
The Cold Hard Facts of Freezing to Death (1997) - BlackJack
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/As-Freezing-Persons-Recollect-the-Snow--First-Chill--Then-Stupor--Then-the-Letting-Go.html?page=all
======
freehunter
Living in Michigan, this is one of my biggest fears. Due to the massive lakes
that surround us, we frequently get a blast of warm, wet air that causes rain,
and of course that warm wet air is being pushed off the lake by a cold front,
causing high winds and sub-freezing temps. This combined with large stands of
farmland and no trees for windrows means wind blows right across the road and
freezes the rain instantly, sometimes right beneath your tires. What was wet a
second ago is now frozen, and you can't see the difference. The snow starts to
pile up, and a gust of wind pushes you right off the road and into an
irrigation ditch. The best 4x4 in the world won't get you out now. And good
luck using your cell phone: the areas where this is most likely to happen
often have no cell service, or the cell service is only for Verizon phones
(too bad you have AT&T, and the FCC forced them to sell off their overlapping
network in that area). Four wheel drive won't help. Locking differentials
won't help. All wheel drive won't help. All of these require even faintest bit
of traction, and you don't have it.

People think I'm weird for having a CB radio in my truck, but last winter
during an ice storm I went off the road. Literally all of the county's
emergency crews were busy taking care of other ditch parties. I called out on
my CB for the local off-roading enthusiasts, and 15 minutes later a snowmobile
arrived with a winch. I paid $30 to the man for his help (though he insisted
he didn't need payment), and I was back on the road. The CB cost me $250; how
much would a tow truck have cost?

This article should be read by everyone who has to travel in winter
conditions. Seems like every winter I hear the obituary on the news of people
who go off the road and try to hoof it somewhere miles away in a normal winter
jacket, jeans, and boots. I keep a snowmobile suit in my truck during the
winter. One thing I would have added is something along the lines of "and you
knew you couldn't stay in your car with the heat running waiting for help,
you'd die from the exhaust fumes". I think that's more common than freezing to
death.

~~~
astral303
The conditions you describe are tough. Going off the road in an ice storm
sucks. Love your CB and snow suit suggestions.

The following is not commentary on your situation, but tips to reduce chance
of getting stuck:

1\. I strongly recommend running a set of good snow tires, no matter whether
you have an AWD Subaru or a 4x4 truck or a FWD Corolla. Yes, truck snow tires
exist.

The reason is that the rubber compound is much much softer on these tires, and
it stays soft when the temperatures drop. All-season tires are much harder in
cold temperatures. The tread is also cut into much smaller blocks (known as
siping), the edges of which help bite into the ice.

While ice is slippery no matter what, the difference in the grip level between
a typical all season tire and a good snow tire is very significant. We are
talking 3x the stopping distance. I've seen it on glare ice.

Now, if you really want to be protected, you must buy good studded snow tires.
A set of Nokian Hakkapeliitta 7's will make ice seem almost like wet pavement.
The amount of ice grip you have with those is unbelievable. The downside is
the increased tire noise.

2\. Practice controlling skids on ice or snow: practice countersteer, practice
NOT hitting the brakes, practice using throttle.

If you can practice this to make it second nature, or at least not foreign,
this can make the difference between you spinning and not.

Get out to a snowy parking lot, start turning, let off throttle, then yank the
e-brake (and put it down right away). You should start experiencing a spin at
this point. No matter what, train yourself to immediately countersteer, such
that your front wheels are pointed to where you want the car to go and not
where the car is facing.

Now, while countersteering every time, compare the following 3 situations
after starting the spin:

A. Counterseteer & do nothing with brake or gas. Simply get your feet off the
pedals.

B. Countersteer & hit the brakes.

C. Countersteer & apply gas.

You must actually experience each of these to believe it, but you will learn
that it is "C", applying gas, which will get you back in line the soonest. You
will notice that as soon as you give it gas, the spin will stop or slow down
significantly. You will notice that if you hit the brakes, you spin much
further than if you were to simply let go off all the controls.

This is counter-intuitive, but basically if you start spinning on ice on a
straight road and you have a FWD/AWD car, applying some throttle will often
stop your spin, whereas hitting the brakes almost guarantees a spin. It's
worth practicing, if you can.

The reason has to do with weight transfer. Your car's traction at each end is
determined by the amount of weight. When you accelerate, you decrease traction
up front and you increase traction in the rear. Lifting off throttle increases
front end traction and decreases rear end traction, a little. Hitting the
brakes massively decreases rear end traction and massively increases front end
bite.

