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Tricks to staying warm at -10F ?
Traffic seems rather slow here lately, so I'll post a question:
What are some of the tricks you use to keep skiing when the temps are below zero F? I'll start: - To keep hands warm, ski without poles the first 5 minutes ... promotes blood flow to the fingers AND use a light grip, use the strap for providing force. - Old cycling shorts with a worn chamois work well on keeping warm 'down below'. Others? John Wilke Milwaukee ( -6F this morning and I'm LOVING IT !! ) |
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Tricks to staying warm at -10F ?
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#3
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Tricks to staying warm at -10F ?
"J999w" wrote in message
... Traffic seems rather slow here lately, so I'll post a question: What are some of the tricks you use to keep skiing when the temps are below zero F? I'll start: - To keep hands warm, ski without poles the first 5 minutes ... promotes blood flow to the fingers AND use a light grip, use the strap for providing force. - Old cycling shorts with a worn chamois work well on keeping warm 'down below'. Others? I ski at -10 F quite often. -10 is easy. My cut off is around -20 F, not because it's hard to keep warm (see first rule), but because the skis get to be so slow, it starts being too much of a chore. It is almost always calm, so except for going down hill, there's no real wind chill factor. This is at training pace (few, if any short stops) for between 45 min and 2 hours. I'm not really much of a racer, and when I do, I wear the same clothes - so I can't tell you how this would translate to you lycra wearers. But I think the same principles would apply. First rule: There's really no "tricks" that I know other than to wear what you need to wear to stay warm. Head: thin polypro or lycra balaclava covered by normal XC ski hat. If my nose gets cold, I can pull the balaclava up over it. I go this route rather than using XC ear muffs because it helps keep my neck and the back of my head warm. I think a neck warmer of some sort is worthwhile at colder temps, even if you don't wear the balaclava. Editorial comment: I really do adhere to the old adage, a warm head helps keep your hands and feet warm. I frequently notice I have more trouble keeping my hands and feet warm if I'm a little chilly overall - and keeping my head nice and warm helps prevent the overall chilliness even if I'm short a thin layer on the torso. Torso: Two layers of polypro (thin and medium) covered by unlined wind shell. Make sure you can zip the wind shell up your neck if necessary. Add light vest under or over shell if necessary (depending on how hard you're going, etc.). The thicker polypro is always a zip up "mock turtle neck". Editorial comment: over the years, I've gone through a lot of polypro tops. I probably have 10 different polypro tops that can be roughly put into three weight categories. I don't look for any particular variety (e.g. capilene) or name-brand, that may or may not be worth the premium pricing. The only critical factor, other than decent quality, is the length. I'm not a tall guy but I just HATE poly pro tops that aren't long enough to *stay* tucked in. That's the main feature I look for. I just get rid of them if they turn out to be too short, because then they're worthless. Legs: either: fairly heavyweight tights or polypro long johns covered by Sporthill "XC" wind pants - or - the same tights with polypro long underwear or thinner tights underneath. These are roughly equivalent in warmth, although I tend to go with the wind-pants variation most often. All iterations ***** with wind briefs ******. Not as critical, but definitely more comfortable, with wind pants. Critical if you're not wearing wind pants. The cycling shorts thing is a good idea, I've never thought of it. Hands: at below 0 F I use windstopper lobster mitts or *really* warm (e.g. nylon shell - not leather - alpine ski) gloves. I have very cold hands, in general, and definitely wear warmer stuff on my hands than most of the people I ski with. Nothing slows you down more than getting numb fingers and having to either stop to warm them up, or ball them up inside your gloves and therefore mess up poling efficiency. I've learned to live with it and *always* err on the side of too warm for my hands. (I'm the guy wearing light gloves at 55 deg. F). I can pretty easily tolerate being a little underdressed and chilly for an hour - it's irritating, but no big deal. But if my hands (or toes) start