Heart attack risk for ski vacations

[speden]

This probably doesn't apply to the very fit people on this forum, but they did a study in the Alps and found that 40% of the winter sports fatalities there were due to heart attacks.

The risk factors appear to be the sudden exertion of skiing at high altitude and cold temperatures, and (no surprise) smoking and lack of training preparation before the trip.

Apparently the first couple days of the trip are the highest risk, so probably it's a good idea to take it easy when you first arrive for that big trip out west. Seems like this would apply to Northeasterners since quite a few live near sea level. So I guess you have to dodge both the trees and overstressing your pump if you want to make it home intact.

The full article is here:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100831104645.htm

 

[billski]

seems to me the ignored risk factor is bringing your SO or your in-laws.

 

[Puck it]

When I was in UT last Feb., I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital since I was waking up with my heart racing during the night. It was doing the same thing up in the canyons. It took a day or so to figure out what it was. I was drinking Jack and Diet Cokes. I normally use caffiene free at home and add the fact the camelback tabs had caffiene in them when I looked at the package. Throw in the altitude and skiing nonstop.

Let me tell you I was scared until I fgured out that I was self inducing this. The heart was pounding.

Pretty scary.

 

[RISkier]

I would think that if someone had undiagnosed heart disease, blocked arteries, etc. that the exertion of skiing at altitude in cold weather would be a pretty good trigger. Lots of heart attacks occur on golf courses too.

 

[dmc]

We had a friend drop dead of a heart attack halfway down Racers Edge. Just standing there and boom!

He was pretty good in shape - people say it was hereditary.

 

[dbking]

When I was a patroller at Sugarbush in the 80's I was watching a Nor-Am race when an older man went down a few hundred feet away. Another partoller was standing next to him when it happened. We started doing CPR and called for more help. We continued CPR in the sled while going down the hill. We got him loaded into the ambulance still alive and breathing mostly on his own. He died later that night. In a way.. he was lucky. Not too many times that you could have a heart attack and have EMTs within seconds of responding. ( He wasn't real lucky but I'm just making a point ) It also happened here in Big Sky when a fella had a heart attack on the lift, almost half way up. We watched from below as his son and wife screamed for help. Brutal. The lift op heard all the frantic screaming and shut the lift down. Then nobody could get it restarted right away. The patrol was waiting for them at the top with oxygen, ect. but it was too late. The lift mishap had nothing to do with the outcome. The poor bastard had a major coronary episode and nobody could have saved him.
I guess if you're going to have a heart attack a ski area isn't the worst place to be.

 

[NYDrew]

if I had to pick a way to go, that is definitely way, way up there on my list.

 

[deadheadskier]

One of my father's friends died of a heart attack skiing at Okemo. His 11 year old son was skiing with him when it happened.