What is the coldest you have ever been ?

[PILOON]

Two times, once went swimming in the river in mid February by accident, clothes frozen by the time I got to my grandmothers house a short distance away
mark

I'll never forget my similar winter dip wither. My pants were like stove pipes!
Just reading this gives me the shivers. Haven't warmed up since. LOL

 

[s219]

It's kind of funny how it depends on the location. I've gotten up early in the morning to ski in Utah when it was -20F, and it was tolerable with all my layers on (no wind thank god). The drier air in that part of the country makes cold temperatures feel less severe to me. In contrast, the same temperatures in Vermont were brutal. I remember carrying in a load of firewood one morning in Vermont when it was -35F, and that was the coldest I have ever felt. My nose skin hurt from exposure to the cold in just a few minutes outside.

 

[tcartwri]

I've worked in the very high arctic in camps for the last 25 years. -50C is pretty common, but the coldest I've ever been was after being dropped by helicopter to service a remote station at -5C. I wasn't dressed for the conditions and it was open and windy.. The chopper left to get more equipment and I imeadiatly realized i was in trouble. Never got caught like that again.

 

[Iowan]

The first winter my wife and I were together I made the mistake of touching her bare butt in the middle of the night, ****. Now she keeps the electric blanket on roast so its better but the thought still gives me the shivers.

 

[BKBoiss]

Coldest I have ever been was the first winter I hauled logs. We were hauling night shift into this little mill in the middle of a farmers WIDE OPEN not a tree in sight field, the temp gauge in the truck was showing -48C and wind was blowing around 60 70kmh. I managed to jake all the way in without touching the brakes then as I was loading the pole trailer I ran over my cord and jumped on the brake peddle. I spent the next half hour under the truck with a torch and hammer trying to get that dang valve to release. Thankfully by then I was between the log decks at least.

 

[MoKelly]

I was in Harbin, China for their annual ice festival a few years back. Harbin is in North China very near Russia. It was -25F at night when we had to walk around looking at all the ice sculptures. Despite all the clothes and furs and stuff to wear, it was still cold. And walking around drinking beer looking at ice just made it all that much colder.

It was not fun.

MoKelly

 

[jix]

In 1978, in Alert NWT ( LAT 88* n) Temp minus 60 *F wind 40 MPH. Stuck in deep snow in A Nodwell sno-cat cab for 11 hours, engine running. Got out and tried to dig out with shovels for 45 mins. Froze fingers, toes, Hypothermia, but we got her out and spent another three hours getting to heated shelter before fuel exhausted. Warm (not hot) water baths for six hours, then hyperbaric oxygen to perfuse the frozen limbs. Amputation of two toes subsequently. Nasty. Close call. Below 50, never go outside if it is windy at all. Even the eskimoes build an igloo and stay inside with an oil light. No amount of any kind of clothing will keep you warm in such cold, even if you are moving. Gotta have shelter. Gotta have hi calorie food (blubber) or die, from exposure. No joke.

 

[QueBota]

Amundsen Scott Research Station, Antarctica, -85 F. Had the new guys walk a course following a guide rope in shorts and tshirt, fortunately wind was blowing less than 10 mph. Walk takes about three minutes, so cold that it actually hurts. All the paths between buildings were well marked, when the wind picks up and the snow starts blowing around hard enough you can't see you feet, it's easy to get lost and could be deadly.

Q

 

[Daver1963]

December 1984 - Bradford, TN. It was hovering around 0F and my sister and her husband had gone out of town to a meeting. They had left that afternoon, got to the hotel, and about 8pm my sister calls and thinks she left a coffee pot on. She says there's a key by the back door. My father and I bundle up and go there. No key. We go back home.
Sister calls again says, well I think the bedroom window is unlocked. We go back and only way to try and slide window up is to take off gloves. Even if the window was unlocked its frozen shut. We go back home.
We get home, slightly frozen, and my sister has called again. Said that husband (who had been out of the hotel room) came back and said he unplugged the coffee pot before they walked out. Thanks Sis!

 

[tcartwri]

In 1978, in Alert NWT ( LAT 88* n) Temp minus 60 *F wind 40 MPH. Stuck in deep snow in A Nodwell sno-cat cab for 11 hours, engine running. Got out and tried to dig out with shovels for 45 mins. Froze fingers, toes, Hypothermia, but we got her out and spent another three hours getting to heated shelter before fuel exhausted. Warm (not hot) water baths for six hours, then hyperbaric oxygen to perfuse the frozen limbs. Amputation of two toes subsequently. Nasty. Close call. Below 50, never go outside if it is windy at all. Even the eskimoes build an igloo and stay inside with an oil light. No amount of any kind of clothing will keep you warm in such cold, even if you are moving. Gotta have shelter. Gotta have hi calorie food (blubber) or die, from exposure. No joke.