The video was from a trip that involved skiing in -29°C weather (factoring wind) and passing through -38° valleys. Arriving back to Oslo at -18° or so seemed positively tropical.
I picked up a few cold weather tips and trivia that I was quite unaware of as an antipodean, and that I shall pass on here:
- Wear wool close to the skin, then add a polar fleece and finally a jacket. Add multiple layers of fleece if need be. Don’t waste time with synthetic thermal underwear, go for wool-based.
- Driving a car geared-down heats it up, keeping the fluids flowing and boosting cabin temperature. That said, it’s actually possible for a car to overheat because its engine cooling fluids are frozen up. Antifreeze only goes so far…
- Use non water-based creams/gels such as Vaseline, which don’t freeze so easily.
- Fleece wind-stopper tubes that fit around the neck are very useful, and if that isn’t enough, upgrade to the balaclava.
- A bus can take a moose’s head clean off.
- Thin Merino-wool inner gloves are surprisingly effective, especially when you need to take off your outer gloves to use your fingers.
- Mobile phone batteries do not last for long, but warming them up can return a charge.
- Hand-warmer chemical packs are quite the useful thing to slot into ski boots to keep your toes alive.
In this kind of weather, I would pay top dollar to be able to walk into on-mountain cafes and for someone to take my boots, give me some pre-warmed slippers and warm my boots up while I sip my hot chocolate. “Boot valet”, if you like. Are there any ski resorts out there that have such a service?