hurting or getting numb, you just flat can't keep skiing. Feet: my boots are fitted using Smartwool socks on the light end of what they offer. At below 0 F I always stride rather than skate and don't really have trouble keeping my feet warm because striding causes a lot of action in the feet and toes. I'm sure my feet would get cold quickly if I was skating at below 0 F. I do have a fairly heavy pair of Alpina pile overboots which I wear if necessary, but that's rare for me as long as I keep moving. We'll see with my new Carbon striding boots. There are a variety of overboots. A lot of people use the much lighter weight Salomon or neoprene "boot glove" type. There's no reason to have cold feet because overboots are fairly cheap and don't affect your skiing at all, imho. In the old days, I always wore an oversized rag wool sock over my boots and that worked very well also (and had a certain hard core panache!). Did I mention WIND BRIEFS? When it's cold, don't leave home without them, even if you're wearing wind pants. You'll definitely want to have them on those long downhills. Without wind briefs, a good tuck with the elbows in protecting the groin can help, but not perfectly. In a pinch, if you forget, you can create a reasonable facsimile using duct tape and regular briefs. People have also been known to stuff a hat, mitt or glove down there on the trail. I don't know what the hell you boxer wearers would do. OK, I always end up sweaty and wet no matter how cold it is. But I'm also the type of guy who really feels better working out when I'm really warmed up. My whole system, heart, lungs, muscles feels much better once the sweat breaks. I always carry a dry shirt in my bag or car and always take off the wet tops and put on something dry no matter how short the drive home. Grissy |
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Tricks to staying warm at -10F ?
If you are using Yoko 232 system, buy large gloves or mittens and
make a slit between thumb and index fingers for grip insert to come through. Have a hairdryer in your gear bag. When you come inside after couple of hours of skiing, you'll appreciate it. Question: There is a new glove for snowboarders on the market - it has a "breath in" valve to thaw of fingers. When are ski glove makers to follow? |
#5
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Tricks to staying warm at -10F ?
Interesting ideas, keep 'em comming.
I forwarded some of it to a friend of mine and he had some unique ideas on what to drink. Tell me what'cha all think: Water bottle?? Just put a little brandy in there! Same theory as auto anti freeze. Also double functions as antiseptic in case of wounding on the trail and attitude adjustment in case of bad attitude. Really hard core guys, (like winter fly fisher"men") just dispense with their water bottle completely and just pack a flask with 100% of their favorite spirits. My fave at the moment is Korbel Brandy. I'm sure your Russian/Finnish nordic types go more for the Vodkas, so pick your poison. That vodka is made from potato mash, so probably lots of complex carbs in there too(!?) Of course, it probably doesn't really work too well as fluid replacement once it is ingested, but if you ingest enough of it you won't care anyway. Best technique I ever came across regarding staying warm out in the cold though, is to get warmed up BEFORE you go out in the cold. Probably really tough to do logistically on some ski trails but I think that it really works. US Posties started doing this big time before cold stage races and it has really caught on in cycling. (actually big controversy in the tour this year with Ullrich warming up inside before that cold rainy TT stage). Wonder if you have heard any research on this? Get everything opened up and up to temp before you hit the cold. I would think there would be less energy depleted trying to get warmed up while your body is trying to adapt to a colder ambient also. Just a theory, but my personal experience is that I'm a lot happier in the cold if all the caps are already dialated and flush before they have to be forced open in the cold. Interested to hear what someone with more physio education than me thinks about this. .... and then there are some days when you just shouldn't go out! -pd |
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Tricks to staying warm at -10F ?
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Tricks to staying warm at -10F ?
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#8
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Tricks to staying warm at -20C?
