My favourite sport!
Skiing is my favorite sport, the cold, however, brings its drawbacks and a discussion point can be, what are the best hand warmers for skiing?
I am often asked why do I like skiing so much?
To anybody who skis this is perhaps the most ridiculous question, they are ever asked by non-skiers. Why?
Because you are in some of the most spectacular scenery you will ever see in the world. On top of a mountain on a sunny day (or any day for that matter) with a view of the snowy panorama, the view is quite simply breathtaking.
But try and take a picture of it, it never captures the same depth and feel as when you are stood there taking it yourself. You just don’t understand the effort and reward standing there and taking in the atmosphere…
Or when you have got up early in the morning, on the slopes before anybody else, the piste untouched, the crunchy corduroy snow telling you that conditions are perfect…absolute bliss!
The ‘Beast from the East’
I went skiing a few years ago, it was when the ‘Beast from the East’ arrived. We clambered tentatively out onto the slopes and were met with the air itself literally freezing. What you saw were little specks of ice sparkling in your eyes right across your view of the whole mountain. I have never seen anything quite as magical…
Or walk through any beautiful Austrian, French, Italian, Swiss (insert your favorite ski country here) town or village they are quaint enough anyway but add a sprinkling of snow, this turns them into winter wonderlands.
Going back up into the mountains stopping for coffee, lunch, dinner, or afternoon breaks in some gorgeous and remote hostelry or restaurant, where else would you find the settings and the scenery?
One particular bar-restaurant immediately comes to mind in Austria, it could have come straight off ‘The Hobbit’ film set complete with a door you literally had to bend double to enter and to be met by a dark and smoky but extraordinarily pleasant atmosphere produced from the open fire with little nooks and crannies galore to explore and finally sit to eat a scrumptious feast. All this with great company.
So for the uninitiated, you don’t know what you are missing…but hey that’s fine the ski lift queues can be long enough as it is already. No point in persuading more people and making them even longer.
I could go on for hours…back up on top of the mountain again catching your breath drinking in the scenery. The one thing I and most people don’t want to feel is cold.
St Anton the Cradle of Alpine Skiing
Modern ski clothing is marvelous with its ability to keep you warm as well as dry both from the snow, but also from your exertions. It’s nothing short of miraculous. I was in St. Anton a couple of years ago. One of the many bars we went into was showing black and white videos of the very early days of skiing (circa 1900). They say St Anton was the cradle (birthplace) of skiing.
Along with the skiing equipment of ridiculous wooden skis, boots and bindings were their clothes! They had on woolen trousers and a shirt and yes, even a tie, not very appropriate at all… All of this before the days of modern ski lifts when you had to physically climb up the mountain before you even began to ski.
Your clothes must have been saturated and very uncomfortable with your toils. I can’t imagine doing this, but I guess, just as we have unbelievers today, I am sure I would have got immense pleasure from it.
I used to share a house with a ‘child from Africa’ who needed the central heating on even in the height of summer. I have become far less tolerant to being cold. I go to extraordinary lengths to make sure I am always warm when I go skiing.
I like to have an extra layer more than is necessary, as well as having extra clothing in my rucksack ‘just in case’. In all my photos I look like I have eaten far too well for lunch even first thing in the morning! It is part of my discipline of making sure I am prepared for any scenario in the mountains.
Old rickety ski lifts a thing of the past?
Early on in my skiing career, I went to Austria, I found myself on a very ancient two-man ski lift, which decided to break down on the most exposed part of the mountain.
The wind was howling and the snow was falling, well actually it was more
being blown horizontally across the valley. Anybody who has been stuck on a ski
lift will know the frustration and it went on for ages. It would be no
exaggeration to say we were stuck there for between 30 to 45 minutes and by
that time I was frrrrreeeezing!
So, you will understand I never want to be unprepared again. In the early
days, I used to boast that I was so well covered the only bare skin exposed to
the elements was the very tip of my nose. However, with modern goggles and helmets, even my nose is covered these days.
To make sure, I have in my rucksack a spare pair of everything except for a
second ski jacket and salopettes. Included in my surplus is a set of hands
warmers, which if need be can double up as foot warmers. They are very rarely used as I carry a pair of silk glove liners as well as a pair of ordinary gloves if the temperature drops drastically.
I am sure there are a lot of people out there who feel colder than I do who
need some extra warmth to their extremities. So, what are the best hand warmers for skiers?
With skiing, you need items that are as compact as possible, large bulky items will be a hindrance. You will also need instant relief as a mountain can be extreme in its severity. Anything bulky or fiddly to light will be a major drawback, hence I would suggest either a single-use or a re-usable gel hand warmer as the best option in these circumstances.
Both of these are very compact (they can easily fit inside your gloves if
necessary) and give you instant relief from the biting cold. They will also take very little space in either your ski jacket or rucksack.
The instant hand warmer works as soon as you open the sealed bag containing the hand warmer. This starts a catalyst and immediately starts to warm or if you wish to accelerate this, by shaking the hand warmers. They will produce heat (60 degrees Fahrenheit) for up to 8 to 10 hours. When they have finished the are just thrown away.
The reusable hand warmers are activated by a metal disc floating inside the gel when the disc is ‘clicked’ it crystallizes the gel, this produces the heat (around 55 degrees Fahrenheit) for approximately 20 minutes to 2 hours dependent on the ambient temperature.
When you place them into boiling water for a few minutes, they
return to their original state and are ready for reuse. Whilst they are
more expensive than the single-use hand warmers initially, they will work out a
lot cheaper in the long run.
The other hand warmers available are fiddlier to use on the slopes but are
still worth a mention. Fuel hand warmers come in two sorts, the first is a
lighter fuel which is similar to use as a cigarette lighter (but without the
open flame). It does get pretty hot. Most come with a little pouch to
protect from burning yourself. These are not suitable for children.
In the event of losing one from either dropping it out of your pocket whilst
skiing or dropping it from an open ski lift will make it a lot more
expensive to replace.
Charcoal burners. Again, these have to be pre-lit and are placed in a special case
to protect from burning. The advantages and disadvantages are the same as
the lighter fuel hand warmers.
The other type of hand warmer is battery-powered, this is recharged by a
USB cable. The great advantage is for recharging your phone when you
are not using it to warm your hands. This is good news for anybody who uses a
ski tracker app on their phone as this app tends to gobble up your battery rapidly. The downside again is their size and price. They are
fairly cumbersome and costly should you lose them as I described earlier.
There you have it! Those are the best hand warmers available for when you go skiing. If you have any thoughts or comments, please feel free to send them to me and I will reply as soon as I possibly can.