Lindale, Alberta, Canada
Jan 11, 1977,
-53c
Had to feed chickens, and do various chores
If you spit, it bounced
Took me 3 hrs to quit shivering after 20 minutes outside, and yes, I was very well dressed for the conditions.
I’m with you. I’m achy all winter. It doesn’t get Wisconsin cold here, but it’s miserable for someone like me who needs the warmth.
I’m so envious of those of you who like cold weather.
Around -25 to -30 Celsius.
-35 F or so; dunno what the wind chill was. I had a Wiggy’s sleeping bag and a 2" foam underpad. I think that the folks sleeping in the tents had it worse; I piled snow over my bivy and I think that added a nice bit of insulation. In the morning, when the air was perfectly still, we were all walking around in a glittering chest-high fog of our own frozen breath. Beautiful to behold; unfortunately it didn’t photograph worth a damn.
I’m apparently quite strange. At 65[sup]o[/sup]F inside I feel like I’m going to die. I mean, I literally start feeling sick. If I sleep in it, I will not be able to think when I wake up, and will have flu-like symptoms.
I went out in 45[sup]o[/sup]F yesterday for just long enough to drop of a package to my next-door neighbor (it was incorrectly delivered). I can’t believe I did that. It took me a good 3-4 hours to heat myself back up. (I even had a sub 97[sup]o[/sup]F body temperature for a bit.)
I so envy you guys who can be out in subzero temperatures…
Your body does get used to it. And if you are out of it for a season or two the body forgets. I’m not sure what all is going on physiologically, but it happens.
My Aunt grew up in Wisconsin. Moved away maybe in her late 20s. Has lived in South Carolina since. She completely lost her cold resistance. I remember her visiting in March - it was maybe 50 F outside. I was perfectly comfortable outside in jeans and a t-shirt, she was miserable in a winter coat.
Since moving a bit south to Illinois, even I notice that I’ve lost a bit. I didn’t used to get fazed much by temps in the single digits (F). Now I’m “cold” outside, properly dressed, at anything below about 25.
Wow, that’s cold. I don’t remember it ever going below -40C here. I’m not sure what my threshold is but that was definitely below it.
All right, let’s just end this little pussy parade right now. I live in Minnesota; I am not a native Minnesotan. I am a Californian who moved to Minnesota (semi-)voluntarily, so I don’t have any natural-born, Midwestern, cold-as-shit thick skin. There is no temperature that is too cold for me to be outside in.
Okay, some people here have admitted to being able to stand some pretty low temperatures, but I wanted to use the term “pussy parade.”
10 degrees F. We’re sitting at 9 ATM.
I have two answers.
The coldest I can stand to be outside is about 5 F. Below that I find it all but impossible to keep my extremities warm for any length of time, and breathing is painful.
But really, for bone-chilling cold, the absolute worst is a windy, humid day in the mid 30s F. My core temperature must drop like a stone on days like that, as, once the chill sets in, it takes me hours to recover.
I handle cold pretty well, I feel. I’ve also read about how peoples’ bodies will actually adapt to colder climates. My “normal” body temperature is usually around 97 degrees F, as opposed to 98.6. I wonder if there’s any research on that potential connection.
I’ve yet to encounter a temperature that is too cold for me. I’m someone who will be in short sleeves and barefoot in 40° weather for very short periods of time (e.g.: going out for firewood or going down to the laundry room). I’ve been out, and bundled up, at temperatures below zero.
Only thing that keeps me from being outside is ice.
Mine too, actually. I suspect in with me it’s a case of nurture plus nature - I was born cold-tolerant, and live in a cold region where I would have gotten used to it anyway. Cold just doesn’t bother me the way I’ve seen it bother other people - it’s not a conscious decision. I go out in the cold, and I simply don’t notice being cold - it’s not something that grabs my attention.
You can all call me a hypocrite when I start snowbirding, though. Cold tolerance really does go down as you age. 
That’s about my limit too. My first Canadian winter (as an adult) it was about -30C out, but I was desperate for a run. Got my windstopper shell on, my thermal tights, windstopper pants, a few layers - I was good to go!
But I had failed to account for the windchill and I didn’t realize how gusty it really was (one of those “record breaking” nights). “Windstopper” clothes my ass! I never made it around the block. Some buildings and trees provided a bit of a windblock, but when I got to the corner… WOOSH!
Jack Frost kicked me in the balls. No, really. I’m not joking. My testes tried such a desperate leap up into the warmth of my innards that it felt like a Yeti was squeezing my ballsack. I turned back, actually got scared for a bit because my stomach hurt so I was having trouble getting my super-chilled self back (I’m telling you, it was like getting kicked in the pills), and I puked in the bushes next to the door to our building.
I pay very, very close attention to the words “windchill factor” now.
It was 38F during my 30 minute walk to work this morning. I also went out last night and will again tonight.
Only other cold weather I’ve been in for any amount of time (grew up & am still in San Francisco) was a weekend in Chicago when it never went above 35F, and I imagine it was around that when I went to Seattle in 2007. Certainly didn’t stay in then.
40 F. What can I say, I lived in California for nine years.
I believe he’s also a member of the “300 Club” which is nothing to do with Pat Robertson but rather a ritual that they do at the South Pole when outside temps hit -100F; you climb into the sauna, crank it up to 200F, then go outside (-100F for a net temp delta of 300F) and run naked to the South Pole.
If I had the opportunity I think I’d have to do it but can’t see myself staying outdoors for very long…
I spent a couple nights at -15 F. But of course it probably got colder during the night
No problem hiking or sleeping, but fiddling with the stove to cook dinner was annoying (fiddle for a minute, stick your hands somewhere warm/put the big gloves back on for a couple minutes, take the gloves back off to fiddle with the stove for a minte, etc.), to the point where knowing it would be that cold would be a factor against going, though not absolutely rule it out. So not ‘too cold’ but definitely ‘cold enough’.
I only hope there are some disappointed people who end up reading this thread after doing a websearch for your term.
To all of them: Hi!
There must have been a localized mass of Arctic air right around Lindale that day:
