How cold is too cold?

**Tippster** · 12-06-2005, 06:45 PM

Originally Posted by Below Zero

Well, that's true. Anyone else want to diagnose shit that I've posted today?

WTF? Your already short fuse get cut further? You asked, I answered. Stop being so touchy please.

Moshpit: Not all of us have that luxury. You take what you get. All my (non-Mid-Atlantic) skiing involves planning months in advance. There's not much I can do if the powers decide to turn on the freezer.

**gonzo** · 12-06-2005, 06:46 PM

Sugarloaf is cold.

When exposed skin goes bone white every lift ride, it is too cold to ski...even if you are hunkered down on the lift in your pain cave, that leetle crack below your google line is nearly impossible to cover without frosting your goggles.

P.S. I refuse to wear one of those gay-ass masks. Marginal utility is not greater than marginal cost.

**Evmo** · 12-06-2005, 06:54 PM

I believe the proper nomenclature is Masque...

**funkendrenchman** · 12-06-2005, 06:55 PM

Originally Posted by Evmo

I believe the proper nomenclature is Masque...

nomenclature... one of my least favorite words

**DrRy** · 12-06-2005, 06:56 PM

Originally Posted by gonzo

I refuse to wear one of those gay-ass masks.

Seconded, I would rather freeze.

Seriously.

Not only are they gay but they look fuckin stupid as hell.

**Evmo** · 12-06-2005, 06:56 PM

**DrRy** · 12-06-2005, 06:57 PM

Just look at that fuckin thing.

**Max Gosey** · 12-06-2005, 07:00 PM

Ya I heard some guys in the liftline at alta talking about skiing at the "crossover point" in Europe (where the celsius and fahrenheit temps are equivalent: 40 below). They said it was "fun." Hahaha. There are some crazy people out there.

I admit that coming from Louisiana I haven't adapted to cold yet. 0 to you guys probably feels more like 10 or 15 below to me. Either way, weather.com says it feels like 5 below in boulder right now. It's FUCKING COLD.

**phatfreeheeler** · 12-06-2005, 07:00 PM

I used to ski in insainly cold temps back in the U.P. of Michigan. The hill closed at wind chills of -50F and since I was patrol I skied down to that occasionally.

However, I'm getting weak. After having a large section of skin peel off my face last night

I'm going to protect my face for a while. I had my head well protected but there was a area under my goggles and above my gaitor that got hit hard. It was low to mid single digits all day and I skied very hard and continuous. The snow was just so good last weekend, I couldn't stop making laps and didn't even notice my cheeks were frozen solid. Anyways, I'm going to find that lame ass neoprene face mask from back in the midwest and start using it. Loosing skin is no fun

With the amount of puss oozing out of my face I'll likely miss this epic day tomorrow. So you can thank my pain for all the snow falling

Dumb, dumb, dumb

**funkendrenchman** · 12-06-2005, 07:01 PM

On those real cold days, like Sunday, I go with the balaclava with an ultra thin headliner and a fleece neck warmer/face mask. It works pefectly under a helmet.

**Max Gosey** · 12-06-2005, 07:01 PM

I like having sensation in my face. Unless of course said lost sensation is caused by face shots...

Refusing to put on something functional becuase of aesthetics? Seemingly non-Maggot-like...

**homerjay** · 12-06-2005, 07:02 PM

A balaclava under a helmet is substantially less gay than the Masque. You may as well have a helmet cover with animal ears on it if you're rockin' the Masque.

**mrw** · 12-06-2005, 07:04 PM

I ski Whiteface, Stowe and Jay. I don't think being "core" has anything to do with it. I like really cold days. I'm an EC skier thats how I grew up. -14 is OK by me. I use boot heaters, those little heat packs for my gloves and I know how to dress. I don't spend much time inside warming up because it just makes me feel the cold when I go back out. I stop mid-day to change socks and eat.Otherwise, I'm out all day. It's funny but I think the coldest I have been is at Blue Mountain in eastern Pa. I tend to underrate the cold in the Poconos and have been bitten a couple of times there.
My wife is a warm weather chick. She Will ski with me a couple of times a year but that's it. It's kind of funny but the times she chooses to go usually end up being the coldest of the year. Once at whiteface, it was -22. That said, she was pretty comfortable all day. That's because as soon as she has a complaint, BOOM, I take care of it right then and there. Cold feet? Boot heaters. Cold hands? Mittens and heat packs. Cold at the core? high tech under layers are on the way. I tried explaining to her the difference in weather between east and west coast skiing but she just doesn't buy it.
There is something nice about serious cold weather skiing. It is rarely crowded and the snow conditions can be great.

**gonzo** · 12-06-2005, 07:06 PM

Originally Posted by Max Gosey

I like having sensation in my face. Unless of course said lost sensation is caused by face shots...

Refusing to put on something functional becuase of aesthetics? Seemingly non-Maggot-like...

The marginal utility of the masque does not outweigh the marginal cost of looking like a gaper from Louisiana. Neckwarmer, turtle fur, baclava...all better than the masque. Snolerblades might actually be really fun, same with mopeds. Functional too. Not worth it.

**DrRy** · 12-06-2005, 07:07 PM

Originally Posted by mrw

There is something nice about serious cold weather skiing. It is rarely crowded and the snow conditions can be great.

I hear that. I ski just below you at Gore.

You get used to it after a few years.

**Evmo** · 12-06-2005, 07:08 PM

Or if it is 'only' -10, you could go Masque sans Helmet... ala...

**funkendrenchman** · 12-06-2005, 07:08 PM

Originally Posted by gonzo

Neckwarmer, turtle fur, baclava...all better than the masque. .

I'm not sure this would be better than a masque.

**mrw** · 12-06-2005, 07:09 PM

Originally Posted by DrRy

Seconded, I would rather freeze.

Seriously.

Not only are they gay but they look fuckin stupid as hell.

I have wicked bad sinuses. I have to ski with a mask. If I don't, I'm wrecked for days afterward. The pain is indescribable. As I said in a previous post, I ski the cold and dress for it. I do what it takes to enjoy what I like to do. If I didn't wear a mask I would be limited to about 50 degree days.No shit, that's how bad it is. Besides, the mask looks great with my Bogner

**mntlion** · 12-06-2005, 07:09 PM

rule for me and girlguide: after -20'C I need more cm of fresh snow then temp

for example at -27'C I need 28 or more cm fresh .....

backfired at -32'C once, fortress and 34cm fresh ........

**dipstik** · 12-06-2005, 07:11 PM

Had a race in NH last year, and it was -20 at the start. Grow some balls, dude. Your fingers and toes will grow back!

**powderfarmer** · 12-06-2005, 07:11 PM

Get a snot rag, tie it up, remove sand from vagina and ride.

**DrRy** · 12-06-2005, 07:12 PM

Originally Posted by mrw

I have wicked bad sinuses. I have to ski with a mask. If I don't, I'm wrecked for days afterward. The pain is indescribable. As I said in a previous post, I ski the cold and dress for it. I do what it takes to enjoy what I like to do. If I didn't wear a mask I would be limited to about 50 degree days.No shit, that's how bad it is. Besides, the mask looks great with my Bogner

Thats a legitimate reason.

If it came down to physically not being able to ski or wearing that shit I guess I would.

mrw, you ever use your pass at Gore?