Ski sickness is a form of motion sickness that can strike skiers, especially when visibility is poor in fog, blizzards, whiteout, and flat light conditions.
The disorienting, dizzying, and nauseating feeling, which is similar to sea sickness or car sickness, is due to the body’s inability to make sense of a barrage of conflicting stimuli.
Prior to this season, I’d only experienced the vertigo of ski sickness a couple of times. But in a bizarre coincidence, I felt it three times in a row this spring while skiing at Loveland here in Colorado.
In two of the cases, I was in a fog bank at the very top of the ski area, which marks the Continental Divide and rises to around 13,000 feet in elevation. The photo below shows what the conditions were like on Lift 9, heading up to the ridge, and this was before it really got foggy!
I can’t say I enjoyed the feeling of ski sickness, but in small doses the sensation is intriguing. Suddenly, you feel like you’re falling-down drunk!
The nausea part? Not so much fun. And there’s the issue of having to ski down a mountain with your sense of balance totally out of whack. In the fog bank at Loveland, my visibility was measured in inches. Above treeline, with snow covering all the rocks, my eyes couldn’t latch onto anything. It was a little hairy as I descended a 40-degree pitch without being able to see where I was going. Fortunately, the fog thinned as I lost elevation, and as I was able to get closer to the chair lift.
The next time I was at Loveland, I could overhear a guy on the chair behind me describing the fog and his ski sickness from a few days before. At the top, I mentioned my own experience and he said his friend was so nauseous that he had to retreat to his bed for hours. Now that’s a sick day!
Another time I experienced ski sickness at Loveland, it wasn’t foggy and only snowing lightly, but oh how the wind was blowing! That caused whiteout conditions and a ground blizzard. As in the fog, I couldn’t see shit and started feeling like crap until I got down to some trees and the visibility improved. Thankfully, all of my episodes of ski sickness have only lasted a couple of minutes.
Ski sickness study
Ski sickness was first described scientifically in 1994 by Rudolf Häusler, a professor in the Bern University Hospital’s ear, nose and throat department.
“Many people can develop ski sickness by skiing, but people who are sensitive to motion sickness in general are especially prone, ” Häusler told the Swiss news site swissinfo.ch. “It appears on so-called white days, when the visibility is less good, [and] when you don’t see the surroundings or contours. This gives contradictory information [to the brain].” Here’s more from the informative article:
Häusler first came across the phenomenon when patients came to him complaining of dizziness, lightheadedness and even nausea experienced while skiing.
He soon discovered that his charges had not fallen foul of Switzerland’s white wines, but were serious. One day, while standing still on steep slope in foggy conditions, he suddenly got a sensation of movement.
As the professor shifted his body weight to initiate a turn, he crashed to the ground, still on his original spot. Häusler then got a sickening feeling in his stomach.
The incident awoke his interest and prompted him to study in detail patients who reported the symptoms. In his study, he focused on 11 people, and now guesses that around 10 percent of skiers suffer the illness at some stage.
Häusler’s 1995 paper, in the journal Acta Oto-Laryngologica, argued the disorientation is not only due to vision problems but also the effect of making turns on an uneven surface, which messes with the vestibular organs in your inner ear that regulate your balance. Here’s the article’s abstract (with a couple slight spelling corrections from me):
Dizziness with illusionary rotatory or pendular sensations and disequilibrium accompanied by nausea and occasionally by vomiting may appear during down-hill skiing. It is proposed that the condition is called “ski sickness”. Ski sickness seems to represent a special form of motion sickness produced by unusual and contradictory sensory information between the visual, vestibular and somato-sensory system. The pathophysiology seems to be related to vestibular overstimulation from winding turns on uneven ground, insufficient visual control, especially on foggy days with reduced visibility (on so called “white days”), often in connection with minor ophthalmologic problems such as myopia or astigmatism and altered somato-sensory input due to the wearing of ski boots and skis.
The impact of wearing boots and standing on skis surprised me. Apparently, tight boots fastened to two planks will trick your body by depriving it of sensory feedback. It also sounds like some skiers will experience the sensation without being in a blinding blizzard or dense fog. A day with flat light, in which there are no shadows and low contrast, can also make some people feel queasy and dizzy.
