Installment #24 in Monolisticle's Ongoing Campaign Against the "Internet of Endless Listicles."
Via lots of trial and error over many years of cold weather outings, I’ve finally cracked the "Cold Code."
Whether you’re downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, winter mountain biking, winter hiking, sledding, ice skating, playing hockey, or just out walking the dog on a blustery day, you no longer have to freeze your tail off.
As someone who exercises outside almost daily and bikes to work year-round (even in bitter winter months), I can tell you honestly that I'm rarely uncomfortable. And it's not because I'm any tougher than the next person. I hate being cold. No, it's because I'm smarter about what I wear, and how I wear it.
A big part of that is the three Ws. Wicking layer, warm layer, and wind layer. That combination—in that order—makes an enormous difference.
The moisture-wicking layer keeps the moisture off your skin. This is important because moisture causes heat to escape your body at a rate many times faster than when you're dry.
Second, the warm layer. How warm that layer should be depends, of course, on the temperature.
Finally, the wind layer. Depending on just how cold it is, the wind layer can range from a light athletic windbreaker to a ski jacket with a wind-resistant shell.
When it's moderately cold outside (20-40 degrees), and I plan to be moving vigorously (hiking, mountain biking, cross-country skiing), I wear a base wicking layer, a cross-country skiing warm layer, and an athletic windbreaker. Typically, if it’s over 20 degrees, sunny, and not too breezy, you can stay fairly warm just by following the 3 Ws.
However, when the temp drops below 20, you need to take it a step further: eliminate skin exposure. Because when temps get sub-freezing—especially if it's windy—you risk wind burn and frost bite on your face.
Here's a rough guide:
The trick is to not only cover your face and ears, but prevent cold air from blowing down your collar, up your sleeves, and up your pant legs. In that case, I cover my entire head and neck with a balaclava (ski mask) and ski goggles (goggles aren’t just for skiing anymore, even hikers and walkers are using them). For balaclavas, I have a lightweight one and a thicker one, depending on just how sub-freezing it is. Same goes with gloves.
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When it drops below 20 degrees, I wear a wicking base layer top and bottom, wind-resistant pants over the base layer pants, a cross-country ski layer top (with thumbholes in the sleeves), a balaclava, goggles, and a ski jacket which acts as a combination warm/wind layer.
Important to note: if you are winter biking or skiing, you have to factor in the windchill that your speed creates. 20 degrees outside at 20 miles per hour produces quite a windchill. Cover up accordingly.
For one of my layers, I like to wear a long sleeve shirt with openings at the wrist that I can slide my thumbs into and prevent the sleeves from riding up while moving my arms during activity. It’s especially useful when leaning forward to grip the handlebars while riding a fat tire or mountain bike.
Finally, and this tip I picked up from winter mountain biking, wear velcro-attachable shoe covers over your shoes that will also allow you to tuck in the bottom of your pant legs, so air won’t blow up from the opening at your ankles. This is not necessary for hiking or skiing when you can wear boots that do the same trick, but it's perfect for biking.
Dressed in this manner, you should be comfortable outside across a much wider range of temperatures. I've found that if it's sunny, and no wind, I can work out comfortably even at temperatures as low as zero degrees, especially once I get moving.
So don't let a little cold and wind chill hold you back from enjoying a beautiful winter day. Get the right clothing, wear it the right way, and you can do just about anything you want, from fat-tire snow biking in your local park to trekking the Torres Del Paine in Patagonia.
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