The 49ers spent their week of practice in Colorado Springs with the hopes of getting their players acclimated to the more than 7,000 feet of elevation they’ll play in Monday night at Estadio Azetca in Mexico City.
While there’s no tried and true method for bodily acclimation to the thinner air at elevation, head coach Kyle Shanahan said the team is standing by their choice to spend the week preparing at nearly 6,000 feet above sea level in Colorado Springs.
“That’s what science says and we had our biggest practice on Thursday, I think that’s where they really felt it,” Shanahan said. “Wednesday’s not quite as much and today’s not quite as much, but Thursday, which was Friday to the rest of the world, they really felt it then. And that was the first time they’re like, oh this, this is pretty real.”
So why didn’t the team just head directly to Mexico City? Shanahan explained that the accommodations at the Air Force Academy where they practiced gave them everything they needed.
“I heard Air Force has really good facilities,” Shanahan said. “I heard they had everything that could accommodate us. I talked to New England coaches and Chargers coaches and they said that. We flew our guys down here to check all of that. They thought it was pretty nice. I’ve been here, I think it’s pretty nice. I didn’t have the same connections in Mexico City. [OL] Alfredo [Gutierrez] didn’t know the people, so it’s hard to trust.”
Whether practicing in the elevated climate is actually beneficial isn’t necessarily known, so it makes sense that they’d at least make sure they went somewhere where they knew the facilities would be adequate for what they needed to prepare.
In the later portions of Monday night’s game we’ll see whether the week at altitude actually helped the 49ers. If they fall apart late, it could be a sign that going anywhere at elevation wasn’t necessarily the right move.
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