I don’t have a term for it, but I’ve also experienced a similar, but more pleasant feeling following a long day of skiing, especially while lying down and closing my eyes. It feels as if I’m being rocked back and forth, on a gentle, persistent wave. We’re not talking bed spins from a heavy night of drinking, but more like sleeping on houseboat or water bed.
Ski sickness cure?
The easiest way to avoid ski sickness is to avoid or escape from the offending weather conditions. But let’s be honest: storm skiing separates the diehards from the poseurs! Anyone can enjoy riding in 8 inches of fresh pow on a bluebird day with the sun shining and the birds singing. It’s only true ski bums who are willing to thrust themselves into the maw of mother nature and still ski when it’s freezing, dumping, nuking, puking, or just plain lousy weather with crappy visibility.
If you suffer from ski sickness, standard medicines for travel sickness, such as Dramamine, may help quell the queasiness. During a whiteout or blizzard, it also helps to ride near trees, ski lift towers, or other stark objects that can orient you. You should also check out Backcounty.com’s helpful article on how to ski in flat light conditions.
I’m curious to hear from readers about their own experience with ski sickness, so feel free to comment below or drop me a line.
Sources
- Ski sickness, R. Häusler, Acta Oto-Laryngologica, Volume 115, Issue 1, 1995.
- Slope motion, swissinfo.ch, March 31, 2002.
- Sickly slopes, New Scientist, Duncan Graham-Rowe, February 9, 2002.
- Skiing in Flat Light and Fog: Tricks of the Trade, Andrew McLean, Backcountry.com, January 7, 2015.
45 thoughts on “Sick day, as in ski sickness (aka Häusler’s disease)”
I can’t believe they identified this. I was a diehard skier in the eighties, then in 1987 the motion sickness started. I thought it was a diet issue and many Dr. visits came up without answers. I basically stopped skiing. 5 years ago, I decided to attempt to ski again and it was awful. This time not only the dizziness and nausea, but vomiting too. After reading this article I will attempt to ski again but with Dramamine on board!
Thanks for this article! Had this happen a few weeks ago and it was crazy. I was in bad shape and had been so curious as to why and what happened. Such a strange thing haha. Thanks again!
Thanks for this article! Had this happen a few weeks ago and it was crazy. I was in bad shape and had been so curious as to why and what happened. Such a strange thing haha. Thanks again!
I have been skiing 15 years and I think I have just experienced it in Italy but it was sunny? I am 55,
I just started getting this illness this season at 66. I can get motion sickness but it’s been many years since I’ve had motion sickness. I’ve skied in all conditions for years and never had this before and always ski near or in trees in flat light. I was glad to find the article and I noticed that lack of good sleep would seem to bring on the systoms rapidly. I have had it at snowbird 4 times this year so bad had to quit for day or most of day. Dramamine in the ski bag for flat light.
Never new ski sickness was a disease Mitch, cheers for the insights.
HI I ski approx 5-8 weeks a season. so was surprised when this happened to me. I had my first episode March 2018, skiing in foggy conditions. I felt ‘out of sorts’ and dizzy. Just thought I was low on sugar. every turn was unnerving, so carried on until i actually lost my footing and skied over the edge of the piste. The ground just disappeared underneath me. Luckily the drop was was only about a 15mtrs and in fresh powder snow. Snow-patrol helped me out and i was carried down the rest of the mountain on a First aid sledge – for the first time in my 30 yrs of skiing. I was taken to a local hospital for a CT/MRI scan and vital body check, all was clear, so was given medication for sickness and advised to rest for 24 hours. The Second time was February 2019, same feeling but this time I didntn’t ski over the edge, I did have to stop as was then terribly sick at the side of the piste. I managed to ski down slowly and when i entered clearer visability the sickness disappeared. This really is a worry for my next season skiing, so will most probably go prepared with Dramamine this time !
Just got back from a long day of skiing (in good weather, although yesterday was very bad) and I’m feeling seasick! Like I’m rocking slightly – must be from having been on lifts all day in slightly windy weather and from skiing for 7 hours straight! Good to know it’s not just me… !
