To continue from Pete's post:

Like altitude, cold weather can sneak up on all of us who do not ordinarily spend most of our time in that environment daily. No one who spends most of their time at a lower altitude or in heated buildings in the winter is immune all the time. Some folks are more susceptable to misery and worse in cold weather than others (just like altitude sickness), but it can happen to anyone.

I saw first-hand over and over how badly those who spend most of their time out in the cold can under-estimate the effects of the cold on those who do not - I believe that I personally made some very bad judgement calls over the years, specifically in interior Alaska. Climitization to extreme cold is REAL; just as real as altitude climitization, and if someone says they are cold, believe them!

Fuzzy thinking is a symptom of stage one hypothermia. It is a short path from that to stage two and beyond. This is not theory for me, and I will always be grateful for the proper reactions of others who dragged my butt back from stage 2 on a few occasions years ago. We took care of each other. That's important, 'cause you're not gonna help yourself if you are at stage 2.

A day in the cold can be tolerated by most indoors folks who are not ill and otherwise reasonably well-dressed. Two days (with an intervening night) will invigorate some and start to sap others. At three days and beyond, life in the cold can be extremely debiliating for many of us indoor-dwellers. Sick and/or tired? Seek shelter... warm shelter.

Been a lot of caca circulated around about diet in the cold. Eat well; eat lots. Move fat up to a higher percentage (very high) if you want to feel well. And drink LOTS - dehydration preceeds lots of cold-weather malaise. Sip, sip, sip - it's hard to force yourself to slug down lots of icy cold water (and not at all good for you if you are verging on being chilled). A small water bottle slung under most of your outer layers, nearly next to your skin, stays at a pleasant-in-winter luke warm temperature. Frequent breaks for a small snack and a couple of mugs of warm liquid are extremely helpful. Urine color in the snow tells the truth.

I could go on... but my point is that any of us could be debiliated in cold weather for a variety of reasons - nothing to be worried about; just be prepared for it if/when it happens. Best to not be alone when that happens - it is tough to grind thru a spot like that for very long on your own, and another person can really make a huge difference in a myriad of ways.

All said, my most fond outdoors memories are the winter ones - and I have lots more of those memories to make, I hope <grin>.

Tom