I grew up in the Valley of the Sun. Temperatures can crack 100F (38C) in March, and summers regularly get above 110F (43C), with an (admitted) record of 122F (50C) in the shade. It gets much hotter when you are in direct sunlight. A friend from high school got a second-degree burn when she sat down in her mom’s car and there was a penny on the seat.
And then I moved to Wisconsin for grad school.
Before I moved, I decided I would not complain about the weather. If I had a problem, I would figure out how to solve it, and I would get on with life. It worked fine. My first winter, I recall walking the 20 minutes from my apartment to my lab, thinking it had been a bit brisk, and seeing on the weather report that it was -18F (-28C) and windy. I hung up my puffy coat and got to work.
Perhaps this is my superpower gained from eating Great Auntie Muriel’s lutefisk1, but honestly, I think it has more to do with willingness, planning, and problem-solving than anything else.
As with so, so many things in life, the first step is being willing to try. If you live, by choice or circumstance, anywhere with frequently inclement weather, you need to decide if you are going to let the weather dictate your life. Now, I’d not advocate going out for a ramble in an active blizzard, but I did quite enjoy my evening walk last night (0F, -18C), and I do generally prefer a run outside (even at -10F, -23C) to running on the hamster wheel at the gym. There’s nothing like some fresh air and sunshine to improve the day.
First, we humans are a tremendously adaptable species. But we will only adapt to what we expose ourselves to. The first step is just getting outside and experiencing the conditions2. Start with a short jaunt, maybe a walk around your neighborhood. Keep it to 10 or 15 minutes to start, and take a route that will let you get back home in less than five minutes—chances are you will not be dressed appropriately, especially if you are new to dealing with the cold.
Brr. Now that you are back inside, what felt cold? “Everything,” sure, it’s winter. But what, specifically, felt uncomfortably cold? Was it your ears? Your fingertips? Your feet? Your legs? Now you know a little bit more than you did before, and you can make better decisions than you could have before your walk.
The good news: You are not the first person to ever experience any of the sensations you just felt. Millions of people have thought about and worked on solutions for these exact problems, which means that the solution you need exists. That is a good category of problem to have.
Sometimes, the answer will be obvious (put on a hat), but, especially if you are new to this type of environment, ask for recommendations. Be forewarned, asking the locals may invite some very strange looks (Wisconsin natives could not comprehend spending decades of life not owning socks; anyone from a hot climate struggles to understand owning an entire drawer of same). Some of these recommendations will be incredible (wool socks are fantastic, and a balaclava or merino buff really is the secret to running in freezing weather), and others … will not be (I bought a heated mattress pad and then spent two weeks re-enacting the Princess and the Pea before donating it to a charity shop). Everyone is different and has their own preferences, but the challenges are pretty darn universal.
As always, focus on solving problems that exist, not ones you can imagine happening (but haven’t actually experienced). And don’t try to solve every problem at once. In my first year in the Land of Cold, my clothing budget was spent entirely on getting through my typical use cases, the most extreme of which was walking outside for 15 to 30 minutes to get to work or the gym. In my second year, that clothing budget went to enabling running outside (because treadmills are boring, especially if you are doing higher-mileage runs). Year three is when I got cross-country skis.
Let your cold-weather wardrobe accrete over time, solving actual problems that you have. The good news is that the winter coat you buy this year will be perfectly serviceable for years to come3, as will the rest of what you accumulate over time.
When problem-solving, you will get much more use out of layers than single, multi-layer garments. For instance, if you are considering buying snow pants, you will probably get more use out of a pair of fleece joggers and a pair of rain pants. The fleece pants provide warmth, and the rain pants provide water and wind resistance (and combined, they are ersatz snow pants!), but you are not committed to wearing something so warm, which means that you can more easily dial in your clothing to what is weather-appropriate. When you are outside, you want to stay warm, but you don’t want to get sweaty (even when exercising) because sweat will make you get very, very cold. Again: layers4.
Now, you may well end up with snow pants if you find you really like being outside in the cold, but unless your first use case is downhill skiing or snowboarding, they are better as a fifth purchase than a first one. (And they are likely too hot for cross-country skiing or snowshoeing, anyway.)
If you are going to be outside for a prolonged period with limited access to shelter, pack some extra layers and some emergency hand/foot warmers. I keep a set of silk base layers, a set of single-use hand warmers and foot warmers5, and an emergency blanket in my backpack any time I’m out for a prolonged period in the cold, or if it might get cold. I check the weather before I head out and do my best to dress for the forecast, and also, the situation can change in unexpected ways6. All of this fits in a smallish zipper pouch and doesn’t add much weight or bulk to my pack. I seldom need it, but when I do, I’m damn glad to have it.
Two other problems that we have to contend with in the cold months are ice and darkness.
For ice, my first bit of advice is to take small steps and keep your weight directly over your feet. My second bit of advice is to get traction thingies for your shoes. I like these ones because I can sprint across ice on them, and they are the least annoying ones I’ve tried when I get off the ice and onto a cleared sidewalk. I keep a pair in my regular size for my running shoes and a second pair one size up for my snow boots.
With the cold comes the dark, and getting hit by a car isn’t fun for anyone involved. If you are on two feet, a flashlight or headlamp is good for you to see, but a reflective vest or singlet is critical for you to be seen—you don’t want to blind drivers, which is why I don’t recommend bright lights here, but you want them to be aware that you are a squishy human and it will absolutely ruin their day (not to mention yours) if they don’t course-correct. If you are dressed like a cat burglar (black hat, black coat, black pants, black shoes, black gloves), you don’t get to be mad when people can’t see you in the dark. That’s the whole point of being dressed as a cat burglar.
