How Winter Athletes Actually Manage To Stay Warm Out There

Heaps of winter snow and below-freezing temperatures might feel like a rare weather event for most people, but for Winter Olympians? It’s a day in the life. This year’s Milano Cortina Winter Olympics are taking place Feb. 6-22 in Italy, specifically across venues in Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo, and other territories in the Italian Alps. That means many athletes can expect to compete in temperatures that range from the teens to the high 30s and snowy conditions — and at higher altitudes, temps can drop even lower into the negatives. Brrrr.

For athletes competing at the top of their respective sports, the weather’s manageable thanks to hacks and techniques they’ve picked up over years of training in similar wintry conditions. Viewers of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, may remember how alpine skiers applied sticky athletic tape to their faces to protect their skin from the frigid cold.

As Mike Tipton, professor of human and applied physiology of the University of Portsmouth, told the New York Times, that tape paired with Vaseline “can add a layer of insulation to decrease the amount of sweat evaporating off the skin.” It doesn’t actually do much to raise body temperature, but it tempers the distraction of having a freezing face in the first place.

Team USA figure skater Isabeau Levito tells Bustle that one issue she has with her dry, sensitive skin is irritation from constantly blowing the runny nose she gets from perpetually being outside in the winter (relatable). “Since I’m so cold all the time, it doesn’t take much before the skin is burning and red, so I have to use a very specific brand of tissue, otherwise I’m actually screwed,” she says.

For some athletes, energy is key. Team USA bobsledder Kaysha Love tells Bustle she can't remember the last time that she was actually cold on the start block because she’s so locked in, even though her uniform is just a thin layer of spandex. Before competing, she bundles up with layers over her uniform — snow pants and a coat — and sheds them a minute before she’s set to start.

“The adrenaline and fierce drive to compete keeps you warm, and it’s not until you get to the bottom that you start to feel even remotely cold,” she says. There are more warm layers at the end of the track — boots, a coat, and snow pants packed in what she calls a “down bag” — for her to jump into after the race.

Then there’s the gear itself: According to the Times, at Pyeongchang’s 2018 Games, where weather conditions were “severe,” Team USA’s alpine skiers used “jackets with battery-powered heating elements, and Canadian alpine skiers wore battery heated pants between runs.” Some biathletes used respiratory heat exchangers — mouthpieces that warm cold air before it goes into the lungs.

This time around, the Swedish Olympic and Paralympic teams are partnering with Uniqlo, whose popular HEATTECH and PUFFERTECH styles keep the team warm during competitions and opening and closing ceremonies. The Canadian Olympic teams are officially outfitted by Vancouver-based Lululemon and don gear made with thermoregulation technology that keeps them warm and looks patriotic, thanks to designs that highlight Canada’s iconic maple leaf symbol.

Sportswear giant Adidas has partnerships with multiple teams — Great Britain, Poland, Turkey, Hungary, Ethiopia, and Brazil. Their Winter Olympian and Paralympian uniforms include the brand’s proprietary Terrex, CLIMAPROOF, and CLIMAWARM collections (available for purchase, btw), which use Primaloft insulation to keep athletes warm and GORE-TEX technology for maximum water- and wind-proof performance.

It’s also important to remember that athletes are, in fact, producing their own body heat as they compete, so while they might be cold right before their event, that feeling can quickly dissipate when their muscles contract.

“High-level athletes can produce a lot more work with their muscles than normal people,” Carl Foster, professor of exercise science and director of the human performance lab at the University of Wisconsin-LaCross, told Gizmodo. “In an elite endurance athlete, like a cross country skier, they can work at essentially double the rate of a normal person of the same age. And, because 75 percent of energy production results in heat production, they produce a lot of heat.”

Of course, not everyone is an Olympic athlete, so our bodies might not necessarily be producing lots of heat in freezing temperatures. Whether you’re a spectator IRL or just facing cold temps you’re not used to, the National Weather Service recommends wearing layers, limiting time outdoors, consuming hot drinks, and removing any wet clothing to protect yourself from extreme cold. Air-activated hand warmers also help.

And while tech can and does ultimately come in handy, some athletes don’t even really need it. “We are so hot down there,” Hilary Knight, Team USA’s ice hockey forward, tells Bustle. “We’re wearing 15 to 20 pounds of equipment, so we’re like, ‘Where’s the ice I can just dump down the back of my neck?’”