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Question: How cold is TOO cold?

ilovepugs

Angel Diva
I’m in an adult seasonal program this year and the email we got yesterday with our weekly lineup of instructors/offerings simple said that it will be cold, to make sure your boot heater batteries are charged, to watch eachother for frost nip/bite, and to speak up if you need a warm up break when out there.
the part that’s tricky about this weather for me is that I won’t go into the lodge unless absolutely necessary right now. But also, the wind stinks. Yeah…. I’m staying home tomorrow!
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
the part that’s tricky about this weather for me is that I won’t go into the lodge unless absolutely necessary right now. But also, the wind stinks. Yeah…. I’m staying home tomorrow!

That’s definitely a benefit of being on mountain. I can just do warm up breaks at my condo building if needed. When out with a ski school group elsewhere on the mountain I won’t have that luxury though. However, I anticipate that the mountain and lodges will likely be completely dead with this forecast, so would just KN95 mask for a quick break. If it were super crazy inside for some reason then I’d just bail.
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
I’m in an adult seasonal program this year and the email we got yesterday with our weekly lineup of instructors/offerings simple said that it will be cold, to make sure your boot heater batteries are charged completely, to watch eachother for frost nip/bite, and to speak up if you need a warm up break when out there. Lol I was curious if they might cancel, but alas that is not the case. So I’ll be out there unless the mountain were to close due to the cold. I mean, I’m literally on the mountain in my condo already, so hard to stay put if the lifts are turning when I just ski in/out versus having to drive to the mountain. My fiancé thinks I’ve lost my mind to plan on going out in this cold. :rotf: We’ll see how it goes, I’ll certainly be trying out my new helmet hood as another layer over my face and head.
Those stick-on body warmers (try Cabelas, for hunters) they make are wonderful on your back, as they compress to you when you ride the chair so you get a warmth burst. They're also good on your stomach, where you can rest your hands while riding the lift. Pretty sure it made a world of difference in Banff, when it was @-15F but I happily skied.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
Those stick-on body warmers (try Cabelas, for hunters) they make are wonderful on your back, as they compress to you when you ride the chair so you get a warmth burst. They're also good on your stomach, where you can rest your hands while riding the lift. Pretty sure it made a world of difference in Banff, when it was @-15F but I happily skied.

I was contemplating this last night and wondering where I can strategically stick some extra warmers!
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
I was contemplating this last night and wondering where I can strategically stick some extra warmers!
If you do this, try to put it between two layers - it helps keep it from rolling up into a crumply mess. I had the bottom part of the rectangle tucked under the (high) waistband of one of my leg layers, and then a snug upper base layer on over it. Still seemed to get enough air to work.
 

lucy

Angel Diva
When it drops to single digits, I wrap a ThermaCare Heat Wrap around my lower back. It's the same stuff as the chemical heat packs that you slide in your gloves, but it has a "belt" that attaches to itself with a little bit of Velcro. I wrap one around my waist over my baselayer, put on the rest of my usual layers, and then head out. It stays in place all day long and lasts longer than the smaller chemical heater packs. And yes, it makes standing in the lift line and being assaulted by wind and snow on the lift much more bearable. :smile:
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
OK, so my boot heaters are great, but it's a 2 thumbs down for these heated Karbon gloves I picked up at Costco. -21C at the top of Tremblant.

Tomorrow I'm using my Costco Swany down mitts!!
 

Abbi

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I used to go out whatever the temp, but at my age, which is (cough, cough), I'm started holding back some. Yesterday when the wind chill was -25F, I actually stayed home. I'm pretty much with you now, @Iwannaski and @bsskier ; I'm okay til the low single digits. Then I think I'll pass.
Yeah, but how clean was your house! And tomorrow I plan to do four loads of laundry and other household necessities!
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
I skied today from 9am to a little after 1pm at Sunday River. I’m not sure what the exact temperature was with wind chill.. It was supposed to be around -50F at the summit, but you couldn’t get to the summit today. So maybe -30s where we got to? The top of the mountain lifts were on wind hold (maybe cold hold I’m not sure, it was quite windy at times even lower down though), The North Peak chair was open with great snow on those trails and the Chondola opened around 11. The T-Bar at Barker was also open which allowed access to other fun terrain to end the day. The mountain was dead, so no lines, and it was totally bluebird and sunny. I skied with my seasonal program group. Most people stayed home, only around 5 of us showed up. We skied the whole time except for two short warm up breaks in the Peak Lodge which was nice and quiet since there weren’t many people on the mountain. The snow also stayed great due to that lack of traffic. I was still getting fresh groomer tracks on the last 3 runs I took at Barker, and that wasn’t due to hard snow it’s just that most people who were skiing weren’t taking the t-bar.