~~~
freehunter
For truck snow tires, many times "reasonable" MT (mud terrain) or AT (all
terrain) tires are also rated for snow. I say reasonable because MTs can get
pretty extreme in their tread pattern, which will really hurt your stopping
distance on ice. Extreme MTs have very little rubber touching the road. On my
truck I have Goodyear Wrangler SilentArmor tires, which are rated for on/off-
road and extreme snow. I wouldn't recommend them as street tires, as they are
loud and wear very quickly on pavement, but just as an example of truck "snow"
tires, ATs and MTs often serve the same purpose as snow tires, as well as
giving you a better ability to get back on the road if you've gone off in a
muddy or rough area.

ATs wear quicker than all-seasons (~50,000 miles). MTs wear extremely quickly
(~30,000 miles). Normal all-season tires generally wear at ~60,000 miles.

-edit- also, before buying studded tires, check to see if they're legal in your state/country, and make a note of the legality dates. Many times they're only legal from November through March (studded tires damage the road when the road is dry). Tire chains are temporary solutions, but are practically illegal in many states (can only be used if the chain never touches the road surface).

~~~
barrkel
I had a spit-take when you suggested 30k was extremely quick wear, as I'm used
to motorcycle tyres, where 5k is a fairly long life!

------
danso
This bit about how certain groups of people have somehow developed different
responses to cold is fascinating:

 _Were you a Norwegian fisherman or Inuit hunter, both of whom frequently work
gloveless in the cold, your chilled hands would open their surface capillaries
periodically to allow surges of warm blood to pass into them and maintain
their flexibility. This phenomenon, known as the hunter's response, can
elevate a 35-degree skin temperature to 50 degrees within seven or eight
minutes.

Other human adaptations to the cold are more mysterious. Tibetan Buddhist
monks can raise the skin temperature of their hands and feet by 15 degrees
through meditation. Australian aborigines, who once slept on the ground,
unclothed, on near-freezing nights, would slip into a light hypothermic state,
suppressing shivering until the rising sun rewarmed them.

You have no such defenses, having spent your days at a keyboard in a climate-
controlled office. Only after about ten minutes of hard climbing, as your body
temperature rises, does blood start seeping back into your fingers. Sweat
trickles down your sternum and spine._

~~~
conroe64
Here is a trick I learned biking around in cold Las Vegas nights to warm your
hands. Squeeze whatever you are holding hard, (or make a fist and squueze) in
pulses about a second apart. It will force the blood through, like a miniature
heart, and your hands won't feel cold at all.

~~~
bcbrown
Another trick that I learned from my ski team was to do arm circles. The
centripetal force forces blood into your extremities.

~~~
FrojoS
Even better, keep your arms on the side of your trunk, your elbows straight
and flex your hands at 90 deg so they point away sideways. Now, move your
shoulders up and down. Don't use any other joints. Each down move of the
shoulder will pump blood into your hands with high pressure.

We call it the penguin dance.

------
dmor
This topic makes me think of the Jack London story "To Build a Fire", which is
one of my favorites. <http://www.jacklondons.net/buildafire.html>

