Ask anyone who’s just landed in the mountains from sea level, and they’ll swear the same thing: booze hits different up here. The going theory is that a couple of drinks at elevation will get you drunker than the same couple of drinks back home. It’s a great bar conversation. It’s also not true.
The myth traces back to the 1930s, when American psychologist R. A. McFarland ran a study — thin on rigor, heavy on influence — and concluded that alcohol packs a bigger punch at altitude, claiming 2–3 drinks up high could feel like 4–5 at sea level. That number stuck around for generations, repeated so often it calcified into fact. Only it isn’t one. Nearly a century of follow-up research has since taken it apart.
And the follow-up research agrees with itself. Repeated studies point to the same conclusion: elevation does nothing to blood alcohol concentration. The FAA tested it themselves back in 1970 and found no measurable link between altitude and alcohol’s strength. A 1995 University of Vienna study took it further, comparing drinkers at 10,000 feet against drinkers at sea level and landing on nearly identical BAC readings across both groups.
So if it's not the altitude — why does that first drink at altitude feet still knock you sideways?
For that answer, I called the high-altitude expert, Dr. Peter Hackett of the Institute for Altitude Medicine in Telluride.
“It’s a myth that 2–3 drinks at altitude is equal to 4–5 at sea level. The way I like to explain it is that alcohol makes you feel altitude more but you’re not getting drunk faster because of the alcohol,” said Dr. Hackett. “The studies have shown your body metabolizes alcohol the same at altitude and sea level.” He went on to explain that it is the lack of oxygen your body is used to getting at sea level paired with hydration – or lack of – at altitude that are the main issues.
We all know there is less oxygen at altitude. The first few days of being at a higher altitude your body is adjusting to the change in oxygen levels. Your heart rate climbs, causing your blood pressure to fluctuate, and you’re breathing faster and deeper. Each exhaled breath releases more moisture than it would at sea level, and the air itself is significantly drier. Add in increased urination, which is common the first days at elevation, and your body is losing fluid faster than most people realize.
Dr. Hackett also pointed out that the change in oxygen levels can dramatically impact your sleep. When you sleep, your breathing levels drop. With less oxygen, that drop can be more dramatic and impact your ability to sleep
Now add wine or your booze of choice.
If you have just arrived at a higher altitude and you drink more than one, six-ounce drink, your sleep will be impacted. That said, your body will not get adequate rest so you will feel more hungover.
Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it signals your kidneys to flush fluids rather than retain them. So, every glass you’re sipping is quietly accelerating the fluid loss your body is already struggling to keep up with while your body is acclimating to the altitude. Dehydration doesn’t just make you thirsty. It makes you dizzy, fatigued and foggy. Sound like something else – aka getting a little too tipsy?
The symptoms of dehydration and altitude sickness — lightheadedness, headache, nausea, fatigue — overlap almost perfectly with the feeling of being drunk. So, when visitors to places like Vail, Aspen or Telluride feel unexpectedly woozy after two glasses of wine, they’re not more intoxicated. The scientific studies have proven they’re BAC levels are the same at sea level and altitude. But rather, their body is adjusting to less oxygen, are likely dehydrated and /or may have mild altitude sickness.
The Fix.
Drink more water and drink less alcohol while your body is acclimating. Get good sleep.
Dr. Hackett recommends people visiting higher altitudes stick with one drink a night for the first two days they’re acclimating. This will help their bodies adjust and limit the impact on their sleep.
If you can pre-hydrate before going to higher altitudes you will notice a difference, booze or no booze. Before you head out for happy hour, a little pre-hydration will also be helpful. Don’t go overboard though. According to Dr. Hackett you only need an additional liter to a liter and a half of water at altitude for good hydration; depending on how much you’re exercising.
Continue hydrating when you’re sipping that glass of wine. Remember, the one glass of water to every glass of wine rule doesn’t hold when you’re adjusting to higher altitude. It’s more like two glasses of water to every one glass of wine.
According to Dr. Hackett, the message is not don’t worry about drinking alcohol if you’re visiting higher altitudes, but rather know what’s happening to your body. For people who live at higher altitude they don’t have the same issues since their body has already acclimated.
When I asked about the opposite effect of alcohol when you go from higher altitude to sea level he told me it has yet to be studied. Maybe we’ll see more on this in the future.
Elaine Schoch is an award-winning travel writer, wine judge, American Wine Specialist and certified by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET III). At Carpe Travel she shares wine travel destination guides for ALL WINE LOVERS – from novices to experienced pros – to help them plan their wine adventures, arming them with insider tips, must-visit spots, and things to see and do beyond the vines.