People with hypoxia brave high elevations

BY DAN ENGLAND THE COLORADO SUN

Chantelle Shoaee will have a question for you if you decide to visit her:

“What kind of car do you drive?” Unless you’re one of her buds, perhaps one of her Hypoxic Hikers, the reason she’s asking may shock you. Rough mountain roads, the kind that ummox those who don’t drive Subarus — and yes, there are a few — lead to the little base camp where she lives and runs Always Choose

Adventures.

Shoaee lives at 10,000 feet in a rural spot above Idaho Springs. She also has hypoxia, a condition de ned by low levels of oxygen in the body.

Doctors tell hypoxic patients to move out of Colorado. At Denver’s elevation, around 5,280 feet, there’s

20% less oxygen than at sea level. Whenever she’s walking around, Shoaee receives oxygen through a tube in her nose, called a cannula. She punctuates her sentences with pu s from her tank that sound like a gasp.