Also timely, one of our power users at Referly just made a preparedness kit
list for winter driving. I probably should have had some of this when driving
alone in the Sierra Nevadas last month.
[http://refer.ly/winter_driving_preparedness_kit/c/789d5ae050...](http://refer.ly/winter_driving_preparedness_kit/c/789d5ae0507511e2b5ab22000a1db8fa)

~~~
username3
This topic makes me think of 2012 American adventure drama film co-written and
directed by Joe Carnahan and starring Liam Neeson, Frank Grillo, and Dermot
Mulroney "The Grey", which is based on the short story Ghost Walker by Ian
MacKenzie Jeffers, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Carnahan.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grey_(film)>

------
Sam_Odio
I carry a PLB at all times in my vehicle [1]. In the US this device will
summon rescue via satellite. I recommend it for anyone who spends time in
remote areas. If you value your life at $1MM and there's a 1 in 3500 chance
[2] that summoning emergency services in a remote area will save your life
then this is a helpful risk-mitigating tool [3].

1\. [http://www.amazon.com/ACR-Electronics-ResQLink-Personal-
Loca...](http://www.amazon.com/ACR-Electronics-ResQLink-Personal-
Locator/dp/B0064UE5AG)

2\. $280 / $1MM ~ 1/3500.

3\. A useful metric might be 911 calls, of which there are 240 million in
2008[4], for the US population of 305 million. If you assume 5% of the calls
are life-or-death, that your daily odds of needing to call in remote areas are
the same as the country mean, that you spend 5 days a year in remote areas,
and a 5-year useful life for the device, then there is a 0.2% chance the
device will save your life.

240/310 * .05 * 5/365 * 5 ~ 0.002

4\. <http://www.911dispatch.com/info/fact_figures.html>

~~~
jzwinck
Your statistics are seriously flawed. For example, your math in point 2
assumes you will certainly find yourself in a life threatening situation while
carrying the device. And your point 3 probably vastly overestimates the
fraction of life-or-death calls.

~~~
Sam_Odio
_Your statistics are seriously flawed._

Actually, I think you a) misunderstood the claim in point 2, and b) take issue
with the assumptions - not the math/statistics - in point 3.

 _your math in point 2 assumes you will certainly find yourself in a life
threatening situation while carrying the device._

In point 2 the likelihood of a life threatening situation was not assumed or
calculated (that's point 3). The conclusion, restated: If there's a 1/3500
chance you'll be able to effectively use the device to save your life, you're
breaking even while mitigating risk.

 _And your point 3 probably vastly overestimates the fraction of life-or-death
calls._

You've stated that I've made assumptions and you're right - which is why
they're labeled as such. Feel free to suggest yours.

------
jbellis
Found an update on the toddler who froze in 1994:
[http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/story/2009/02/20/...](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/story/2009/02/20/kosolofski-
anniversary.html)

------
afandian
I spent the whole article translating those temperatures into Centigrade. Kind
of broke the flow.

~~~
corin_
Edit, ignore the following:

Worst was where they switched without even mentioning it. One paragraph
they're still using F and said _"The lowest recorded core temperature in a
surviving adult is 60.8 degrees."_ , then the very next paragraph, with no
talk of changing units, they talked about people dying "though temperatures
never fell below freezing and ranged as high as 45". Just because the second
story happened in England..?

~~~
Locke1689
That's still 45 degrees Fahrenheit. They were talking about outside
temperature, not core temperature.

I'm also questioning if you have a sense of either temperature scale. It's
quite funny to think that it could reach 45 C in England at all, much less
that people would freeze to death in it.

~~~
corin_
My bad, of course you're right. And no, not a great sense of temperature
scales - in the UK I pay attention when it's down around freezing (in Celsius)
and in LA I pay attention when it's hot, 100+ in Fahrenheit. Other than those
two occasions I guess I don't really notice or care.

Edit: funnily enough, 45C turns out to be the hottest temperature I've
personally experienced, the day LA set it's record high in September 2010.

~~~
pyre
Easiest way to do off-the-cuff conversions:

\- Celsius scale is based on water freezing at 0C and boiling at 100C. That's
32F and 212F, respectively.

\- 45C is about halfway between 0C and 100C, so it's about halfway between 32F
and 212F.

\- Normal body temp 98.7F or 36C.

\- Also -40C == -40F. I looked this up once because I was out on a day that
where the wind chill was -40F. I thought that I did something wrong when the
conversion came out exactly the same. ;-)

~~~
mikeash
F = C * 2 + 30

Gets you to within a couple of degrees for commonly experienced temperatures,
plenty close enough for most purposes. 45C ~= 120F. The true value is 113F.

