar hunters to get the same edge!  Again, I was only out there for five days so my T-Rex buzz only lasted for a couple days, but the folks I know who train all winter up there say the buzz can last for as many as three weeks back at sea level.

Phrase of the day: “Yo son, I’m t-rex buzzin”

Tags: altitude, Colorado, dinosaurs, oxygen, skiing, training