The weather forecast for Thursday’s classic race at Masters Nationals in Marquette, Michigan called for 2-3 inches of snow, a low of —6 Fahrenheit and a high of 4F. The windshield factor was supposed to be negative 20-30 Fahrenheit with wind gusts of 20-30 miles per hour. The humidity is relatively high.
Here are some suggestions for how to deal with this type of racing based upon how I prepared for this event.
I usually have problems with my hands and face in cold weather but I raced, even though it was close to —18 Celsius.
The international recommended cut off for racing is at —18 Celsius. This is considered the turning point for when things turns dangerous. At this point it’s up to the race jury to decide weather a race can be held or not. Wind, humidity, weather forecast, racers age, race length, course-profile and so on will at this point be discussed at a jury meeting to decide if the race start needs to be delayed or if the race should be cancelled.
Here are some suggestions that might help you deal with cold weather racing:
Clothing:
It’s great to race in Lycra but it’s not very protective. I’m using a wind brief as well as wind brief style protective long underwear pants and top. Craft makes some excellent wind-block long underwear. It works. Men should use regular underwear as well as wind brief if you are (only) using regular sports underwear. I have seen grown men cry in desperation after cold weather racing where they didn’t protect their groin well. Trust me, you don’t want to try this if you haven’t experienced it.
I also recommend a lightweight protective race vest under your Lycra top for both men and women — something with a collar that protects your neck and throat as well.Â
Your gloves need to be designed for cold weather skiing with a wind protective backside.
I’m keeping my race gloves inside so they are warm and dry until it’s time to go to the start line. The warm-up will be done in a similar pair.
Use boot-covers for the warm-up if you have problems with cold feet. Remove them right before the start.
Use earmuffs and two hats
– Use some lotion in the evening on any place you have dry skin.
– Cover critical part of your face like cheeks and nose if possible. Moleskin works well. Duct tape will also do the job, but it’s a little rougher to peal off afterwards. It could possibly damage your skin (or freeze to your face) when you peal it off. I used that (duct tape) in the pursuit (with a little Vaseline underneath). It was ok (but rough when I peeled it off). I’ll change to moleskin for Thursday’s race.
-The right type of weather protective “creams†works well. Avoid stuff with a water-base. They will “freeze†your face
-Consider a neoprene alpine style face mask if you have big time problems with getting frost bite on you face. Make the hole for your mouth bigger than what’s normal on the mask. You don’t want to breathe onto the neoprene since that would create unwanted moisture around your mouth. The moisture could freeze.
Good luck in your next cold weather race!
Note: I’ll be traveling back to Utah immediately following Thursday’s race. I’ll try to make a race report from the classic race this weekend.
Photos from Masters will be on Fasterskier.com next week.