------
bkanber
This was terrifying, I think because of its sheer realism. Nobody expects
they're going to die when they decide to get out of their car and trek to the
cabin in the dead of night. But it sneaks up on you through a series of small
mis-steps and you could pay with your life for those little mistakes.

Should've stayed with the car. Should've called for help. Once he got out, he
should've stayed on the road instead of cutting through the woods. Should've
ditched the skis once they broke. Should've exerted himself less.

Lots of little should-haves like those are what can kill someone who's not
prepared for and experienced with harsh conditions.

------
danso
FYI this is from Jan. 1997. I remember reading it in one of those "Best
Sports/Nature/Science Writing" anthologies back in school...a great piece,
obviously if I still recall it 15 years later

------
lectrick
Read this a while back but this passage:

"In 1980, 16 shipwrecked Danish fishermen were hauled to safety after an hour
and a half in the frigid North Sea. They then walked across the deck of the
rescue ship, stepped below for a hot drink, and dropped dead, all 16 of them."

Damn!

~~~
dalke
As far as I can tell, this is an urban legend. That is, several people have
looked for an account of this in the Danish papers, and found nothing. Here's
one such person's report:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/15jz7b/til_in...](http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/15jz7b/til_in_1980_16_stranded_and_frozen_danish/c7ngjc4)

The closest match was to "Other classic examples of post-immersion collapse
include the survivors of the SS Empire Howard (Lee, 1971). The Captain of the
ship, Capt Downey, reported: "everyone was conscious when taken out of the
water but many lost consciousness when taken into the warmth of the trawler.
Nine (out of 12) died shortly after being rescued", where "The SS Empire
Howard was sunk by a U-boat on 16, April, 1942.

------
bjhoops1
Great use of the first person - this made me physically uncomfortable. Much
more so than third would have.

~~~
aheilbut
It's actually using the second person.

~~~
bjhoops1
Haha doh. That would be what I meant.

~~~
jstclair
No, that's what _you_ meant.

------
funkaster
Some time ago, during the winter we went to visit the Atacama Desert with my
wife (she was born there). We rented a small car and my wife told me "are you
sure this will work at 4,000 meters high? (13,100 feet)" - we were going to be
travelling around some small towns and one of the roads reached that altitude.
Stupidly enough, I replied to her "sure... these are modern cars, with fuel
injection and smart oxygenation".

The roads were covered with snow, and suddenly we got stuck in a snow-covered
road. Being a firefighter (trained in rescue) I had some idea of what I had to
do... but of course, no shovel or any other tool to remove the snow. For 1
hour or so I tried to remove the snow with no luck. I got into the car, told
my wife that the smartest thing would be to _stay in the car_. If necessary,
the fuel in the car would keep us worm for days.

After some time, a car came down the road and helped us out... only to get
stucked again, this time because the car actually got de-oxygenated at exactly
4,000 meters... Luckily this time the same car was behind us for a few minutes
and we could push the car until the downhill.

Now we tell the story with friends and laugh about it. But if you ever go to
some place that you have a slight chance of getting stuck in the snow: pack a
shovel or at least make sure you have the fuel tank full. And _never_ get out
of the car wandering to find something.

------
tomrod
A tip: [http://lifehacker.com/5856986/use-your-floor-mats-for-
tracti...](http://lifehacker.com/5856986/use-your-floor-mats-for-traction-in-
the-snow)

Always know your resources available!

~~~
TheCapn
Although that is sound advice in the event you're caught in a small rift of
snow, it will mean nothing when hitting a ditch that sinks your car to the
frame in snow which is often the case in situations that the story
illustrates.

------
shaydoc
That was a fantastic read. Incredible journey to hypothermia and back.

The description of the feeling of burning is unreal! What is even better is
the incredible knowledge of how to revive a patient from this state.

I belief these techniques are used in heart bypass operations ?

~~~
sanotehu
Yes, they are indeed. As a medical student I had the privilege of seeing a
heart valve being installed. They are a witness to how far medicine has
progressed since the days of barber surgeons.

