Coldest you have ever skied?

[Warp Daddy]

Ok i belong to a ski posse of approx 30 who rook several annual 3 day trips toTremblant a couple of times ayear .

So We rent a great old resort on Lac Superier on the back side ( Versant Nord ) that was a monastery at one time. Why ?? Because some of the guys were priests and theygot us great rates there at the place 8) There were several 4. Man cottages on the peninsula and a central dining hall and what we called The Student Union with fireplace and game room ��


We ' truck in our booze n munchies and the brothers who staffed the place perpared 3 meals daily for a rediculously low price for room and board so we always tipped them a C note each at the end of each 3 day stay .It was a sweet deal . Interesting side note the brothers order had dwindled down to six men so they sold the place to Michael Douglass and Catherine Zeta Jones and moved back to the orders headquarters in Montreal

So we Skied Tremblant several times with - 30 F at summit with windchills in excess of - 50 . One of the absolute best days i ever had there , hardly anyone out except our posse of about 12 weirdos . It was sunny , crisp , we wore all the eright stuff including heat exchanger masks and belaclavas under our helmets .

Heat packets in the gloves and Boot gloves and beaucoup tech layers top and bottom .We skied for six runs at a time ( six packs �&#56881 then would then hit the lodge to warm up , then do more "six packs " Skied from 8:30 till 4 pm . Great day .... The rest our posse ( 30 guys total ) who remained back at the resort we rented thought we were effing nuts ��

 

[Warp Daddy]

Get a heat exchanger mask with an insert that take warms the cold air before you inhale it . Works like a charm ' i have 2 .

XAfter open heart surgery, i had to be careful about breathing cold air and being one who lies to ski relatively fast , These puppies do the job

 

[speden]

Get a heat exchanger mask with an insert that take warms the cold air before you inhale it .

Sounds interesting. Does it restrict the amount of air you can inhale or can you breathe freely through it?

 

[Hawk]

I have pretty much skied every open weekend for the last 30 years. I have no idea what the coldest was as I didn't look at a thermometer but seeing the other posts and the places I would have to say some of my coldest must have been -20 to -30.

 

[legalskier]

-38F at Stowe in 1987, with a temp inversion on the mountain. My friend was there when it hit -40; his engine block was good to -44 so he cleared out.

 

[Warp Daddy]

No problem for me . Been using themfor a decade

 

[djd66]

-38F at Stowe in 1987, with a temp inversion on the mountain. My friend was there when it hit -40; his engine block was good to -44 so he cleared out.

I assume this was the same day in '87 i was skiing at Killington. I remember this day as the coldest i have ever experienced. It was -35 at the base and whatever the wind chill factor was. That day has always been my benchmark.

 

[mfi]

There are several kinds..which one is best? Reviews for them are all over the place.

 

[Warp Daddy]

My two are Polarwrap , both are partial masks the smaller one covers nose mouth etc , th elarger unot extends as a bib down into your jacket . BOth are fastened by velcro . There is a copper insert that does the magic .. Not sure they are still avaible mine are between 5 -7 yrs old , they work great .

This pic is the larger unit which has a neck gaitor that tucks into the jacket . ALWAYS Put this sucker on in the lodge before going outside THAT IS KEY !!!!!!! to not fogging up

i leave small gap between my goggles, and the top of the mask and that is all the skin exposed . I use a technical wicking beanie under the Helmet . With this set up and boot gloves and great technical undegear under my Spyder pants and Karbon jacket i feel bulletproof

 

[mfi]

Have to get some..N.VT is brutal

 

[skiur]

These records will never be beaten as ski area's now decide for us when it is too cold to ski and start closing the mountain down when its not much below 0 for "exposure". Back in the 80's and 90's they would allow the customer to decide when it was too cold.

 

[Warp Daddy]

Agree!! Live 105 miles NORTH of Whiteface and Gore andit s brutal here and at several Laurentian areas we ski at . These particular masks are well worth the cost . If you hunt extra bonus

 

[mfi]

These records will never be beaten as ski area's now decide for us when it is too cold to ski and start closing the mountain down when its not much below 0 for "exposure". Back in the 80's and 90's they would allow the customer to decide when it was too cold.

Stowe closes when it hits -50 windchill..the wind is usually so strong the lifts can't run anyway.

 

[Edd]

These records will never be beaten as ski area's now decide for us when it is too cold to ski and start closing the mountain down when its not much below 0 for "exposure". Back in the 80's and 90's they would allow the customer to decide when it was too cold.

I’m ok with that. When it’s that cold it usually doesn’t make business sense to be open anyway.

 

[deadheadskier]

I'm okay with that too. Stowe could have saved me from my 20 year old self in 1995 on my coldest day out. -28 at the summit. Me and my buddy Jeff went because they got two feet of blower over night. We thought we were dressed for it, but gear wasn't nearly as good back then. Hit first tracks on Pipeline to Goat. By the time we got to Goat I was literally screaming because frost bite was setting in on my fingers. We went straight to the lodge and had to defrost our hands under running water. One and done.

I have much better gear today and have definitely been at Sugarloaf in -15 in recent years, but if a mountain says it's too dangerous for their guests and even more importantly their employees? I'm fine that they close

Sent from my XT1635-01 using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[Harvey]

-35

 

[Not Sure]

The concern is not so much skiing as getting stuck on a lift and being tortured. I was seriously under dressed on a windy night about 15f with a 30 mph wind.....30'ft from the unload platform ... 20 minutes was horrible. I was close to jumping off!

I was at Shawnee Pa. years ago on a sunny 60f day . Still took 45min to evac everyone.

 

[ceo]

I don't know what the temperature was, but it was at Smuggs four years ago and it was just absolutely brutal. I've skied in some cold conditions but nothing like this. Older kid went in after his lesson and refused to ski again, and I didn't blame him. Conveniently, younger kid (who was in childcare) threw up that evening, which meant that when I called the office next morning to tell them we were going home, they refunded the rest of our stay.

 

[mfi]

Thank god for gondolas.

 

[Bayside]

Ironically, the coldest I've ever skied is at Vail. It was January 4-5 years ago, and they had a cold spell. You don't think of Colorado skiing being extreme cold, but because much of the skiing at Vail is above 10,000 feet, it can be bone-chilling if they are getting a cold snap.

Probably preaching to the choir, but in the cold I have found that layering is everything. I'd rather be kept by 5 lighter layers than 2 heavy layers. Thermal and base layers are not always the some, often there is a need for both. https://northoutdoors.com/thermal-underwear-buying-guide-and-best-choices/

The other thing I have grown to love is the long wool neck gaiter. Not one of those small cotton ones. A longer one that is thick at the bottom but thinner at the top can be a real gamechanger.