Exposed skin starts to freeze in around 30 secs
A strong wind can make temperatures seem much colder than they really are.
The author filming Serious Arctic in temperatures of around –30°C (–22°F).
DOES MINUS FIFTY really feel any colder than minus ten or twenty?
A good question – once you’re absolutely freezing how can you possibly feel any colder? It’s really about the ability to keep warm and how quickly you are in trouble. You can almost feel the heat being sucked out of your body at extreme low temperatures. All the clothes in the world don’t seem to keep you warm without a lot of leaping about, and frostbite and hypothermia can quickly set in.
WHY IS IT dangerous to sweat?
Surprisingly, one of the key problems in the freezing Arctic is getting hot and sweaty (all too easy when you’re wrapped from head to toe in layer upon layer of clothing). Odd though it first seems, getting too hot means you quickly get too cold.
The reason is that if you let yourself sweat, the perspiration freezes within seconds. You then have a layer of ice next to your skin, which means you are on a slippery slope to frostbite and hypothermia. In short: you sweat – you die!
That’s why layering is so important (see page), removing or putting on layers of clothes as necessary. All experienced Arctic adventurers start the day with the minimum number of layers on. Although they may feel cold for a few minutes, they know the strenuous activity ahead will soon warm them.
SMALL MISTAKE, BIG PROBLEM
Take extra care not to spill water or other liquid on your gloves or other vital bits of clothing. The resulting frozen item of clothing will be all but useless, and will take a lot of time and effort to sort out, either heating and drying it above a stove or taking it with you inside your sleeping bag overnight.
If you ignore the problem, you may again be on the route to serious cold injuries. Letting snow get inside your gloves will have similar effects. The heat of your hands will melt it, the water will turn into ice and off you’ll go again down that slippery slope.
Pulling pulks across the sea ice is a constant juggle between overheating and possible hypothermia and frostbite.
Getting your clothing right is critical in the Arctic. You need to be thinking constantly about what you’re wearing, adding or taking off layers to make sure you never get too cold – or too hot (see page).
Clothes largely keep you warm by trapping air to insulate you, and the principle is to wear lots of thinner layers rather than a couple of really thick ones. This way you can adjust your temperature more easily.
As you first put on your underwear and thermals, it’s a sobering thought that you may well not change them for the entire expedition. Somehow, the complex logistics of changing pants at –30°C (–22°F) doesn’t often seem worth it.
Everyone has their favourite expedition clothing that they feel most comfortable with, and as long as you keep to the basic principles it really doesn’t matter.
The kit used in Serious Arctic is ‘modelled’ below by two of the young adventurers. On their feet they wore two pairs of socks and special ‘moon’ boots. Legs had three layers: thermal leggings, trekking trousers and windproof over-trousers.
Their top half was covered in up to six layers: two thermal vests, a thin fleece, Arctic hoodie, windproof jacket with fur round the hood and a thick puffer jacket.
Finally the neck and head was protected by a neck gaiter, balaclava, ‘head-over’ scarf, hat, goggles and hood. It’s important to cover your head at all times to prevent heat loss – once you’re dressed, more than one-third of the body’s heat is lost via your head. Goggles can be customised with a nose-guard. If ‘warm’ enough not to wear goggles, a good pair of sunglasses which block UV-rays is a must to avoid snow blindness.
Protect your hands with one or two pairs of gloves plus some outer mitts. Thin inner gloves are a good idea for more fiddly jobs like taking photos. Bare hands will be aching with the cold and going numb in seconds, and will stick to metal as the moisture on your skin freezes on contact with the cold surface.
When fully kitted out some people feel quite claustrophobic. Everyday tasks like going to the toilet become a major logistical exercise (see page).
When everyone’s in full Arctic kit, it’s a real problem to figure out who’s who.
IS IT POSSIBLE to stay warm in temperatures as low as minus fifty?
It may seem unlikely, especially when you can go outside back home and feel freezing in temperatures well above zero, but it is certainly achievable. The truth is that most people don’t wear the right clothes to keep them warm in their everyday lives (usually being more concerned about fashion).
In the Arctic it’s rather more crucial to be really clued up. The key is to use lots of layers, trapping air between your clothes for insulation, and to cover up all exposed flesh when the weather gets seriously cold. In extreme low temperatures it’s important not to let yourself even start to get chilled as it’s much harder to get warm again.
HOW DO YOU stop your feet getting cold?
A real worry, as anyone who’s stood around waiting for a bus on an icy winter’s day will know. Whatever footwear you’ve got on, the heat eventually seems to just drain away into the pavement.
But the good news is that special ‘moon’ boots have been developed for use in extreme conditions. With thick rubber insulating soles and separate felt liners, they’ll keep your feet warm down to a reassuringly low –100°C (–148°F), colder even than the Arctic.