The blood is taken out of your body through the femoral vein (under the skin
between your hip and your nether regions), taken through the perfusion machine
and pumped back into the femoral artery. Because at this stage the heart will
have been stopped, the high pressure in the femoral artery makes blood flow
backwards up the aorta, where it supplies oxygenated blood from the machine to
the whole body.

At one stage the flow has to be switched off in order to sew the metal valve
onto the top of the aorta. In preparation for this, the blood leaving the
perfusion machine is chilled (I'm not sure to what temperature). This slows
the body's metabolism down and would cause hypothermic stupor if the patient
had not already been under anaesthetic. I was told by the perfusionist that
this gave the surgeons around an hour of extra operating time before the
brain's oxygen content dropped to dangerous levels. All this is of course
monitored by the anaesthetist and the perfusionist. The hypothermia will be
reversed during the process of reviving the patient.

With the advent of endovascular procedures, this sort of surgery is becoming a
rarity. It's much easier to pass a small tube up the aorta and inflate the
narrowed artery from the inside than it is to open up the chest and sew a new
blood vessel onto the heart. Of course, the medicine's more boring but it's
all about getting a good outcome for the patient, isn't it?

~~~
gonzo
As a medical student you'll appreciate that I have a 3-4" stint replacing a
section of my aorta, starting about 1mm away from the aortic root.

This to repair an ascending aortic dissection that terminates in my left
iliac.

I walked out of the hospital, but the recovery was a PITA.

My core temp got down to 18C (65-66F) for over an hour. (According to the
surgical notes I was on the heart lung machine for over 4 hours, and without
perfusion for 45 minutes.)

~~~
sanotehu
I think it's a testament to modern medicine that we can do these sorts of
things. Glad to hear you got through the recovery alright. With the operation
I saw, they packed the patient's head with ice bags as well as cooling the
blood. I remember thinking to myself that I'd hate to be that guy waking up!
Something like a large hangover ;)

~~~
gonzo
Oh yeah, 20 years ago and I'd have never survived the night.

Whole thing is here, <http://aorticdissection.com/2011/12/06/jim-thompson-47/>
though I assumed that the termination was the right iliac until last Spring,
when I had them run a CT on the lower extremities, and found that the
termination was in my left leg (and that the false lumen had blocked the iliac
in my right leg.)

Maybe when you're a doctor you'll remember, "When the symptoms don't make
sense, think dissection" and save someone else.

------
debacle
Being cold and being deathly cold are two different things.

I've only gotten mild frostbite once, but I'd never want to have it again. The
skin blackens and peels, and itches like nothing I've ever experienced before.

~~~
ghaff
Frostbite and hypothermia are two different things and often happen under
different conditions. As noted, you can get hypothermia in (relatively) mild
temperatures if you're wet, tired, dehydrated, etc. Frostbite tends to be the
result of colder temperatures often in conjunction with wind. But, yes, both
are bad. I've also had fairly mild frostbite of the ear lobes (a pretty common
place) and it's not fun. The thing to be aware of though is that it doesn't
have to be especially cold to get hypothermic. In cold weather hiking, some of
the conditions you need to be most careful in are 35 degree or so rain.

~~~
debacle
I've been lucky enough to never experience real hypothermia first hand.

------
mberning
I read this years ago and it really stuck with me. Now when I venture out into
inclement weather I always load up the car with blankets, water, food, ratchet
straps, and other emergency supplies.

------
arrrg
Somehow this reminded me of this excellent story:
<http://www.signandsight.com/features/852.html>

------
CapitalistCartr
I used to routinely go out in the bitter cold in Wyoming. Wearing lots of
military-issue clothing. Dressed and behaving as the military recommended, I
found -40 to be quite tolerable. Coming from Florida, without the military
training, I'd have been dead.

------
pixie_
What's amazing to me is Eskimos lived without fire.

