 Poster: A snowHead
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so Mrs B has this Reynards thing which means her hands and feet get very cold and turn white! It was a bit of a problem on cold days last season so it's time to bite the bullet and go for some heated socks and gloves.
I'd looked at some of the previous posts but as time and technology moves on thought it was worth asking for suggesting of ones to investigate, or avoid.
All input gratefully received
R
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Lenz socks work well for me. Better than the heated footbed pads that I used to use. Not cheap, though, and not widely sold in the UK although I believe Jon at The Piste Office can order them.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I've never been diagnosed with Reynaud's but my fingers can go alarmingly white (and painful) without much provocation when cold - far more so than my partner and friends - so I'm probably on the Reynaud's 'spectrum' if such a thing exists.
I say this because the solution that works for me has nothing to do with boot or glove warmers. Instead, I've learned to pay insane attention to keeping my core warm. I finally realised what was going on (in my case) when I realised I was beginning to dread the first lift after lunch. My hands would become so unbelievably painful, and the first run (or more) down would be no fun at all... my hands would be totally frozen.
And then I realised I was unthinkingly sitting outside in the sun with my jacket open (or off) and without a hat. It didn't feel too bad at the time but huge amounts of heat was radiating away from me. And so, as soon as I was in the shade, my body realised it was in trouble and cut off circulation to my extremities.
The solution (again in my case; your wife's mileage could of course vary) was to be militant about staying warm when not skiing... putting on a hat whenever my helmet was off, keeping my jacket zipped up, etc, etc... The difference was quite profound.
I imagine heated boots and gloves can really help (I'm not arguing against them at all) - just suggesting a focus on core temperature can be a useful additional arrow in the quiver.
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That is what my daughter was told, she's super active but when she is skiing her fingers go white like a corpse, also I had bought her great gloves, and liners, and excellent socks. An older lady in Kitzbuhel last year told her to buy a really good down gilet which totally changed the game. So yup keeping the core warm is the key.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@gendal, You sound very much as though you have Raynaud's syndrome. The white tips & pain are the giveaways, I'm afraid. Good so far that your core temp practices are working!
I should note that passive approaches are not adequate for Mrs U who …
@richb67, Mrs U has had it (diagnosed) since 2007. Without heated liners and socks she would not be able to ski (and that would be a problem).
As @rob@rar says, the Lenz socks are excellent (you do need to wash carefully as directed).
Hands-wise, she's been through various brands and types. If you're in the UK, and they still do them/exist, she liked Blazewear's liners.
In particular, liners are best as you can put them under any gloves. Heated gloves are limited, obvs, to those gloves.
Currently she's in some fairly cheap ones from Amazon (France). Called "Snow deer", they no longer seem to exist, quelle surprise. But there were lots of options at the time.
Liners last about 3 seasons (around 60 days a season).
You almost certainly need 2-3 battery sets per day.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Wed 25-09-24 18:23; edited 1 time in total
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Said it many times before.
The key to warm fingers and toes is to coverup the major bloodvessels.
Stop the wind, wet, and frost from chilling the blood.
Warm blood = warm digits.
That means, cover the head, the ears, the face, the neck, the wrists, the lower-back, the thighs, and the ankles.
Hat
Skimask
Neck-gaiter
Wrist-gaiters
Skipants with shoulder-brace
Leg-warmers (undergarment)
Ankle-warmers
Etc.
Go look at an Everest climber on the summit.
Leave no vein uncovered.
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@Whitegold, idiot
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@rob@rar, thanks, these are currently top of my list so it's good to get a confirmation from you and @under a new name. Best I can get a pair with batteries for is ca £200 but then subsequent pairs of socks are "only" <cough> £60. However we'll be doing 4-5 weeks from early Jan so a £10 a day to improve enjoyment seems fair. It'll probably pay for itself if we take one less coffee/hot chocolate/cake stop a day 
@gendal, yes Mrs B is a big gilet user, she likes lots of layers. It works to a certain extent but the condition is getting gradually worse as we get older and on cold days we end up stopping for a warm up quite often.
@under a new name, thanks, liners is a good suggestion and I see they have Snow Deer liners on Amazon UK.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Quote: |
@gendal, yes Mrs B is a big gilet user, she likes lots of layers. It works to a certain extent but the condition is getting gradually worse as we get older and on cold days we end up stopping for a warm up quite often.
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Got it. And in the light of my diagnosis from @under_a_new_name I guess this is also what I have to look forward to!
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While I agree in the main with most of the above , the following from @gendalstruck a chord
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| when I realised I was beginning to dread the first lift after lunch. My hands would become so unbelievably painful, and the first run (or more) down would be no fun at all... my hands would be totally frozen. |
I too found this ,but with an entirely different conclusion to the cause : it's because after lunch, your body diverts blood flow to the stomach to assist in digestion, having the same effect of leaving the extremities cold.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I have similar issues, less so hands but definitely feet. Hands were a problem until I simply switched to mittens, usually with a set of liner gloves. I've found that running gloves make good liner gloves being thicker, warmer and more robust that the silk ones.
For feet, I have gone for three solutions and sometimes use them together.
