9,000 Feet Elevation. Pickleball. And an Oxygen Tank.

SCPA member Sandy Franzen really likes pickleball — enough to lug an 8-pound oxygen tank around the court. And she gets around the court really well!

Sandy moved to Colorado for the first time just after graduating from University of Wisconsin–Madison. She taught 6th grade in Jefferson County for three years, before wanderlust took her Anchorage, AK and another 10 years teaching 6th grade there.

But Anchorage wasn’t adventurous enough for Sandy, so she moved to the North Slope, where the Alaska pipeline starts, to manage employee camps for British Petroleum and Sohio.

After a third career (this one as a stock broker) took Sandy to Denver, she made her way to Summit County for the lifestyle. Here Sandy considers her occupation to be “funologist.” She spends winters skiing, snowshoeing and playing tennis; summers mountain biking, hiking, and playing tennis and pickleball.

A case of sepsis last summer left Sandy on oxygen therapy 24/7. But she says, “I’m finding it more of an inconvenience than anything else. I still ski, play pickleball, bike and hike. It just takes me longer to get ready for these activities.”

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