I found the best solution for me is the “patch” behind my ear. Ive tried travel tabs and the herbal / ginger pills neither of those work very well for me. It all started on a low light day in my late 40’s while skiing Big Mountain Montana and has been a battle ever since. The Transderm V patch works really quite well but causes me to have “dry mouth” I still try to avoid low light conditions because even with the patch ski sickness can get to me.
I have the same thing. I can’t believe it has a name. I puked multiple occasions bc of this. I love skiing, but don’t like puking so I started cross country skiing and only go alpine if the conditions are perfect ( sunny, not many people, no wind etc. ) I also got better googles. Its frustrating bc I live in Colorado and the snow is so awesome, but I learned I have many other options to enjoy the snow.
I reckon the increasing use of helmets is a contributing factor… I’m much worse with helmet on (hot and ears covered) than off. Not that I’m gonna ditch the helmet.
I grew up skiing a ton, but hadn’t been back to the slopes for over 20 years until this week. I took my son up for a day and felt like I was dying by the second run. It’s crazy because it was a beautifully clear day! I had to keep going for the sake of my son, so I kept trying to determine the cause so I could find relief! I pulled my hair out of its bun, closed my eyes on the lift, took off the skis to take a sitting break (helped the most and made me decide it was motion sickness). I am prone to motion sickness in cars, amusement park rides, etc., but had never experienced any sign of it while skiing, even on horrible weather days. It felt good being back on the hill, and I was surprised that I still had skills after 20 year as! I don’t want to never go back, so I’ll try some of the standard motion sickness prevention tips and see how it goes next time!
Wow, I cant believe this is a thing but its starting to make sense based on my recent ski outings. The last few times I’ve been skiing I have felt more and more nauseous as the day went on. The first time it happened I thought I was just hungover and maybe dehydrated. The next time I thought maybe I was experiencing altitude sickness. I noticed that it got worse in flat light. What’s weird is I’ve been skiing my whole life and this feeling has never been an issue until the last two years. I’m 56. I am bummed because I love to ski. I live in Colorado and love powder days and skiing with my kids. I cant imagine not skiing anymore, but the feeling is miserable and makes me wonder if I’ll be able to continue. I have always been a little susceptible to motion sickness but never while skiing until lately. I’m going to try these Sea Bands or Dramamine and see if that helps.
I developed this sickness after I turned 50 and after twenty years of skiing. The symptoms are worse in poor conditions and poor light, but I have experienced them on bluebird days as well. I tried Dramamine and Sea Bands, but the only thing that has worked for me are Scopolamine anti-nausea patches prescribed by my doctor. The patches cause terrible dry mouth, but I chew some special gum to help take care of that. From my own experience and what I have read from others, it appears that as one ages, he or she become more susceptible to developing this problem.
Thanks for this very helpful article. I’ve been a life-long skier. I’m in my 50’s now and the dizziness and nausea started for me a few years ago during a whiteout at Snowbird. It was horrible and it ruined an otherwise great day of powder skiing. But now, it comes on much more frequently: during flat light conditions, and even when I ski in open bowls with no trees to help orient me. Your description of the condition now perfectly explains the cause of the problem. This season, intuitively I thought to try using non-drowsy Bonine and wear the sea bands. As a migraine sufferer, I also start the morning by taking a migraine tablet for good measure. So far, it’s helped except in the most extreme white-out conditions. I’m glad your article and the other readers support these home remedies too.
Thanks so much for this article. I have been skiing all my life and last year (46 yrs old) within an hour of leaving the resort I became severely nauseated. Last week I went out again and the same thing happened two days in a row. I find I last just over an hour then I start to get a bit hungry and it quickly goes downhill. My last day out I ate a huge breakfast which helped but 90 minutes later the feeling started again. I had a peanut butter granola bar (but it was -20 deg so only ate a couple bites!). That got me down the rest of the hill but I was done for the day.
I’m not giving up. Next I will try ginger pills, I saw on Myth Busters it was one of the top remedies for motion sickness. Has anyone found a different tint on their googles help?
