What temperature is too cold for skiing?

PaulBrown_

What temperature is too cold for skiing? This is a question we get all the time. If you’re looking for a short and quick answer, here it is: It is too cold to ski when you think it is too cold to ski.

Temperatures are relative. 5° F (-15° C) on a sunny day can feel warmer than 20° F (-7° C) on a windy, snowy day. There is no definitive temperature telling you when it’s too cold to ski.

So our best advice is to take some measures to keep warm and try to ski. Return to the lodge or a warming hut if you feel cold as soon as possible. Drink some hot water and then try again.

Additionally, since cold weather can cause serious health issues, if anyone is complaining of the cold, respect that and call it a day.

Stay Warm Tip #1: The Right Clothing

Wearing the right ski clothes makes a big difference when it comes to staying warm.

This doesn’t mean you have to buy the most expensive brands. It does mean dressing yourself and your children in the best coat, pants, mittens, and layers you can afford.

1. Ski pants and jackets should be waterproof and insulated.

2. Socks and baselayers/long underwear should be synthetic or wool, never cotton.

3. Fleece pullovers, down sweaters, and down vests are excellent mid-layers.

4. Mittens and gloves should be waterproof and insulated.

Stay Warm Tip #2: An rechargeable hand warmer

If your hands are easy to get cold, you might want to try a rechargeable hand warmer.

I recently tried an Ocoopa Union 5S rechargeable hand warmer lately, It’s very well-designed, easy to use, and provides steady heat for approximately 15 hours constantly. When your hands get warm, your body will get warm soon. On the contrary, if your hands stay cold all the time, your body will feel cold as well. So rechargeable hand warmers are really essential things.

Stay Warm Tip #3: Stay Dry

Cold and damp ski clothing and ski boots will make you feel cold and damp. Especially when skiing with kids, bring along extra socks, mittens, and long underwear, just in case something gets wet. Also, you should dry your boots thoroughly, after each ski day.

Stay Warm Tip #4: Eat and Drink

Hunger and thirst make everyone cold. Take frequent breaks to refuel, rehydrate and warm up. Never skip your lunch.

All in all, Extremely low temperatures can cause serious conditions like frostnip, frostbite, and hypothermia. Additionally, if you're skiing with your kids, when kids are having fun, they may not realize that they are cold. If you can, help your kids to get warm before they complain of being cold, like using the Ocoopa rechargeable hand warmer mentioned before.

Take good care of yourself and wish you happy skiing!

A snowHead

Good advice.

I remember a few years ago in the three valleys it was -19c and was -27c with windchill. That was chilly but we still had a great time. Got a pint outside once and the larger was freezing as I drank it. Neh Neh

The only time we really struggled as on the long chairlifts.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Interesting long form spam.

Below -20c is almost always too cold to ski enjoyably.

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Yeah, I like my spam fried so hot, not cold.

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@Dave of the Marmottes, indeed, I almost read it.

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I’ve been skiing in -25°C on a cloudy day wearing a poorly made C&A ski outfit and I was fine. No rechargeable b0ll0cky hand warming thing either.

If you’re going to try and flog tat, this approach is probably more suited to a barrow boy market in London somewhere.

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From C/Sgt Dave Boulton RM (Retired, but I hope still kicking), arctic warfare instructor, ML qual and nice bloke...

C.O.L.D

Clean, especially base layers. Dirt reduces the fibre's efficiency.
Overheating. Avoid it.
Layers. Three thinner is better than one thick one, not just for the obvious reason.
Dry and Don't! Stay dry and don't ever keep people waiting around in cold weather. (He was grumpy if we messed with the latter.)

After all it is free

@Charliegolf, good advice! Especially the last point. Nothing worse than waiting around when it’s effin cold, the wind is blowing and snow is falling…unless one happens to be in a nice warm Hutte, right by the Kachelofen…

In my experience, it doesn't seem to get very cold in Europe any more when I've been to the alps. For the last 10 years or so, 3 or 4 winter trips a year it hasn't been any more than a few degC below zero.

Just me?

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@JimboS, Was down to about -15 at some point when I was in Les Gets a few years back.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@JimboS, When waxing race skis, I only use the warmest temperature range stuff now.

snow reports

It's actually not so much the cold as the wind and cold together and the resultant wind-chill.

Minus 8 at 2,500 with 35mph blowing is akin to -30.

At least once or twice a season you can find yourself in such conditions as the wind picks up and the only sensible option is to try and get off the exposed parts of the mountain as quickly as possible, and invariably the lifts close at altitude when the wind is that strong.

I cycled up to the Col du Lautaret a couple of days ago when temps had dropped to -5 here in the valley at 1,400, sun was out and at Noon it was very pleasant in the sunshine even though it was only +2.

The ride up I was very comfortable trying not to work up too much of a sweat, as if your clothing gets wet you can get very cold, which is the same strategy as ski-touring in very cold temps, such as I've encountered in Japan and Siberia (circa -20's).

At the Col circa 2,050m my bike computer was showing -1, and in my extra-large saddle bag I was packing an extra jacket, thicker gloves, thermal beanie and two buffs, my feet were already protected with neoprene overshoes as I knew how cold the descent would be, and at 60kph + the wind-chill is freezing and with the shorter daylight there were a couple of stretches where I was in the shade and that exasperated the cold even more, plus there is always the paranoia of ice, but in these conditions, the roads are very dry.