I surprisingly stayed completely warm and comfortable the whole time. The only spot that got a little chilly at the end were the heels of my feet. Weird spot, and not sure there’s more of a way to insulate that spot.. I had on 5 top layers, 3 bottom layers, 3 face layers topped off with my new helmet hood, and of course my new Hotronics batteries for my boots, boot gloves, hot hands, glove liners, and Hestra Extreme mittens. Not one bit of skin showing, and I made sure to slather my face with a balm ahead of time just in case of any little missed exposure points. I’d say the piece that made the biggest difference today was the helmet hood. It kept so much heat in and was super cozy.

Here’s my one selfie of the day showing off my new OverEasy Mountain Hoode. It was certainly the day for it!2CD6C369-7D20-435B-A7CE-10DD150E576C.jpeg
 

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
I'm curious about the 3 face layers, @MissySki . I'm thinking furry hood, FaceSaver, and mask? Or am I wrong?

BTW, love the hood! It makes a huge difference, doesn't it?
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
I'm curious about the 3 face layers, @MissySki . I'm thinking furry hood, FaceSaver, and mask? Or am I wrong?

BTW, love the hood! It makes a huge difference, doesn't it?

I did this first:

903994D2-3177-4152-AC5A-E4741E5193A2.jpeg

Then had a turtle fur neck warmer pulled up all the way to cover the nose hole because I worry about the tip of my nose sticking out. I’ve had frost nip there before .. and then finally the helmet hood on top of those.

Tomorrow is a pretty cold start, but will warm up much more than today so I think I will try it with the Face Saver versus the whole mask pictured above this time.

I agree, the hood made such a big difference! Really held everything together, and cinches nice and snug on the face part too. I had been unsure if the wind would blow in from anywhere on it, which is why I wanted to ensure that everything underneath was REALLY well covered today without the hood being a real factor. It held great though and I didn’t feel any air getting inside. It’ll be fun to experiment with it in different levels of cold temperatures with and without the face part being pulled up etc. Today was a great test for it in the most extreme cold and it sure did pass with flying colors. :clap:
 

SkiBam

Angel Diva
The ski jacket I usually wear has a non-detachable hood, big enough to fit over my helmet. I often put that up and it makes a huge difference in keeping my head warm. Mind you, I am simply not going out when it's minus 24 C (as my oh-so-very-tough friend did last week - she found it quite bearable).
 

SkiBam

Angel Diva
It's a bummer. We're supposed to get a fair bit of snow this week but temps are to remain VERY cold. Sigh.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
The ski jacket I usually wear has a non-detachable hood, big enough to fit over my helmet. I often put that up and it makes a huge difference in keeping my head warm. Mind you, I am simply not going out when it's minus 24 C (as my oh-so-very-tough friend did last week - she found it quite bearable).
Jacket hoods help in much the same way to keep heat in I think. The benefits of the helmet hood, in my opinion, is that you get better range of motion when turning and they also have the ability to cover your face if you so choose which adds to the warmth.

Today started out at -5F air temp and rose to the low 20s, no wind at all, and warm sun when you were in it. I dressed much the same as yesterday with a couple less layers. By noon I was really warm and took my hood down off my helmet and opened my helmet vents. Then I went back to my locker to ditch the hood altogether and adjust some other layers. I guess this is good to learn what situations I can wear the hood in. Needs to be cold or you can easily overheat. With the forecast for next week it looks like more good days for the hood to get used though.
 

TNtoTaos

Angel Diva
Today started out at -5F air temp and rose to the low 20s, no wind at all, and warm sun when you were in it. I dressed much the same as yesterday with a couple less layers. By noon I was really warm and took my hood down off my helmet and opened my helmet vents. Then I went back to my locker to ditch the hood altogether and adjust some other layers. I guess this is good to learn what situations I can wear the hood in. Needs to be cold or you can easily overheat. With the forecast for next week it looks like more good days for the hood to get used though.
I've almost always found that to be the case at Taos -- even when it starts out in single digits, as soon as that sun comes over the mtn the temps warm up rapidly to the 20's and 30's, and with the radiant energy as well, it gets hot! I've learned not to even consider my Boot Gloves unless it's below zero, and/or very cloudy and cold, and definitely try to have various layer options available. I've almost never had to add a layer - much more often shedding them.
 

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