Living at 11,000 feet? (Denver: most dangerous, shop, foods)

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by grad_student200

There is also the phenomenon of electromagnetic fields making people's hair stick out when those thunderstorms come above tree level (> 11,000 feet).

Had that happen once. Terrifying.

[bobandsherry]

Originally Posted by townshend

I don't know what kind of cataract surgery he performs. Here is a link to his foundation, and you might find more information there, or even e-mail them: Home

FYI: This summer I had cataract surgery in TX. The surgeon implanted Tecnis toric symfony IOLs, which are considered "extended range of focus" lens (of course, everything has to be "marketed"). Most of the pain I experienced was in the wallet . . .

Curious, after having the Symfony lens now for a period of time, any issues? Asking as I was just diagnosed with needing cataract removal. My doctor recommended the Symfony lens. Yes it cost more (I was quoted $3,400/eye vs $1,300 for monofocal lens), but if the results prove out the cost then why not. After all you only have one set of eyes, might as well get the best you can

[Florida2014]

I lived in Denver and then moved up to the mountains at around 7,600 feet where we lived for about 2 years. I know that's quite a bit different than your scenario; however, we had no real health issues at that altitude at all unless you count bad hair and shocking every single piece of metal we touched during that time due to the extreme lack of humidity.

We moved to sunny Florida and I'm thankful we did. I love the mountains and see myself more of a mountain person than a beach person; however, the mountains can be very unforgiving in terms of weather. You can go months with heavy snow and brutally cold temps and that can wear on even the most optimistic person's psyche'. I worked from home and around late Jan/early Feb I definitely felt seasonally depressed not being able to go outdoors much, see green grass, trees, etc. In a perfect world I'd live in the mountains in the summers and come back here to FL in the winters.

At a minimum I would recommend renting first before making the jump into purchasing. Many people can and do love living at that altitude and have no problems but it takes a certain type of personality I think to endure those winters.

[townshend]

Originally Posted by bobandsherry

Curious, after having the Symfony lens now for a period of time, any issues? Asking as I was just diagnosed with needing cataract removal. My doctor recommended the Symfony lens. Yes it cost more (I was quoted $3,400/eye vs $1,300 for monofocal lens), but if the results prove out the cost then why not. After all you only have one set of eyes, might as well get the best you can

No issues with the Symfony lens. And the costs you are quoting for them seems right in line with what I paid: about 3,500 per lens or so.

I am able to see distances sharply, and I can sit in front of my my computer screen and read posts from city-data.com as well. However, for close-up work (e.g., ~8-12"), I need reading glasses (+1.5s).

I do have kind of a "starburst pattern" I see around street lights and traffic lights at night, but it is not that distracting, and I think that is fairly normal. I can drive at night now with no problems . . . when I had my cataracts, it was a nightmare to drive at night.

I am fairly sure that with the monofocal lens, you either get those set up for distance or for close-up, and you will always have to wear glasses for the other of the two distances. And I assume you might need glasses for median distance (reading a computer screen) as well. Check this out with your ophthamologist.

For me, the decision was easy: I want to be as free as possible of needing glasses. Money well spent.

[townshend]

I know this thread has as its original topic living at 11,000'? Well, does anybody have any experience living at 8,700 to 8,900'? I assume that wouldn't be that much different, but it might be a little less drastic of an alpine environment. In other words, colder but not as cold as living at 11,000', etc.

E.g., does the risk of wildfires decrease with rising altitude, due to less botanical material growing at higher altitudes to serve as fuel for fire?

[Arrby]

We are located just short of 8700 ft., and yes, it is quite different than 11,000. Or even 10,000.

Fire propagation is impeded some by the lower oxygen levels at higher altitudes, but really the effect is minimal anywhere below the tree line. Obviously, above the tree line fire issues are far less of a concern.

The nature of the environment is effected by other factors besides altitude. The direction of the prevailing winds, which face of the mountain, rainfall, and sunlight create significantly different climatic conditions even when the altitude remains constant. This can be seen most easily in the variation in tree line altitudes. I believe there are locations in Colorado with a tree line as low as 10,000 ft, but more commonly are around 12,000 ft.

My own circle of acquaintances suggests that the number of people who can transition to living above 10,000 ft. is much smaller than those who can thrive at 8,000.

When I was flying airplanes (a long time ago - I rented one of Wilbur's) we understood the standard temperature lapse rate to be 3.5 deg. f. per 1,000 feet. So, all other things being equal one would expect the temperature at 11,000 ft. to be about 10 deg. f. lower than that at 8000 ft. And, in fact, we find the average July high for Woodland Park (8600 ft.) to be 74 deg. and Alma (10,400 ft.) to be 64 deg. Likewise the average high in January is 35 deg. and in Alma just 25 deg. Nighttime lows vary somewhat less.

[TCHP]

My Grandparents living in Alma meant I spent a lot of time living at altitude. One unique aspect of living at those elevations is the ability to get sunburned on one side of your bod while you have goosebumps from the cold on the other side. The sun is intense at those elevations and the shade can be pretty chilly.

[townshend]

Originally Posted by TCHP

My Grandparents living in Alma meant I spent a lot of time living at altitude. One unique aspect of living at those elevations is the ability to get sunburned on one side of your bod while you have goosebumps from the cold on the other side. The sun is intense at those elevations and the shade can be pretty chilly.

Higher altitudes would seem to be ideally suited for solar energy, assuming that there is an abundance of long sunny days.

[BarryK123]

Originally Posted by townshend

Higher altitudes would seem to be ideally suited for solar energy, assuming that there is an abundance of long sunny days.

Solar cells use mostly visible light and IR. UV makes up a relatively small component of the energy conversion, so altitude really isn't an advantage.

[Copymutt]

One item that has not been mentioned, living at altitude. Occasionally packaged foods will explode on opening due to being sealed at lower altitudes. Example, coffee, chips, even copier toners can spray around an office.