@Weathercam, I got caught at the very top of Cervinia with weather like that. I had swapped my sticks for a plank so was a newbie and wouldn’t have been able to get all the way down. Same for my then girlfriend (now wife) and my brother’s girlfriend (now his wife). My brother left us at the top to get the gondola down whilst he boarded down.

We waited for about an hour in the gondola, with the bl00dy doors open, whilst the operator was eying up the wind, hoping it would calm down. It didn’t, but as it was getting dark they decided to go for it anyway. I’ve never been so terrified in all my life. The gondola was swinging like a pendulum and they had to keep on stopping it so that the swinging would calm down, with limited success. It took about 30/40 minutes for that gondola down to the mid station.

That was 20 years ago and Ive never been on a large gondola since.

You know it makes sense.

I was in VT during that big freeze in 2018 which even affected the UK quite a bit. It eas supposedly -20c or colder on some days at the top of the slopes.

The worst bit was on long exposed chairlifts with lots of wind-chill. Something to cover your face and neck is essential.

When skiing and staying active it was fine. As already mentioned layers are your friend although you do not need to overdo it. Three layers is probably the right number.

Do not be tempted to wear more than one pair of socks. You will actually end up with colder feet as your feet get sweaty and your boots will be more likely to rub.

If you have a beard it can be a double edged sword as the moisture in the air will freeze on it and you probably won't realise that you have been skiing with a block of ice on your face until the end of the day.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

You just copy and paste the name of the hand warmer - for sale on Amazon. Not too tricky. wink

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I had a day once at Hunter in upstate New York.

Minus 70 or something like that!
So cold that at the bottom and at the top of every lift a member of staff checked you over and if there was any amount of exposed skin showing at all you were not allowed to continue. Goggles only, no glasses allowed. SO COLD!!

I cannot overstate it....it was SO COLD!
Bearable, only just, in the bright sunshine but as the day went on the shadow of the hill worked across the piste and it was obvious that everyone stayed in the sun because the moment you were in the shade the "just bearable" became totally unbearable, the extra incremental cold hit you like a hammer.
Although the light was perfectly good and it was only about 2.30pm once the piste was fully shaded every single person stopped skiing.

Easily the coldest I have every experienced, Japan in january was positively tropical in comparison.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Not that often these days that it is too cold for skiing. More likely to be too windy, too wet or too poor visibility Sad

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

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@Bergmeister, Laughing

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Wind chill rule of thumb: temp feels around a degree colder for every 3/4 knots windspeed.

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IIRC steel becomes more brittle at -40º so North American ski lifts are closed at approaching that temperature.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

I managed to impress the missus with the pub quiz question "At what temperature are 'c and 'f the same. Knowing the boiling & feezing points in 'c & 'f I quickly calculated in my head that -40 was the answer.
Boiling = 100/212
Freezing = 0/32 so 100c change = 180f change & 10c = 18f
-10c = 14f
-20c = -4f
-40c = -40f
I guess that many people would just know the answer

A snowHead

Yew, it's one of those things I feel I've always known. But somebody told me, once upon a time. I'm impressed you worked it out in your head in the pub!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Exposed chairlifts with no hood is the comfort killer.

Winter Park, Colorado at -20c with a strong northerly wind, was unpleasant to say the least. Having a multitude of ‘technical’ layers on and hand warming gels barely touched the sides.

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For me i think I can stay comfortable down to about -11/12, less than that then its a few runs and lifts then in somewhere cosy to defrost before heading out again

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Skiing in Cannon ( New Hampshire ) a few years ago in early Feb and it got so cold that my fingures stopped working ...which doesnt help it you need to go to the loo ...walking across the carpark at about 4:30pm I thought I was going to get frostbite in my face ..I think it was about 30c- snowHead

Skiing in the US north east is another experience if you have only skied in Europe

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-30 C
Sunshine Mountain, Alberta, Canada
Was having to pole downhill because the wax was like sandpaper

Not fun

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Faced with some of those temperatures I'd stay indoors. I've skied down to minus 15 with no problem on sunny days with little or no wind, but if it's much worse than that it becomes endurance rather than fun. I am fairly easily deterred by bad vis, too. And as for rain....... Shocked

I'd have been more resilient in my young days, with just one week's holiday, but there comes a point, as one gets older, that one just loses that need to "prove anything"! Quite fun to do a few runs in demanding conditions then stop for a four hour lunch before heading home. But I didn't do any lunches, let alone long ones, when I had to pay for a family of 5.

After all it is free

Spam/troll or not, nothing wrong with the topic.

I get cold easily, had the first-generation heated boots back in the late 80s.

Coldest I've skied in was -25 C (northern Vermont), was horrible, only lasted an hour. We used to ski a lot in VT when I was a kid and really hated those cold, gray days. Old timers will remember the horse blankets at Stowe.

On the plus side, with global warming, I'm OK most days. Anything under -15 C and I'm probably not going out at all. I just don't enjoy it. But I do love those heated 6-pack lifts you see in the Dolomites now!

no such thing as too cold just poor preparation.

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What temperature is too cold for skiing?

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