A Note on Drinking

Mary Morman

Although some of us locals live at really high altitudes (like Colorado Springs), Denver is going to be a higher altitude than most Denvention 3 members are used to. Will this cause problems? Possibly, but not for most people. If you fly regularly, and don’t have problems with the pressure in an aircraft cabin, you are probably okay. Most commercial planes pressurize their cabins for about 7,000 feet and the altitude in downtown Denver only about 5,300 feet (1,615 meters). Of course, most of us don’t take much exercise while sitting in a plane, and we do expect you to be more active during the convention, so here are few bits of advice to help you with the Denver’s mile-high altitude.

The most effective way to deal with the higher altitude is to stay very well hydrated. Average humidity will also be much lower than most fans are used to, so drinking constantly is a good thing — drinking water that is. Drinking alcohol or caffeine will likely affect you more strongly and more quickly than it normally does — and that is a good thing to remember. Avoid strenuous exercise on the first day of your visit to give your body time to adjust.

Now does this mean that you need to set aside a big chunk of your convention budget to buy bottled water? Not so! Colorado has some of the best water you’ve ever tasted coming right out of the city water taps. Our mountain reservoirs are filled with snow melt from the Rockies. So bring a sports bottle and keep it filled from the taps in your hotel room or from water fountains at the convention center. Or buy one bottle of water, and keep refilling the container. There’s a reason why Colorado is a prime site for so many breweries and micro-breweries. It’s the water! And you can enjoy if for free.