Try Dermatone - this stuff works way better:
http://www.dermatone.com/ As a very active local Ottawa Canuck racer - No frostbite for me in '03 Keski 50K Classic (mid 3 hrs) and 25K Free whilst using it. Also medical tape (prefer transparent) or bandages really do the trick to ward off bite on the nose and cheek bones. Give 'em a try. "B Paton" wrote in message . .. Slather, and don't be stingy, Vaseline (or your favourite petroleum jelly) on your face. When it gets well below -20c (as in last year's Keskinada) some folks have some weird tricks for shielding their noses, although I have so far just stuck with Vaseline. It worked well for me one winter (way back) when I worked as a bicycle courier in Ottawa . Also I managed last year's Keski with only minimal frost bite (unlike many). Blake in Haliburton (who had to ride to work today 'cuz of lack of snow) |
#9
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Tricks to staying warm at -10F ?
Griss covered it quite well. I've only skied in -10 through -20 four times
(wind chills -20 to -35) and am still perfecting my rig, but here's my slant: Bottom line: keep moving, you stop you get cold REAL fast Waist down: Polypro/silk briefs Polypro "dive skin" - they used to sell them at Performance Diver, but bought out by Diver's Direct. Awesome jumpsuit, nice layer of polypro for a base. Polypro running tights one pair of long wool socks--they come over my knees (might look a bit dorky, but the fashion sheriff isn't out in this weather anyway...) Thinsulate lined XC boots Comments: everything stays toasty, though the polypro only part of my thighs gets a bit cool in the wind. Have not found a good shell that gives me free movement, so I apply the bottom line rule and have survived hour ski sessions just fine (I ski at a moderate to hard pace). Torso/hands: Thinsulate lined, nylon shell ski gloves. They get VERY wet on the inside, but still keep me fingers warm. On warmer days (like today, it's 21 out there), I'll just wear wool liners and they are the best. Two polypro shirts. The cheap military issue ones work fine. Wick, wick, wick. I'll wear only one when the weather is warmer. Lined/unlined nylon shell. The nylon shell is mandatory for the wind, still working out the lining thing. The shell will be SOAKED when you get back to the car/home. The inside will be frozen, but never had a problem getting the zipper down. A Gore-Tex shell should be perfect, but the only ones I have seem a bit restrictive--and in woodland cammo. Still, I might give it a shot sometime. Head: Man, I've done more experimenting here than anywhere, but here's the latest: I wear prescription glasses, and my eyes water with the slightest breeze when it's cold, so ski goggles are a must. Use Smith goggles and they don't fog up, but my glasses do, so I need to defog them. The defog cloth that comes with the goggles works the best, everything else I've tried wears out after about 1/2 an hour (the defog cloth thing just PARTIALLY wears off). A Polartech baklava I got from Land's End about seven years ago. It covers my neck well. I pull the mouth hole up to just about half way between my mouth and my nose. The goggles protect most of my nose and I have to have the fabric over my mouth, as the air is just too damn cold to suck through my nasal passages/lungs without having the air "deadened" by the fabric. I've tried, -10 degree air is just too cold for me to suck straight in. Comments: I'll have ice all over the outside of the baklava from sweating and will immediately have to switch hats (with a wool one) after getting in the car. The gloves come off also and are replaced. More comments: drive home, peel off all the wet clothes and find a Jacuzzi! I ski for exercise, so have tailored my gear for that. I'd wear the same thing if I were running in this weather (however, with ice and snow everywhere, that's not an option). I'm out. -- Raider Rick "Just ski, baby" "J999w" wrote in message ... Traffic seems rather slow here lately, so I'll post a question: What are some of the tricks you use to keep skiing when the temps are below zero F? I'll start: - To keep hands warm, ski without poles the first 5 minutes ... promotes blood flow to the fingers AND use a light grip, use the strap for providing force. - Old cycling shorts with a worn chamois work well on keeping warm 'down below'. Others? John Wilke Milwaukee ( -6F this morning and I'm LOVING IT !! ) |
#10
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Tricks to staying warm at -10F ?
At these temps, I like my outer layer to be soft. A nylon shell sounds like
it's going to crack in two at these temps, especially after a long downhill. :^] jw milwaukee |
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