What Temperature is Dangerous?

Ian Wickham wrote:Grow a beard ...... it's good enough for those polar explorers :D

And oh so attractive with frozen snot in it.... :D

"Grow a beard ...... it's good enough for those polar explorers"

Think bandit may have a problem!..I hope

bald-eagleman wrote:"Grow a beard ...... it's good enough for those polar explorers"

Think bandit may have a problem!..I hope

You are now on my Xmas Card List :D

As somebody mentioned earlier, it's not just cold temps but the combination of cold and wind. -20 and still is probably better than -10 in a storm. Add to this the likelihood that, in a storm, it will take longer to find your way down to the nearest refuge, and it's a recipe for frostbite.

Weather in the mountains changes very quickly, so you need to be prepared.

Apart from the risk of frostbite. It's just not much fun.

Zermatt was between -15 and -26 the week of the 12th. We had to stop every 2 runs to warm up with some ridiculously overpriced drinks. My girlfriend has wind burn on her face from one run from the top of the Klein Matterhorn area. This was a result of a tiny gap between her goggles and her face mask. It was -26 but very windy. Not much fun.

Also, when the snow becomes really cold (-30'ish and below) it can feel like skiing in sand. You can find cold weather wax specifically designed for low temps, which aims to reduce this feeling.

I would be surprised if they run any lifts below -40c.

bandit wrote:I've skied in low temps over the last two winters. Ends of fingers can split, so good gloves and some Nutrogena Hand Cream are essential for me. A balaclava is a must, with goggles.

Before Christmas met a guy from Zurich who had frostbite on his face. He was skiing in shades in still air temps of -25 ish, add on wind chill and skier speed to that. His pals thought it was quite funny.

Tried a face mask in Zermatt, could not get on with it at all :roll: Made my goggles steam up!

Watch each other's faces closely, any white bloodless patches, go inside immediately.

Something I have found works reasonably with face masks is to have a separate scarf for my neck and then ware the face mask with the bottom part loose over my chin. The idea is that it encourages the 'exhaust' from my breath to go down and out of the bottom of the loose face mask rather than up through the eye hole(s) to steam up my goggles.

With the wind chill added on, plus the skier's speed, this is cold enough to cause damage. The top lift is open.

Im skiing St Anton/Lech/Zurs next week - from what I can see the lowest daytime temp is -24 (-31 with wind chill) on Monday afternoon. I was there 10 days ago in similar temps and it was not a problem - it was only really cold at the top in the strong wind - dont hang around at the top...

I find that in most conditions -20C is the temp to note. Wind, bright sun, or humidity will raise or lower comfort the level, but that's the temp I start to really take some extra precautions. Wind chill factored temps of maybe -25C to -30C is when it becomes essential to cover exposed skin. It may seem silly, but this when good venting on jackets and pants becomes important, as it allows you to wear enough to be safe, but keep cool if you are working hard. You never know if you might be stuck on a chair lift for an hour, exposed to the wind, or have to stand around for a long time if there is an accident.