US Ski Areas Close Due to Extreme Cold

Several US ski areas have been closed because they say it's too cold for safe snow sports.

Resorts in Wisconsin have been reporting temperatures of -27 Farenheit (-33 Celcius) with wind chill meaning it can feel as cold as -52 Farenheit (-47 Celcius)

The closed ski areas, which include Granite Peak (pictured) and Sunburst ski areas are not just concerned about the dangers of skiing or boarding in such low temperatures on the slopes, but also that lifts might breakdown leaving people stranded in the frozen air on chairlifts.

At the ski areas temperatures failed to reach a high of -10F (-23C) yesterday on Sunday but it is expected to get much warmer from today onwards, possibly hitting a high of zero degrees Farenheit (-18 C) today and then much warmer, as high as 30F (-1 C) by the weekend.

My son lives in MIchigan, they are not allowed into work at present, he said it was -27c with a -17c wind chill. They went outside with a pan of boiling water and it froze immediately. Its insanely cold.

It was -22C last night. an hour and a half skiing was enough. Makes a huge difference when the sun is shining. Last week I was out skiing at about -18C, but in the sun, and it was very pleasant. The main problem for ski areas is the current media hype. On Saturday ski areas were deserted even though temps were only a few degrees below freezing with the sun shining - perfect skiing weather. People just stayed home.

At it's worst, I saw a -34C on the thermometer, wind chills far lower. I did see a -40C in 1996.

I'm surprised this is actually getting so much coverage. Jan 2011 I was in St Moritz and it was -27c up the top of Piz Nair, totally calm no wind, sunshine. Fabulous, as long as you kept moving. And I saw -25c most days in Val Thorens 2001 when I was learning to ski, which felt very cold due to the amount of standing about I did!!!!