Tips for Staying Warm While Skiing in the Cold

I wish this post would be titled “Nationals Racing Re-cap”, but since it has been brutally and uncharacteristically cold in Anchorage, our races have been canceled every day but one so far. So, rather than classic sprinting this morning, I (unfortunately) had the opportunity to write down a few tips to share for staying warm in the frigid north.

1. TOE WARMERS are life-savers. I usually ignore the warning signs and stick these suckers straight on the pads of my bare feet UNDER MY SOCKS if I don’t get to warm them up before skiing, otherwise they go on the outside of my socks. For racing however, I usually avoid the toe warmers, use BOOT WARMERS for the warm-up and CHANGE INTO A DRY PAIR OF SOCKS before heading out on course.

2. NECK GATOR. You can usually find me warming up in at least a “buff” when it’s as warm as +20F, but when it's cold I won’t leave the house without at least one gator. FLEECE ones that extend up and under a hat are my favorite ones, because they don’t let the cold creep down your spine and don’t get as iced up/wet. I sometimes change into a DRY GATOR just before racing. If the cold catches you off-guard and you don’t have a gator, a HEAD-BAND around the neck can suffice. For my long-haired friends—try cutting hole for your pony-tail if you have trouble with your hair-tie falling out and getting in your face when it’s under the gator. As mentioned in my last post, I'm a big fan of my cold weather mask.

3. Make sure your toes and BOOTS and are WARM BEFORE PUTTING ON YOUR BOOTS. I usually sit on my boots when driving out to the venue to make sure they’ll be warm when I put them on …even though I earn some funny looks from my teammates. I usually don’t put on my boots too far in advance when it’s cold. This insures my FEET WON’T SWEAT and get chilled.

4. Don't forget your HAND WARMERS and LOBSTER MITS or MITTNES. The warmest spot for hand warmers is on your palm while skiing. If it gets too hot then I move them to the dorsal side. You can also wrap toe warmers around your thumb or fingers and over-mittens can do wonders. I usually open the warmers up on the drive out to the venue, shaking them to get the oxidation process going. I like to change into dry gloves just before racing.

If you're like me and you gain satisfaction from re-using things, you can ZIP LOCK your hand/toe WARMERS to extend their usability. An AIR TIGHT zip-lock will halt the exothermic chemical reaction that will continue once you re-open the bag. Once all of the of iron has oxidized into iron oxide then it wont give off any warmth and will need to be thrown away.

5. TWO HATS…. or at least Swix ear muffs or a head-band under your hat. Enough said.

6. WIND STOPPER LONG UNDERWEAR. Wearing one wind-stopper layer is similar to wearing two poly-pro layers—but you can actually MOVE. My wind-stopper bottoms weren’t made to fit a female’s thighs, but I don’t care—they’re warm! Something that does work well for that cellulite-rich area however is WOOL SHORTS. Check ‘em out at AMH, they’re the best inner layer I own!

7. I have a problem with getting frost-bite on my FACE (…my left cheek often gets black frost-nipped spots if I don’t cover it up) so I cut out MOLE SKIN for wind protection. If you don’t have mole skin, DUCK TAPE can also do the trick! Some people will argue that creams work well and duck tape will just freeze, but I haven’t had that experience…yet. Here's a James Brady photo from my Alaska Winter Stars and SHS days. Bonus points if you can figure out who's who under the duct taped masks in this photo.

8. Lastly, sometimes it's just best to look at the mesonet, avoid the cold spots in town and look for the weather inversions. After the races were a no-go, I dreaded the thought of training indoors or circling around the sprint course again in -15F...so I headed up to Glen Alps with Paige, Kassie, Heather, and my brother's dog Coda for a fantastic ski in the mountains. It was even a balmy PLUS 1degree and we had a beautiful sunset. My vote is that we move the sprint course up to Glen Alps and race there tomorrow!

I realize that many of you reading this post (especially those climbers out there) have more experience in cold weather, but hopefully this will get some ideas out there or at maybe begin a discussion. Leave a comment if you have any additional cold weather tips!
The Glen Alps scene tonight, just after sunset (Heather Zimmerman photo).