Will Gadd: Keeping your hands warm, Part 2
image: Will Gadd collection; Helmcken Falls, BC Canada - https://www.instagram.com/p/C7wtpfsRLNj/
Veteran Canadian ice climbing expert Will Gadd knows a few things about staying warm. This article is part 2 of a series of posts he made on Instagram. I’m sharing it here with Will’s permission.
Connect with Will on his website and Instagram, @realwillgadd
How to have warm hands: General Tips
Take your gloves off immediately if your hands start to sweat. Even at -20 you can walk or ski with bare hands, but if you get your gloves even a bit damp you will suffer. Same with your hat. Open the front zipper of your jacket. Take care with your gloves—drop them in the snow and they get wet, you get cold. They are precious. Cargo pockets on your pants or bibs can be a good place to stuff your gloves for temporary storage.
Keep the next pair of gloves you’re going to wear inside your jacket, preferably next to your skin. Putting them on will feel glorious!
The colder it is, the more you have to move. Below about -20c I just don’t multi-pitch. If it’s really cold go top-roping. Set a timer, each do 15 minutes of hard laps in your moving outfit, insulate up, repeat. Good to go even at -30!
If your hands are getting cold fix them NOW by moving. At belays I’ve done hundreds of squats, arm swings, leg lifts, jumping jacks, whatever it takes, but if you’re starting to get cold in your standing outfit the situation is not going to improve. Move. Even just doing stomach crunches in place is going to help. On lead that may mean doing 50 arm swings, or squats if the climbing is slow, or just moving fast if safe to get your core up.
Warm sugary liquids. I usually fill my water bottle or light thermos with hot water and some sort of sweet powdered stuff. This encourages drinking it, and also just feels nice. Like hot packs I’m not sure if they make a material difference to heat, but stress/not happy is a bad.
How to have warm hands: Tech Tricks
Wet anything = cold. It sucks, but change your shirt after the approach. The worst is to arrive wet, put on your standing outfit, and then lose all your heat drying out your shirt. It can literally ruin the day. A moment of pain is worth it! Dry = happy.
On colder days add more clothing to your legs. Slightly thicker long underwear, thicker pants = happiness. If it’s really cold, wet or windy I’ll wear Gore-Tex pants while climbing. That can make all the difference, but if it’s not cold/wet/windy then you will sweat out and be miserable. Be sure they are cut for climbing and not ski boots, loose legs are deadly with crampons. Tape if necessary.
Have loose wrist cuffs. Even elastic cuffs will noticeably impede the circulation to your wrists. Some gloves are heinous for this.
In cold temps or if you have poorer circulation run chemical “heat packs” on the inside of your wrists inside your gloves. This won’t keep your hands “warm,” but it seems to really help many people. It’s psychologically nice as well, and stress is a vasoconstrictor.
Gaps between your gloves and jacket suck. Some jackets are cut with T Rex arms, and they expose skin. The solution is not longer gloves, but a jacket that doesn’t gap.
Lead with your belay jacket and gloves in a pack, especially if swapping leads. Put it on immediately at the belay. If you can’t climb the pitch with a down jacket on your back then don’t.
Eat fat and protein early in the morning, sugar during the day. The difference a Mars bar can make is awesome. Low energy = less movement = cold. Most nutritionists are idiots when it comes to staying warm.
I personally love spicy food and think it helps with the cold, but I have no real evidence for this. Some people swear by ginger, cayenne pepper, etc, try it out. Meds for Raynaud’s may help too.
Don’t smoke/vape. Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor.
Caffeine helps blood flow in your fingers. Drink Red Bull.