If you are on two wheels, I still recommend the reflective vest, but this is where I get way more into lights. Again, you don’t want to blind drivers—it is unsafe if they can’t see. You do, however, want them to grok the situation in the smallest amount of time possible. A front light and a back light with standard wheel reflectors is the bare minimum, but my personal preference is two rear red lights flashing at different rates (one on my helmet strap or backpack for visibility from taller vehicles, one on my bike rack or frame), at least one white front light to illuminate my path, and color-changing spoke lights on both wheels. Every bit of information helps drivers around you read the situation, and they can’t act well if they don’t know what’s going on.
Most days will have at least a window of decent-enough weather, but you still need to use your best judgment on risk. Back when I had a “real job” and was bike commuting, I was happy to ride to the train station in the snow in the morning because traffic was consistently light, and the sun was usually up by the time I was leaving the trail system for the roads. However, if it was snowing when my train came in at the end of the day, I called for a ride home because I didn’t judge it safe to ride in decreased visibility with heavier traffic.
Also, remember that you get to fix yourself a mug of something hot and tasty when you get back home. Have fun!
As with many cultural-touchstone foods, especially ones where the traditional alternative was starving to death, the love of lutefisk may seem … odd to outsiders. All said, I’d recommend skipping it and going for the lefse instead.
This works both ways. There was one year I ran a half-marathon in Arizona in January. My last training run in Wisconsin was 10 miles (16 km) in -10F (-23C) weather, and it was about 80F (27C) in Arizona. I got into town a week before the race and spent about an hour each afternoon just sitting in the shade in my parents’ backyard. I’d recommend shorter exposure to start with for cold or extreme heat, but this worked brilliantly for adapting to a huge temperature swing in the space of a week.
You can wash almost any puffy coat or technical outerwear, including the waterproof stuff. Nikwax probably has what you need, then follow the washing directions on the garment tag. And as much as I don’t care for the clothes dryer for most laundry, you will want one for this—it fluffs up the down so it has loft and warmth, and does some kind of jiggery-pokery to make waterproof fabrics work properly. I’ve had the same light gray puffy coat for over a decade, and it looks new. Every spring, I scrub any grubby-looking parts with down wash and a toothbrush, then wash and dry according to the instructions. I’ve also got a 3-in-1 coat I’ve had for at least 15 years, and any time the waterproofing starts to go, I wash it with the appropriate detergent, run it through the dryer, and it works like new.
Long underwear are probably the best thing you can buy. With that one addition, your regular clothes become appropriate for the cold. Ditto socks: thin socks under medium socks will generally keep your feet warmer and drier than a single pair of thick socks, and you will get more use out of the thin/medium socks throughout the rest of the year, too.
I love my reusable hand warmers, but I don’t think they work well for emergency use because they need to be kept fairly warm, are bulky, can be set off on accident, and do not get as hot or last as long as the disposable ones. I like to avoid creating trash when I can, but if it’s a question of keeping my fingers, I’m willing to send a pair of single-use hand warmers to the landfill.
No joke. A few years back, the spousal unit did a gravel bike ride across Minnesota in mid-August. The average temperature range is about 60 to 80F (15 to 27C). The ride started at midnight, and when I met him at 4 am for the first checkpoint, it was about 40F (4C) with a heavy, wet fog. I was freezing in a borrowed sweatshirt, shorts, and sandals, and I wrapped my mildly-hypothermic husband in my emergency blanket. This was when I bought us both packable down jackets, and we learned a valuable lesson about packing EVERYTHING for this sort of event, even if it seems silly in the light of day. The same rule applies to backpacking: Bring everything to the trailhead, then edit down to accommodate the conditions you find when you get there.
Also, if you are trying to buy your way out of colder-than-predicted weather, do your best to solve your problems without replicating things you already have at home. Another misadventure with the spousal unit involved a trip to the Grand Canyon. Due to our travel plans, we had to pack for the trip ten days before we got to the canyon part of the itinerary. When we arrived, the weather was 30F colder than the predictions. We went to the REI in Flagstaff with the agreement that we would buy whatever we needed to be able to enjoy our trip, and also to do our best to avoid spending money on anything we had at home. This is when we both got our first base layers, which made the clothes we packed quite comfortable, despite the unexpected cold snap. (We also got a hat and a pair of gloves, each, which was redundant to what we already owned but unavoidable under the circumstances.) It was a lovely trip, once everyone could feel all their extremities.
No socks??! :0 That never occured to me, haha. My sock drawer is different according to the season. I grew up in the Ottawa region, where it gets really hot in summer (30+ celcius) and really cold in winter (-20-30 celcius on occasion).
(Wisconsin natives could not comprehend spending decades of life not owning socks; anyone from a hot climate struggles to understand owning an entire drawer of same).
Yes. What are socks? When I was 18, I had packed for a summer abroad and while staring at my luggage in the middle of the night before by 8am flight, I realized I hadn't packed socks. Because I didn't own socks. God bless the 24-hr walmart. I made a 1am purchase of socks, finished packing my bag, and slept a few hours before my flight that morning.
I now own socks. They are probably all full of old shot elastic... I dunno, I never wear them. But I have them!