The first is Alpenheat boot covers, made from neoprene. They give me about +3 / +4 degrees (ie if it's -3 outside, these make it feel like 0 / +1 as far as my feet are concerned.
The second is heated boot liners from Thermic, though these can be hard to find in the UK and to get dispatched to a UK address. And they are fragile, generally only just getting through the season before any or all of: the heating element breaks, the buttons rip, the rechargeable batteries stop charging. But I'm happy to swap out liners after a season anyway.
The third is cafe stops... My resentment at paying mountain prices for a hot chocolate lessens if I get warmed up feet as part of the deal.
Here are some links; other suppliers are also available.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/365091267182
https://www.therm-ic.com/products/76-liner?variant=42203274051629
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Second vote for the Lenz socks, mine are brilliant! Go for the bigger battery if you can, it last all day on full power!
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You know it makes sense.
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@bobski62, absolutely not minimising your experience, being cold is no fun, but if you're a Bob (short for Robert, not Catherine) then it's less likely to be Raynaud's, and even less so if you don't have the white extremities & pain.
In our, now lengthy, experience, skiing with Raynaud's demands active solutions. Thankfully now easier to find than in 2006 (heated liners for motor biking, came with harness to attach to bike's electricals, cables everywhere and a battery pack of quite some size).
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@richb67, have you considered mittens rather than gloves? Mrs Swskier has never been diagnosed with Reynards but gets freezing cold hands that are bright white, and she's found mittens a huge help last season vs gloves that she's always previously used.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@swskier, "bright white" sounds like Raynaud's to me ... she might like heated liner's for xmas - I should note that Mrs U can only use mittens (Hestra Army Heli) in winter, although gloves (with heated liners) can work in spring. It's a constraint on brands as she needs to get the cuffs over her batteries.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| under a new name wrote: |
| @swskier, "bright white" sounds like Raynaud's to me ... she might like heated liner's for xmas - I should note that Mrs U can only use mittens (Hestra Army Heli) in winter, although gloves (with heated liners) can work in spring. It's a constraint on brands as she needs to get the cuffs over her batteries. |
You can get a lobster claw Lenz glove with a removable heated liner. That liner fits inside the Hestra Army Heli lobster claw perfectly (although the Lenz glove itself is high quality).
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@rob@rar, interesting. Hadn't seen those. Would work under her mitts . It's a shame Lenz don't do fingered glove liners as her nibs likes the bluetooth OS.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@swskier, yes, I should have mentioned that Mrs B currently uses mitts.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| under a new name wrote: |
| @rob@rar, interesting. Hadn't seen those. Would work under her mitts . It's a shame Lenz don't do fingered glove liners as her nibs likes the bluetooth OS. |
Yes, it would be nice if Lenz did a decent glove liner. I agree with your Mrs that the app and battery system work pretty well.
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Adding to the convo and dataset - as a 46yo male it's agonising when it hits. I have had a pair of (Oakley) trigger mitts for years on the slopes, with decent liners and this really helps. My wife got me some cheapish heated gloves from Amazon and while the heat is good, the glove quality is not there compared to the major brands, so they are probably about as effective as a top quality unheated glove. Maybe a little more.
When skiing they tend to warm up a little, particularly on the longer runs, but the longer lift journeys are less than fun.
My Reynaud's hits at any time of year and often is a stress response, as well as just being cold. Aberdeenshire looks like a sub-optimal choice purely from that perspective  . Interesting comments on core temp impacting things - I hadn't made that link @gendal, so thanks for sharing that.
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| Smokies and Wine wrote: |
While I agree in the main with most of the above , the following from @gendalstruck a chord
| Quote: |
| when I realised I was beginning to dread the first lift after lunch. My hands would become so unbelievably painful, and the first run (or more) down would be no fun at all... my hands would be totally frozen. |
I too found this ,but with an entirely different conclusion to the cause : it's because after lunch, your body diverts blood flow to the stomach to assist in digestion, having the same effect of leaving the extremities cold. |
I think this is definitely a valid consideration, most evenings recently (even in the UK) my feet are numb despite socks, slippers, core warm with a gilet and log burner on and not that cold outside.
While skiing I cant fault my Thermic mittens (I’ve extra batteries on extremely cold days with a 2nd pair of mittens at the apartment just incase)
Lenz heated socks are much better than the heated insoles I’ve had in the past but still not enough at times, so might dig out the Alpine over boots this season.
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I met a 70-year-old skier in Valdis a number of years ago who suffered from Reynards.
He said after lots of discussions with his doctor he was recommended to try the lowest dose of Viagra every day take one pill before Skiing. As Viagra was originally designed as a circulation, boosting drug he said it worked wonders and he never had cold hands or feet again when Skiing.
He did however say it could be rather awkward when there was an attractive female Skiing with him 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| under a new name wrote: |
Heated gloves are limited, obvs, to those gloves.
Currently she's in some fairly cheap ones from Amazon (France). Called "Snow deer", they no longer seem to exist, quelle surprise.
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Like these, you mean?
As you say, lots of other options available too.
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@Chaletbeauroc, those look like the ones. I just went back to our Amazon order and that supplier no longer exists.
@rickboden, yes, Viagra is one solution. There are now others, with perhaps fewer potentially (or not) embarrassing side effects.
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