I got ski sickness today. Everything in this article describes my experience exactly, so nothing new to add. I was in white out conditions snowboarding along a path with only a few poles to guide me, then at one point I looked around and got very confused, because I could no longer tell if it was moving. I felt dizzy and looked around and then panicked because it didn’t feel like I was moving but the tower behind me was getting closer. So weird. I then collapsed on the ground and couldn’t tell whether I’d been moving or not. Hours later, I took a nap and had that downhill sensation running through my head for a few hours. Its the evening now, and I’m still feeling the rocking back and forth motion. I never felt nausea or vomiting, just dizziness. The white-out thing happened twice. So weird watching other boarders in the distance – everyone looked like they were boarding over nothing at all.
Thanks for this article. I have been skiing for many years and yesterday for the first time I experienced bad ski sickness in perfect conditions. After few hours of skiing I felt nauseated. We stopped at a hut and I rested and took Gaviscon and I started to feel better. Even though I was not hungry I then ate a bowl of soup which I think was a mistake. About half an hour later skiing I got nauseated and dizzy and this time was worse. I took the gondola down and got on the bus home. On the bus I started feeling worse and had to get out and vomited. the entire soup came out and I felt so much relief afterwords. I had a cold prior to skiing, felt much better but my energy was no as high as usual. I am worried that this will happen again and I may not be able to downhill ski. I could try to take Dramamine but not sure if that would sedate me. Sometimes I also get mildly nauseated on gondolas if the windows are fogged up.
I am sensitive to motion sickness but it does not happen all the time.
Thanks for the article. Kinda figured I had somethibg like this. I’m 45 years old. These days I rarely ski, maybe 2-3 weekends a year. Get instant motion sickness easily in children’s swings and amusement park rides. Motion sickness has become more and more of an issue as of late. Started feeling queezy during downhill skiing couple years ago. Now its full blown nausea especially on snowy, windy days. Basically just staying on the slopes for 1-2 hours at a time so my daughter can get to ski.
I’ve experienced this one time, and it was actually at Loveland. I took 9 to the top and traversed to the cat pickup area, but the cat stopped running due to weather. I traversed a bit further and then dropped into the open bowl area under the cat pickup. Its steep, it was snowing very hard, and windy as he’ll.
I could not tell which way was up or down, it was complete whiteout, and there was no frame of reference. I tried to just traverse down the mountain with kick turns as I was dizzy and nauseous, but even that was extremely difficult… I just kept falling into the hill thinking the whole time I was meeting the fall line.
Eventually I stumbled my suddenly incapable ass down to a treeline and I was cured. I honestly think that had i not been skiing alone, just a buddies figure would have helped dramatically in giving me orientation. But, I’m in my later 40’s now, and I had a couple really good whiskeys the night before, so I wrote it off to dehydration.
Its a really good article you have here my friend. And one I am better off for having read.
Thanks, Scott! Glad you found the article useful. Seems like Lift 9 at Loveland is prime territory for ski sickness! Here’s hoping we can get up there again this season . . .
Interesting to read comments. I’ve skied over 50 years and am now experiencing the nausea more and more often in ANY light or snow conditions but without disorientation or dizziness. So bad one day that when riding the chair up and it suddenly stopped and bounced, I actually threw up. Ugh. It’s often associated with poor sleep the night before as in getting up at 5:30 to drive to the slopes. Curiously though, I don’t get this sensation road or mountain biking, which also often provide a lot of variety in light, speed and other stimuli. I do get terrible motion sickness on boats though, but not on kayaks or SUPs. Weird.
Yes, this has totally happened to me. Today at Mt. Snow in the foggy snow and has happened before at the same mountain. The lifts are notoriously bad and I am prone to motion sickness. I also get migraines from low pressure fronts, so it makes sense that an inner ear problem and motion sickness would affect while skiing but it’s crazy to be out doing something you love and feel sick from it. It’s a real thing. I will consider taking Dramamine before skiing when the conditions are similar to what has tripped it off. It really ruins a great day and the dizziness lasted long after I left the mountain.