~~~
dalke
Where did you get that information? The Inuit traditionally use a
qulliq/kudlik (a lamp fueled by seal oil) for light, heat, etc. and everything
I can find now says that it's not something introduced in the last couple of
hundred years. For example,

[http://books.google.se/books?id=G49CwQpozoUC&pg=PA29&...](http://books.google.se/books?id=G49CwQpozoUC&pg=PA29&dq=qulliq&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BNPdUN75HqaM4AT_loDYCQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=qulliq&f=false)

says that Inuit were curious why people were hunting whales for oil for light,
when they knew that seal oil was better for the qulliq.

Ahh, even better. The Dorset culture
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorset_culture> \- 500 BCE–1500 CE) used
soapstone lamps very much like the the qulliq for heat.

~~~
pixie_
Can you find anything that says fire was a necessity for survival for paleo-
eskimo cultures because I remember reading it wasn't, but I'm having trouble
googling a source for or against it.

~~~
stoti
I don't know whether it's true (haven't googled it) but the natives of Tierra
del Fuego were reported not to use fire much & to wander around nekkid. The
natives didn't survive contact w/ Europeans very long, however.

~~~
dalke
They used fire to help keep warm, for light, and to cook. See, for example:
[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/555978/South-
Ameri...](http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/555978/South-American-
nomad/57794/Economic-system) :

> Among the archipelagic tribes of southern Chile it was predominantly the
> women who gathered shellfish on the beaches at low tide and who, from bark
> canoes, dived with a shell blade and a basket held in their teeth. The
> shellfish gatherers were careful not to exhaust the supply in one area.
> These people also always carried a fire on a clay platform in their canoes,
> both for warmth and for roasting shellfish over the coals. The men hunted
> roosting cormorants, penguins, steamer ducks, petrels, and other marine
> birds at night with torches and killed them with clubs. Ducks and geese were
> lured by decoys, then captured with pole snares.

------
phigcch
It is actually quite amazing what it is possible to survive. The hypothermia
"record", so to speak, was broken shortly after this article was written. See
e.g. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_B%C3%A5genholm>
[http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/12/cheating.death.bage...](http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/12/cheating.death.bagenholm/index.html)

------
cullenking
One thing I have started doing when I go on any outdoor treks, even just a day
of snowboarding, is carrying a portable amateur radio. I program in the local
repeaters if there are some (not always an option depending on area) which
greatly extends range if necessary. Not as good as a PLB in some ways, but
superior in others. For example, I can call for help without bringing in the
whole cavalry.

------
krymise
I had a philosophy professor who taught Existentialism, and he told us the
story of how he almost froze to death while hiking . How he started to
hallucinate that death himself had come to take him away. Eventually, he said
he became calm and accepted his fate, and that freezing to death wasn't a bad
way to go. Too bad he retired that semester, what an interesting guy.

------
domojesse
This older (not that the article we were reading wasn't from 2002) article is
very similar:
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2001/mar/01/healthand...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2001/mar/01/healthandwellbeing.health1)

------
bane
Just to tie this back to the tech industry and why relying on GPS only can be
dangerous

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Kim>

~~~
jbellis
Did you read what you linked?

"Because of Mr. Kim's background as a technology analyst, observers speculated
that the family had used online mapping to find their route. However, Mrs. Kim
told state police that they had used a paper road map, an account supported by
the Oregon State Police, which reported that the Kims had used an official
State of Oregon highway map."

~~~
bane
No I didn't, I the original search for him and his family and the immediate
aftermath that there was a great deal of discussion about them getting lost
due to following a bad GPS route.

