Adam in the Cold—Strategizing for the Brrrrrrrrrr

Adam Fabrikant in his element: which is pretty much any day with skis and snow.

Some days are colder than others. We checked in with cold-weather denizen Adam Fabrikant to get his take on managing lower temps and keeping the stoke for making turns.

Cold temperatures are relative. Is it a humid cold? A dry cold. Somewhere in between. Is the wind howling?

And sure, although daylight savings time flipped us into body-clock disarray, it’s still winter for a few more weeks. And it will be winter again here in the Northern Hemisphere next December 21st. The information we are presenting will be relevant again at some point.

I had a mid-February trip to Bozeman and Tetons planned. I began weather-watching. Let’s just say that I visit my oldest child in Montana around his birthday to get some ice climbing, and I’m kind of wimpy. I’m still working through some cold-hand screaming-barfies PTSD from a few years back. Dry heaving and then breaking through the ice soaking my boots, my then 19-year-old comforted me. The life cycle is real. 

So yes, I eyed the weather, fearful I’d again be thrown into screaming-barfie disarray.  

According to my sources, I saw -18 °F in Jackson Hole on February 13th. On the 12th, Bozeman recorded -20 °F. (I know, for those harder than me, you say, “That’s balmy.”) I often send texts out asking about weather conditions elsewhere. Around then, I texted Adam Fabrikant—who ski guides daily in the Tetons and skis 8,000-meter peaks on vacation. 

Inquiring about his day’s activities and the temps, he responded, “It’s -26 at the trailhead.” This led to a conversation about how he deals with cold weather while touring. It must be said that I’m clearly softer than Adam, and my digits are prone to getting icy cold. Here’s an edited, shortened version of our conversation regarding the topic. Trigger warning—we don’t discuss base layer strategies. 

The car dash reveals the truth: -26 is legit cold.

Jason: Ok, let’s start with the basics. Do you bring a Thermos? I often bring one filled with broth or tea on very colddays. 

Adam: I don’t bring thermoses. I don’t own a thermos. So that’s not me. But most people would say a thermos is a must on these days. That’s a good resource. However, I do use a water bottle parka for my Nalgene on specific days; my drinking water can still freeze, and this helps slow the process. My water bottle froze yesterday, March 8th, so I should have brought the water bottle parka. 

Jason: How about a Buff for the nose or face? 

Adam: I’ve stopped carrying a Buff. The beard and Buffs don’t work well together—long story. 

Jason: Ok. I still occasionally carry a neoprene mask that’s roughly 30 years old for cold-blowing conditions. I’ve got a persistent cold injury on the tip of my nose. And yeah, I’m a Buff devotee. But you carry more facial hair than me, so maybe there is something to that.

(I’m not finding any hard scientific theory about a beard keeping one’s face warmer—it must—but I am finding it helps prevent sunburn.)

Let’s work toward another extremity; what about hand warmers? Hand warmers, anybody? I keep a spare pair in my pack. I’m prone to cold hands. Do you use hand warmers?

Adam: No, I’ve literally never used hand warmers in my life. Billy [Haas], on the other hand, gets really cold hands. He uses something like 100 pairs of hand warmers a year. And he brings something like three pairs of gloves every day. I don’t understand why anyone would ever want to bring more than one pair. 

Jason: I’m a three pairs of gloves person mid-winter. And man, BD has a big number of mitten-glove SKUs to fill out the three pairs. I’m hauling Cirque Gloves (lightweight), Enforcers (no longer available mid-weight), and Soloist (heavyweight). And if I’m likely to encounter really burly cold, I forgo the Cirques and pack OR Alti mitts (poor dexterity but warm). 

Adam: Mid-winter, I’ve got access to the Soloist, but most often I’m bringing the BD Glissade glove. And that’s it. In spring, due to warmer conditions, I’ll have a liner glove and something more substantial. But if I’m skinning while guiding, I’m breaking trail; oftentimes, even in real cold temps, I’m gloveless. My system is simple—usually a single pair of gloves.    