Greetings fellow skiers. I have had this sensation more and more every year and especially during flat light/overcast days. I’m 56 years young, have skied since I was 5/6 and really thought I was having episodes of low blood sugar. However, even after sitting in a lodge and re-fueling, the feelings have continued to worsen (seems more so each year). I just skied this morning at Mt Sunapee here in NH, for the first time since the pandemic hit last winter and completely forgot about this possibly happening. The sun was getting obscured by the growing cloud cover and around the 3rd run, it started to hit me after traversing a very icy, overskied chute with inexperienced skiers struggling around me to stay on their feet. I felt extra stressed due to the conditions and sheer number of skiers around me. From then on, I felt I could have vomited the rest of the morning. Three more runs and that was it. I’ve spent the past hour reading up on this and feel that I finally have an answer. It correlates with my in-ability to ride amusement rides anymore or especially the virtual reality rides. – cold sweats, deep nausea and needing a full day to recover. Thank you for providing this forum. Here’s to all of us finding a way to co-exist with this condition if we can’t beat it.
I am a lifelong skier and first experienced these symptoms when I was in my 40’s and skiing with my young children. I had never had any issue with skiing, but one day – a bright, sunny day – I suddenly found myself feeling very nauseous and then suddenly had to vomit. Very unpleasant! My best guess at the time was that I was visually tracking my children who were skiing ahead of me and not really paying attention to my own skiing. My ski motions were thus different from what my eyes were taking in, and that disconnect led to feelings of motion sickness. Like many who have posted here, I am susceptible to motion sickness in cars or amusement park rides. Since that first incident, I have difficulty skiing, especially in flat light conditions. I have found that a combination of sea bands and bonine help. If I ski several days in a row, I find I can reduce my dosage of bonine and eventually don’t need it at all by day 5 or 6. I also think that I now am nervous about feeling motion sickness even before I begin skiing, and there is thus a degree of self-fulfilling/psychosomatic nausea involved.
Thank you to those who have shared their experiences and respective treatments. This seems a common thread for the 50+ crowd.
I’ve been skiing/snowboarding since my youth, now 50yrs old and my first episode of Häusler’s occurred last year. I was in white out conditions at Blackcomb and upon descent vertigo set in, nausea, weakness was immediate and relentless. Needless to say the day was done and required urgent return to the chalet and bed.
With the 2020 ski season cut short due to covid that was a forgotten episode chalked up to big mountain, extreme conditions. I thought.
I was back on the slopes Jan 2021 at Mt Tremblant on a slghltly overcast day and experienced a far more severe instance. Again, the vertigo onset and weakness was quick, relentless, so much so I spent the entire weekend debilitated in bed while my friends were having a blast. I couldn’t eat, drink, hold any food down for 2 days and in the end lost 10lbs.
Admittedly I have a weak stomach, prone to nausea on boats, amusement rides, etc but never had any issues with skiing (even if hungover).
I’m truly heartbroken as skiing has been a lifelong passion yet based on my last two trips I can’t even fathom going through that ordeal again.
Me too. I love downhill skiing but experienced ski sickness when I was 56. Today I tried again. The snow was perfect, I felt that I had never taken a break. After the second run the ski sickness returned. Think it’s time at 67 to switch to X country skiing.
Thanks for this article. I am 52 and grew up ski racing, and skiing all over the world. I started getting ski sick the last couple of years. I find the more I get out there the less it happens. Kinda like my mind, ears and body will adjust to it eventually. But very sad that this is happening. Has anybody had any luck with Medicine? I haven’t tried anything but the wrist bands but they didn’t seem to work for me. I just keep trying to push through it as long as I can every time I go out to ski, hoping to overcome it.
Thanks Mitch,
I am in my mid seventies and have been skiing for over fifty years several times a year. Last year at low altitude I started to get nauseous and threw up. The very same thing happened to me today and an even lower elevation and beautiful sunny day. I get very sick on a boat or a ride involving any side to side movement. I use a half a patch if I get to take a cruise. I think I will have to use the patch next time I try and ski. At least, “ski sickness” is now something that has been labeled.
I am in my mid seventies and several years ago started getting “ski sickness” I had it today in bright sunny weather. I think I will use a Scope Patch or half of one next time
Thanks Billy,
I just started to get “ski sickness” on a bright sunny and low altitude day of skiing.
I will try the patch next time.
