What's your coldness limit for skiing?

[4aprice]

HA, I remember when the used to throw the wool blankets on top of you on that lift.

They used to hand them out on the Madonna I lift at Smugglers in the early 70's. About 1/2 of them ended up in the trees on the return trip to the bottom. There was one that was up in a tree for years and would get smaller and smaller each passing season. It was gone the last time I was up there.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[JD]

Sunny and 20 below, I'll ski. Much more then that, only if there was a bunch of easily accessible Pow.

 

[Greg]

I skied -18F with wind once. I lasted 2 hours. Any colded than that, I probably won't bother.

 

[MommaBear]

20 above; teens with no wind. Yeah, I'm a girl. ;-)

 

[billski]

No real limit if I'm dressed appropriately

 

[jaja111]

No real limit if I'm dressed appropriately

Agreed to the point that it begins to severely restrict movement. For being as snug as a bug in a rug, I think my current gear maxed out instant (the moment you step outside / 1 run) failures are:

Mittens with liners (double gloved) = -20
Jacket / torso (5 layers and shell) = -35
Pants / legs (4 layers and pants)= -40
Boots w/ boot gloves = -20, maybe -25
Helmet / head (1 layer / liner) = -40

This is spacesuit level clothing. Each additional layer detracts from the enjoyment factor by a proportional amount. Yet I do agree, too cold is only a question of the gear. Hunting proves this more than skiing (i.e. sitting dead still for hours not burning jack squat of glucose). I have hunted with enough gear to get into "Randy" territory - "Ralphy! Ralphy! I can't get up! I can't get up!" from A Christmas Story zone.

 

[dmc]

HA, I remember when the used to throw the wool blankets on top of you on that lift.

I remember skiing Stowe with my Dad in like 1982(?) and they gave us blankets on the single chair.. It was my first big mountain ski experience... I was actually scared shi*less..

 

[ZYDECORICH]

I skied -18F with wind once. I lasted 2 hours. Any colded than that, I probably won't bother.

i skied Tremblant back in the 80's with my brother and it was similar conditions. do 4 runs warm up.. do 4 runs done.. fuck that wind... cold is not so bad but i hate the wind. the lift was a joke.

 

[Glenn]

Cold cold cold! We got Dummerston around 7PM last night and the wind was whipping. Wind chill advisory...-20 IIRC? Can't even imagine what it was @ the mountain.

We took the day off from skiing. Air temp was -0 this AM. Currently in Keene where its a balmy 9F. We'll hit the mountain tomorrow. Should be in the teens.

 

[Harvey]

-40 is about the limit. Whether you get there by temps or temp + wind chill.

IMO cross country, backcountry or earned turns is the way to go at those temps, as you are most helpless when riding the lifts. Especially if they stop.

 

[Moe Ghoul]

When I pee in the woods and it freezes before hitting the ground.

 

[mlctvt]

Back in the early 80s it was -30 at Killington summit and something like -15 at the base. They said windchill was -50 to -60 at the summit. This was when they had the chair, I think it was a double from the base lodge. I think we were only able to do one run then we'd go in to thaw out, then back out again. I remember our car was one of the few that started at our Hotel.
I was in College back then , no way I'd do that again, I took today off.

 

[wa-loaf]

I don't worry about my ski gears. I have an automatic. :smash:

 

[billski]

I think about zero degrees Kelvin is about the limit for me.

 

[UVSHTSTRM]

Sorry for the story, but here it goes. Prior to learning how to ride a board I walked to school and it was the coldest modern day temp for our town......34 below, no wind, usually to get that cold you can't have wind. I walked cuz I wanted the extra 1/2 hour of sleep and in turn missed the bus. Real genius I was...... This was around 92 or 93 in Maine. I walked to school in a small winter cap, jeans, tshirt, ND Starter jacket and sneakers, luckily I had gloves to cover my ears and wool socks on. On top of that we had about 3 feet of snow on the ground. During that night it sounded like star wars, we lived next to the river and the ice was expanding/contracting making awesome sounds.

Back to Skiing and Boarding........coldest mountain day was in 95 or 96 at Big Squaw Mountain on the shores of Moosehead Lake, it was 25-30 below at the base with 50-60+ miles an hour winds at the top. I think they said it was about 80 below with wind.

The scariest part was the lift ride, old double, not the cold.

Nothing like being young and dumb!

 

[billski]

Sorry for the story, but here it goes. Prior to learning how to ride a board I walked to school and it was the coldest modern day temp for our town......34 below, no wind, usually to get that cold you can't have wind. I walked cuz I wanted the extra 1/2 hour of sleep and in turn missed the bus. Real genius I was...... This was around 92 or 93 in Maine. I walked to school in a small winter cap, jeans, tshirt, ND Starter jacket and sneakers, luckily I had gloves to cover my ears and wool socks on. On top of that we had about 3 feet of snow on the ground. During that night it sounded like star wars, we lived next to the river and the ice was expanding/contracting making awesome sounds.

Back to Skiing and Boarding........coldest mountain day was in 95 or 96 at Big Squaw Mountain on the shores of Moosehead Lake, it was 25-30 below at the base with 50-60+ miles an hour winds at the top. I think they said it was about 80 below with wind.

The scariest part was the lift ride, old double, not the cold.

Nothing like being young and dumb!

Did you die?
Or similarly suffer the wrath of Mom?
:lol:

 

[snowmonster]

I don't know what my limit is but last year I skied at Jay and it was -35F. Or, at least it was -35F because that's as low the thermometer in the lodge would go. I was day-tripping that day and there was no way in hell I wasn't going to ski until last chair after the 4 hour drive. Anyway, I basically skied the woods to get out of the wind and cold. My breath froze solid on my gaiter which was on top of my neoprene facemask which was on top of the balaclava. I was lapping the Jet when the lifty at the bottom told me to come into the shed to warm up. Turns out I was the only one on the hill. Took last chair and I was spent. Money and driving time well spent.

My feet were too numb to drive back so I grabbed a burger to thaw out. Kicked off the boots and my feet were white and my left toe bed was turning black. I eventually lost the nail. Would I do it again? Having the Jay glades all to myself -- Yes.

 

[faceplant]

around 10-12 years ago it was minus 20 at hunter, or so the ticket booth lady said
...or was it 25?
whatever- defintely 20s
didn't seem to bad as i recall

Stowe in the mid 80s- it was when the Giants won- 87?
owner of the bunk house i stayed at said it was minus 38
no wind so i didnt care, we skied
there was a temp inversion- top of mansfield was not as cold as base

6 weeks ago at Kmart it was minus 8 at top
50 mph winds at least up there
dam that wind went right through me
gave me white spots on my cheeks
man that was cold

yesterday at belleayre minus 5 when i got there
no wind- downright balmy
hehe

 

[riverc0il]

Lots of folks chiming in with specific temperatures or "depends on the wind". And while I agree that the wind hurts more than the cold itself, for me it has more to do with conditions. There isn't much I won't tolerate for boot deep untracked even if it means going inside to warm up every other run. But I don't think I could stomach single digits for hard pack groomers or below zero for general natural snow packed powder.

I skied this past Saturday and only went inside for a bathroom stop and lunch. Going fast in between the trees on the groomers hurt any exposed skin. Otherwise, zero degrees is a fine temperature for skiing and below zero is not too shabby if the conditions warrant the exercise in masochism.

 

[SkiDork]

I hate when your nose hairs freeze up