~~~
pm90
I don't think they used GPS though. But here is another story where the GPS
_was_ misleading (Disclaimer: It was pointed out to me by another hn reader,
although I don't know exactly who):
[http://www.usaprepares.com/survival/husband-died-just-six-
mi...](http://www.usaprepares.com/survival/husband-died-just-six-miles-from-
help-after-he-and-wife-got-lost-in-wild-because-of-gps-he-died-trying-to-
raise-alarm-but-she-survived-for-seven-weeks-by-staying-put)

~~~
bane
I might be mixed up on it. Gosh it's hard to imagine that was six years ago.

------
protomyth
Handy tip, best "snow shovel" for digging yourself out is a grain shovel. Keep
one in your car in winter.

------
watt
"You sweat, you die". That's what I have learned watching those survival shows
(Survivorman, etc)

------
jstanley
This is an excellent read indeed.

------
nwmcsween
Great writing, the story was somewhat interesting but the writing was great.

------
pdog
Anyone else find the second-person narrative distracting?

------
fastball
> by Peter Stark

Apt.

------
andyl
I teach search and rescue people how to travel on skis or snowshoes and live
in winter mountains. If you are prepared, you can stay out in sub-zero for
days and days very comfortably.

A key skill is constant regulation of your body temperature. You never want to
become too hot/sweaty or too cold. If too cold - get into shelter, drink
something hot, eat carbs, add clothes, move faster. If too hot - remove
clothes, or move slower. Fix temperature problems immediately - never tough it
out.

Common mistakes: people get distracted by gadgets, or they get impatient and
start to wander. Then they lose awareness of their body temperature, and
become hypothermic. Once you get hypothermic, things fall apart fast.

If you do winter travel in remote areas, carry warm clothes, water and food.
Then if you get stuck, be patient and steady. Follow this advice, and the odds
of freezing to death go way down! :-)

~~~
rdl
Also: STAY WITH THE VEHICLE.

In general, if you're driving somewhere remote and something goes wrong,
you're almost always better off staying with your vehicle vs. setting out on
foot for help. There are obviously exceptions, but as a general thing, it's
true.

~~~
MichaelApproved
That reminds me of the sad story of CNet editor James Kim. He got caught in a
snow storm with his family. He left the car and died trying to get help. His
family was rescued in good condition. Had he stayed with them, they all would
have survived.

<http://news.cnet.com/2100-1028_3-6141498.html>

~~~
raverbashing
Today, in the age of gps enabled cell phones there is no reason to leave the
car (unless there's a risk of explosion, car sliding off a cliff, etc, etc)

Get your position, call 911, wait.

If the signal is not good enough to make a call, send an SMS

~~~
DanBC
What if the signal isn't good enough to send an SMS?

I'd tend to agree that staying with the car is sensible. Maybe with some
bright orange tarpaulin / flag thing over the car (although that'd probably
get buried in snow.)

At least if you're travelling in really bad weather you know you might get
stuck and so you should prepare.

People in England were caught out when light snow was forecast; they left work
early and joined the M25 at the same time as the road gritters, which caused a
weird cascade effect and blocked a major motorway in the UK for 24 hours when
there was only 1 or 2 cm of snow.

~~~
raverbashing
Then write your SMS, try sending it and try exploring different positions
(maybe try exiting the car, or even climb it). Just don't wander away from it.

In my experience, the phone will retry sending the SMS a couple of times if
the signal is low.

~~~
SoftwareMaven
When I go riding around central Utah on my motorcycle (note: these are paved
roads with a street motorcycle), I'm often out of cell coverage for hours at a
time. The reality is that the high mountains and deep valleys for "real"
mountains, combined with the lack of towns, provide for no coverage, either
SMS or cell. If I got caught in those places in snow that is feet-deep, I
wouldn't expect my electronics to free me.

~~~
raverbashing
Yes, there are huge areas without cell coverage

Still, having a gps is helpful (at least you know where you are and can wander
but knows how to get back)

Having an automotive gps with maps is even more helpful

But yeah, it is a very bad situation nonetheless

------
actalavistababy
I stopped reading once I saw "Fahrenheits". Fahrenheit and imperial system is
what Microsoft is to software: non-compliance with internationally agreed
standards.

~~~
recursive
Your loss.

------
jaequery
good read, but more of a reddit material than a HN

------
billyjobob
How old is this article? It seems to use the old Fahrenheit temperature scale.
I'm sure my grandfather would understand those temperatures but for myself I
had to convert each one into modern units. Eventually I couldn't be bothered
and stopped reading.

~~~
recursive
New Fahrenheit is the same as old Fahrenheit. In other words, it never
changed.

~~~
bitwize
Fahrenheit _is_ old. Celsius is modern. The real avant-garde give all
temperatures in kelvins...

~~~
walrus
Quit living in the past. We use Planck temperature now.