Jason: Ok, feet. Let’s talk socks for frigid days. I’ve got lightweight and heavyweight ski socks and then, for very colddays, a set of Lenz Slim Fit socks with the rcB 1200 batteries. The Lenzs don’t get much use here, and I’m a bit fiddly with the Bluetooth system to control the battery output. I need to get to know the heated socks a bit more.  

Adam: My threshold for wearing heated socks is -10 °F. Above that, I’m pretty much going with my regular thick ski socks. I wear thick snowboarding socks in cold temps above the -10 °F threshold. If you haven’t worn snowboard socks, they are thick and plush all over. 

But I also have a ritual that I think works. On legitimate cold days, I wear one pair of socks to the trailhead and change into clean socks for the day in the car. 

I prefer to minimize cramponing or boot packing on very cold days as well. 

But let’s take a step back. I know we all have our preferences, rituals, and habits. Here is where I stand. I think people should think less about clothing and more about their mentality of the day.

Returning from a day of moving on the sticks with Fabrikant. The temps weren’t very cold—his beard did collect some ice.

Jason: Illuminate me, what does that mean?

Adam: If it’s cold out, my thought process is that I’m going to generate some heat. So, whether it’s 10 degrees, or it could be like my coldest day this year, which was -37 degrees—I will take minimal stops. That means there’s not a lot of hanging around. I want to minimize transitions, which is pretty easy to do in the Tetons. For most objectives, we just have big climbs. But the big strategy is figuring out how not to sit around. For guiding, that means a smaller group size, which is my norm; I mainly take one or two people at a time.

All this means, from my perspective, one tool that matters, and that is your engine. If you keep your engine running warm, you will stay warm. I think it’s that simple.

So I eat and bring high-calorie food when it’s cold. The same goes for the pre-skinning meals. If it’s a cold day, I might eat more food in the morning, like a proper breakfast, which likely means eggs, toast, or whatever, before heading into the field. That usually keeps me running. Usually, I find that on days where I’m high output, I don’t eat a ton. 

I also advise clients to have a warm drink on the way to the trailhead. Anything to start warm is gonna help you stay warm. That saying, “Be bold, start cold,” has limitations. I’ll often start the day in a down puffy, as will my clients, to keep the core warm as we start skinning.   

Regarding puffies on Arctic days, I bring a more substantial puffy along. And if the temperatures aren’t inverted, and it’s colder every step upwards, I’m also rethinking my strategy in the alpine. For example, I’ll think about objectives where I can forgo using crampons to eliminate fiddling with those tools in extremely cold temps. I also prefer to avoid using a rope, etc., when it is extremely cold.

That massive parka, if you can’t walk uphill in it, may not be so functional. And if you’re carrying it for breaks, maybe you should consider taking fewer breaks—that could mean putting snacks in your pockets, for example. But this is just general advice on how people can be efficient. But a lot of people are fine having more picnics when they go skiing rather than going skiing, and the food is simply more fuel. There are different mentalities.

I’m also considering route planning, where we may climb in the shade and descend in the sun. I’m thinking about wind exposure and other nuances like that. But on the extreme cold days, moving above 12,000 feet probably isn’t happening unless the desire is to endure the elements.  

It’s also a whole other conversation discussing what happens if a partner or client is injured on a really cold day and you don’t have the margins you’re used to in warmer temps. 

There are exceptions, but my solution in most situations is to keep moving, no matter what.

Typical Layering systems for Fabrikant 

(Fabrikant has support from Arc’teryx)

Most Days

-Sunhoody

-Proton SL (formerly the Proton LW)

-Proton Hoody

-Black Diamond Glissade gloves 

-Smartwool snowboard socks

Extreme Cold Days

-Sunhoody

-Proton SL

-Alpha Lightweight Parka

-Black Diamond Soloists gloves

-Lenz heated socks