Glad to find this article and thread after a particularly bad episode at Killington today. I’m also mid 50s, skiing 50 years, and have suffered ski sickness/Hauser’s for the last decade or two as my motion sickness spread to skiing. Usually Meclazine or Dramamine does the job, so I had a tablet before hitting the slopes (for the first time this season). Good visibility but within an hour I was feeling nauseous. I took another Dramamine, but after two hours threw up anyway. That pretty much killed the day and now I’m nervous to go tomorrow. I’m definitely going to try Scopolamine which I hadn’t heard about before. And I do enjoy x-country skiing a lot too 😉
My whole life (40+ years) I’ve suffered from motion sickness from riding cars, roller coasters, boats, using virtual reality headsets, etc., and to that add skiing. Some days, while doing those activities, I am relatively fine, but other days it is a nightmare. Factors that I think make things worse are: being sleepy (not having a good night sleep), empty stomach, thirsty (maybe this is a symptom), supper sunny days (low contrast), having eaten certain foods (not sure which ones but acidic or greasy food may be an issue).
So what works for me; before skiing I take Gravol/Dramamine; if I get dizzy, I stop skiing for 20 minutes, drink some water, eat something sweet like candy or anything light for that matter, and rest, then I can come back skiing; I try to sleep well the night before; I am trying to get better ski goggles to get better contrast during bright days. Skiing is better with overcast days with good light.
Interesting to hear the experience of other people. Thanks for sharing
I know I’m late to this post, but thought I would give my thoughts as I get ski sickness as well. I get other motion sickness (air, sick) and started getting ski sickness in my late 20s and have occasionally been sick for past two decades when I ski. It is generally the same scenario, flat light and trails that have no turns and have rollers in them (steep, gradual, steep, gradual) plus a trail that is just short enough that you don’t stop all the way down, and possibly bouncy lifts. What is interesting is that I get sick much more often in the East Coast rather than West, probably because of the light, how the trails are designed, and that I’m typically going much slower our West as I’m off trail. Trails with turns help because you are looking at the trees and the sides to stay on the trail, and narrower trails help too. I think the comment about helmets is an interesting observation, as I have found that dehydration can play a big part in it. Dramamine works but you have to think about it beforehand. It must be taken at least one hour before motion, and likely won’t help when you are already not feeling well.
Vomiting while skiing is of course the worst, and I’ll add that one time I vomited on the car ride home while driving on a curvy access road, which might actually be more of a pain because you have quickly pull and vomit out the door. I know a commenter above said he/she vomited on the bus ride home as well.
I first encountered ski sickness in 1975 as a ski patrolman at Mammoth Mountain. I was clearing the top of chair 9 and Dave’s Run at approximately 10,000 feet in white out conditions. I was simply traversing across lower Dave’s when I found myself lying on the snow. No sensation of falling. Bizarre. Over the years I have has several more similar incidents including driving in adverse conditions. Regarding driving, I’m fine as long as I can see a car in front of me.
I am researching this again prior to the next season, here hopefully i Europe. I have suffered with this problem on and off over the years – always in white out. The only thing i wanted to add is that I am pretty sure there is a genetic tendency. Both my brothers get this – one quite badly – was taken to the ER with a ? infarct. And once my brother and I were skiing on different sides of the mountain in the Trois Vallees and both of us were extremely unwell. Any update on preventative medication would be gratefully received or other tricks! Thank you
45 years old: female
I will keep this short- since my symptoms are the same as others who posted above- I have had to bail on way too many big ski days due to flat light- going cross eyed and puking on the side of the runs at Jackson, Steamboat, Snowbird, ABasin…
I have tried everything:
Dramamine, Bonine and Scopalamine put me to sleep- or in a zombie trance. The bracelets are ineffective. I tried anti-nausea oils and several pairs of new goggle lenses- with no help. Last year, I had more bad days than good. 🙁
This year, I’m on Day 2 of skiing- both days snowy and flat light (Beaver Creek & Sunlight) and I have taken the recommended dose (3 pills) of a vitamin I found on Amazon:
PURGENX- VERTIGO RELIEF 1750MG
And I think it is the best thing for me that I have found. I will continue to take it, and will update here- I will start a thread on StuffThatWorks .con and hopefully others can chime in with what works best for them too. Skiing is too fun to give it up at age 45.
