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Adirondack
Mountains New York
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Cross-Country Skiing - Avoid the HazardsHAZARDS
OF COLD WEATHER EXPOSURE
Frostbite, snow blindness and hypothermia
Precautions
- Never venture far, alone
- Wrinkle face to stop stiff patches
forming, pulling muscles in every direction. Exercise hands.
- Watch yourself and others for
patches of waxy, reddening or blackened skin, especially faces, ears
and hands.
- AVOID tight clothing which will
reduce circulation.
- Never go out without adequate
clothing - however briefly. Avoid getting clothing wet, through
sweat or water. Dry it as soon as possible if this happens.
Knock snow off before entering shelter, or leave outer clothing at
entrance. Snow will melt in warmth giving you more clothing to dry.
- Wear gloves and keep them dry. NEVER
touch metal with bare hands.
- AVOID spilling gasoline on bare
flesh. In sub-zero temperatures it will freeze almost at once and
does even more damage than water because of its low melting point.
- Be especially careful if you have
been working hard and are fatigued. If you are sick - rest.
WINTER SURVIVAL ITEMS:
- MULTI PURPOSE TOOL
Such as a Swiss army knife or a Leatherman tool. You will need this
to fix broken equipment, cut branches for a shelter, cut wood for a
fire. This item will always be used and if you don't have at least a
knife you might not make it.
- STEEL WIRE
You will need this to suspend firewood in the air to have a fire to
keep you warm. If the snow is deep you cannot make a fire directly
on the snow. Bring at least 10 ft (or 3 meters) of wire, preferably
stainless but regular will do fine too. If you are snowshoeing in an
area that never has very deep snow you can skip this item.
Make a screen with the wire and make sure it's anchored well on the
snow or to nearby vegetation or rocks and make you fire on top of
it.
- DUCT TAPE
Perfect for fixing a broken snowshoe or to fix supports around a
broken leg. Even if you don't break your legs or your snowshoes duct
tape will still come in handy for fixing pretty much anything.
- RICE
Perfect emergency food. Very light weight and full of energy. In an
emergency you just need lots of energy, don't worry so much about
vitamins. Bring about 3 cups of rice per person per day you think
you will spend in worst case.
- SMALL COOKING POT WITH LID
To boil water to keep you warm and to cook rice to eat. If your pot
has a lid it will heat water more efficiently.
- WOOD POWERED CAMP STOVE
You need to bring a stove, no question about it, your best source of
heat will be drinking plenty of hot water and you need a stove to
boil all that water, without a stove you're dead for sure. What ever
you do, don't bring a propane stove or any type of stove that runs
on gas or liquid fuel. Gas and liquid stoves work fast and
efficiently but they have a number of problems that only show up in
cold temperatures, propane stoves sometimes simply don't ignite if
it gets too cold, they also have moving parts and complex nozzles
that can get jammed or clogged by ice. Relying on a propane or
liquid fuel stove in the winter is suicide. You need a very simple
wood stove with absolutely no moving parts such as the Trailstove.
These types of stoves are slower to cook on than propane stoves but
they ALWAYS work.
- LIGHTERS AND MATCHES
Bring plenty of lighters and matches. Lighters are very small and
light so bringing extra ones in case one doesn't work is a very good
idea. Without means to make fire you will freeze to death. You can
try to make fire like a caveman by spinning a stick against a piece
of wood but that is a skill that takes practice to learn and if you
don't already have that skill you'll freeze to death before you have
it figured out.
Observe and
enjoy wildlife and plant life but leave them undisturbed
If you've read this far, then
you're seriously thinking about Cross-Country Skiing in the Adirondacks! Click below
for a residence that will be the base camp for your group. Stay 2 or
more nights and receive 10% discount off our super-low winter rates.
Mention "X-Country Skiing in the Adirondacks".
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