The Coldest You Have Been?

-20*F shorts and a tee-shirt four feet of soft snow. Had to run to go get our BBQ cover before it got to the frozen over lake, ran 50 yards, fell over twice from sinking into the snow

 

Fairbanks, Alaska - a year ago - -48 F (part of my sales territory). To make
it worse, I accidentally locked my keys in the rental car while warming it up and
had to wait almost 2 hours before the rental guy got there (and paid a $75 fee).

Landed in Anchorage the next day where it was +4 and it FELT WARM!!!

Then on from Anchorage to Honolulu two days later (also part of my territory) and
it was 86F Ahhhhhhhhhh

Jedi

 

I grew up in Miami. I wasnt really familiar with *cold*.

I took a trip , by myself, to NYC when I was 18 and the warmest piece of clothing I brought was my Members Only jacket

I remember not having any money and walking from the office I was working out of back to where I was staying during a snowstorm with only my Members Only jacket to keep me warm. I remember my teeth chattering so uncontrollably I thought they were going to shatter. It was so hard to breathe I honestly thought I was going to die.

I really dont know what the temperature was but I do know it was unlike anything I had experienced.

 

^^^^ ha ha ha ha ha Jerry had a member's only jacket

 

-54 degrees Fahrenheit ambient air temp (-48c) It felt colder once you included the wind chill....

We had that for two days last winter....the car wouldn't start so I said **** it after trying to get it going for 30 minutes.....

 

Mt. Whitney. It started to rain and was so cold we couldn't use our hands to put up our tents for shelter.

 

-40 something on Mont Tremblant. I went on a ski trip with a bunch of people from my college, and more than a couple got mild frostbite. I'll never forget, I was sitting at one end of the 30ft+ long kitchen with a lit fire place in the middle of the room and a door leading outside on the far end wall. Someone opened the door, and I could instantly see my breath. It literally went from the mid 70's to cold enough to see your breath immediately.

My sister lives in ND now, she has been having high temps in the low single digits lately, and she says it feels warm compared to how it felt a few weeks ago.

 

And it was white ! Within 20 minutes of arriving in NYC it was a charcoal grey

 

-40F or more.

After a certain point, thermometer only measures misery, not temperature.

 

As a kid growing up in Montana -40 below was a pretty regular event. I haven't seen that kind of cold here for quite a few years.
I was in Philly picking up a Ferrari about 18 years ago. It was +20 degrees out and the coldest I've ever been.

 

Wow I had a similar experience. College ski trip Mont Tremblant 1975. It was so cold that the diesel bus we went in had to be left running all night. The driver was afraid that if he turned it off he wouldn't be able to get it started. I remember watching the ski patrol warming up their ski boots with the hand driers in the bathroom. Still shiver thinking about it. Small world.

 

As a kid I fell through the ice while walking on a frozen reservoir. That was cold. Walking home while dripping wet was even colder.

 

Snowmobile trip Island Park, Idaho. Hit wind chill of -120 F Ambient temp was about -40F.. Hot tub was on the deck, I dipped my head under water and within a few minutes my hair was chunks of ice. Then we started playing "who could run the furthest away from the hot tub" game, bad choice! Feet started sticking to the ice on the ground..

Oh to be young and immature!

 

Lived in AK for 6 years, plenty of cold days come to mind, but one day snowmobiling at -60F in Fairbanks (before wind chill), hard to blink your eyes as they get sticky. That was mf ccccold.

 

Hehehehehe. Thats where mine occurred too. Our family has a home up there.

 

Went camping decided to do without a tent. Must have been -20. Slept like a baby.

 

Survival training in eastern Washington in mid July. It was only down to mid 50-60s at night but when you have minimal clothing you get very very cold.

 

-19 Washington DC

 

I made the mistake of taking my California winter wear to Baltimore. A frigid, penetrating bitter cold night walk to a restaurant from the hotel: 18 degrees F.

 

Around -15C in Toronto! I was just visiting the relatives..

 

New Year's Day Y E A R S ago.

About -100*F with the wind chill. High Rockies. Just sneakers on.

Opened the car door and ran out and watched the sun fully crest the horizon and dashed back into the car. Total time about 1-2 minutes. Darn near got frost bite. Parts could have fallen OFF !!! !!!!!!!!!! College "Polar Bear Club" stunt. Took a couple of days to fully warm back up.



Another time overnight hike in the High Rockies fishing. My dad and me. Started snowing and the temp dropping.... like a rock. We "rushed" to put the tent up but it took so long as we were sooooooooo cold. Could not close my fingers to get my boots untied. Had to clamp the palms of my hands around the laces to open them.

Once in our sleeping bags after over an hour of work, we said our "Good Nites."

We did not expect to wake up.

Only the falling snow building up on the outside of the tent creating a heck of an insulation layer kept us alive IMO. Have NO idea how cold it got.



Grafenwoehr Traininig Area Germany. Over -100*F on Observation Point (OP) 7 (w/wind chill). Calling-in 155mm and 8" artillary while training back during the Cold War. Brought a whole new meaning to the term .


Too many other close calls to mention. Me and cold do NOT get along.

 

30 day backcountry snow camping/skiing trip in the Colorado Rockies. We had a min/max thermometer that registered -17F one day, so dug a snowcave to sleep in so it was a seriously balmy 32F and didn't need a tent. We had problems with ski boots freezing and chillblaines. We only had a windtarp from an old McKinley tent. Slept on snow every night.

Mutliple other winter camping, climbing, backcountry ski trips in the Sierras, Cascades and Rockies. No thermometer. I have a Marmot sleeping bag rated to -20 below for those trips.

 

A few years ago, my next door neighbours old their house and no one was living in it at the time. They had a pool, it was Winter time and a mate dared us to all jump in the swimming pool next door. The pool next door is inground and has a tin roof over the top of it. No sun gets in to warm the water.

Well...........we jumped in the water, and it was FAAAAARRRRRRKKKKEN cold!

We dared each other as to who would stay in there the longest. I dont remember who did stay in there the longest, but there was 3 of us and we were all blue at the end of it. We were in there around 10 mins I reckon before the thought of death crossed our minds.

Its the coldest I have ever been and I dont think I will able to top that anytime soon.

 

Western Minn.,walking to school in 1964. -50F! No wind, very quiet morning. Spit would freeze before it hit the ground.