by Cameron Scott

Created on: November 24, 2009

Outdoor activities in winter can be great fun. A long way toward keeping them fun is to dress for the season, and to follow a few basic winter safety rules. A lot of them are common sense, but if snow is a new thing for you, dressing properly for the weather is an easy thing to overlook, especially if you are usually a driver going from heated garage to heated car to underground garage. However, that car could always break down. You don't want to be changing a tire in cold winter temperatures while dressed only in a light office suit!

DRESSING FOR THE WEATHER

Before going outside in the winter, dress warm and dress in layers. Allow for the wind as well as the cold. Even if the sun is shining down and it feels warm through the window glass, dress as though it is going to get cold. If it's already really cold or starting to get windy, throw a scarf on, maybe overtop of a balaclava. Your mouth and lungs will thank you.

Warm socks and waterproof winter boots with good traction are a must when doing any winter outdoor activity, as are water-resistant Thinsulate gloves. Thermal inlays in your boots help keep the heat in. For really cold temperatures or if you are going to be doing a lot of standing around, put on two pairs of socks, one of them wool, and wear mittens over your gloves. If your feet or hands get cold, all of you gets cold.

Your body will heat up quickly when you start getting active in the snow. There's few things better for burning calories! But once you stop moving, you're going to start feeling the cold again much more quickly than you might suspect. By dressing in layers, you can remove or add back layers according to how warm or cold you feel.

When snow is close to the freezing temperature, it is easy for gloves and other winter apparel to get soaked. Some winter clothing is water repellent, but most is not. If the water has soaked through to your skin, go into your home and change. Keep a spare set of gloves and an extra sweater and coat in your car for the times when you can't.

FROSTBITE

Frostbite is no fun, but it's easy to avoid by dressing warm and covering up exposed areas when it's really cold. Fingers and toes give warning of impending frostbite by starting to hurt. Cheeks and ears can feel like they are burning, but then they freeze up quickly and you won't feel the damage happening.

Once things get painful, treating them is even more painful. Soak the affected area in warm water until it stops hurting. However, frostbite damage never

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