Hi, I’m Polish in Alps at the moment (February 2022). I’m perfect example. I had it when I was a child. 10 Yeras ago it back when skiing. On Sanday I tried our polish medicine AVIOMARIN. At 8:30. I works perfect for 5 hours…. Than suddenly I felt sick with all symptoms… Next day first at 9 am an second at 1 pm and it was nice day. So medice works. Have a great skiing!
Thank you for this article and especially to all the commenters. I am 55, and while prone to motion sickness in general, I have never had a problem skiing. Until now. Two weeks ago, I was skiing in white out conditions with near zero visibility . . .and I definitely felt nauseated. I guessed it might be motion sickness due to the conditions. I managed to muscle through. But then this weekend, I went again, and this time it was very hard snow and low light conditions, but I could see perfectly fine – – and again, I was so nauseated that it really took away all the enjoyment of skiing.
So now I’m going to start trying meds. Will try Scopolamine patch first as that has worked for me for sea sickness . . .fingers crossed because I just moved to Utah and certainly don’t want to quit skiing now!!
Great article ….. such a relief to know I’m not going mad. Like most of the skiers who have also left comments I’ve been skiing for over forty years in good, bad and horrendous conditions without issue. However today after five hours of skiing in whiteout conditions I suddenly lost all sense of up and down, nearly falling over whilst standing still and thought I might be sick. The weirdest feeling. Will definitely get some Dramamine and hope this isn’t a recurring issue.
Welcome back. New experiance. I tried one more in Alps. The same, open white area, worse visibility and my sickness.
So Alps are rather not for me. I feel much better when skiing in Polish moumtains. Lower and what seems to be the most importent on ski area in the forest. Probably brain finds location and I feel comfortable, of course with dedicated medicine. So don’t give up and try to find condition for You:)
Thank you for this, so glad I’m not the only one. Just been to Cervinia in Italy. I often feel queasy on the slopes and have wondered if the high altitude had anything to do with it (the resort is 2050 metres and we climb higher to get to the pistes)
It’s definitely the poor light for me and when it snows, it’s even worse. This year I puked at the side of the piste which was a new low for me! The wristbands helped a bit and drinking mint tea was beneficial but not as nice as hot chocolate!
I’m not giving up skiing as I love it so much, I will try to find a solution
One thing I am interested in is how long it takes people to recover once they stop skiing? This year it’s taken a week to stop feeling queasy and I had to keep my movements steady to stay balanced.
I’ve struggled with ski sickness for years. Gravol works, but makes me so groggy. The scopolamine patch is too strong (I’m not that big), and isn’t a great option for single days. I’ve now been prescribed something that works way better for me: betahistine.
Yep, relate to nearly every post here. Learned to ski at 18, no problems until my late 30’s. After that it has been a battle with nausea every ski day no matter the weather. I find eating and drinking small things all through the day helps the most. Mandarins good. Sweets help sometimes. Fizzy cold alcohol like a small sparkling wine. Anything rich makes it worse – chocolate is out, and anything fat laden increases the queasiness. It’s a sad condition to have when you really love to ski!
Great summary of what is known about “ski sickness.” I read this when it was published, having been all too familiar with Häusler’s since age 58 around 2015. Age related ossification of structures in the inner ear is the likely cause. It has progressed to the point where even on a sunny, bluebird day with a patch I have mild discomfort. Flat light pushes the discomfort to unpleasant levels. I typically ski at Grand Foggy (Targhee) so I’m lucky be able to ski 1 day out of 3.
This past 8 months, post ski season, I’ve been doing lots of physical therapy for my decrepit knees. I wasn’t aware of how poor my balance had become until my PT evaluation. One-legged stands, barefoot on squishy foam mats were the first exercises prescribed. I’ve progressed to trying to extend my time being able to balance on one leg with my *eyes closed* to more than a few seconds. I’m hoping this increase in my ability to maintain a delicate balance without visual stimuli will translate into reduced symptoms on the slopes. Anyone else have any experience along this line?