Winter Woolies

A bit of a shock this week with the sudden arrival of the first serious sub -20 deg C temperatures for the winter. It seems that the coldest months of the year are becoming January and February now, instead of the Christmas period. That actually ties in with what I had experienced in New Zealand over the past 10 years. Instead of the warmest time being at Christmas, as you would expect, the real heat (such as it was) never really kicked in until the schools went back in early February. Likewise there was more snow in September than there was in June/July. The whole world seems to be a couple of months out of whack.

The 20 deg boundary brings with it a few changes. The horse gets his heavy cover for starters. It's not a lot of fun for whomever has the morning roster at the stables on a cold morning. A 400 gram winter cover must weigh around 20kg. Try throwing one of those nearly 2m up in the air over 7 horses.

I've had my winter coat out for a little while, but now it needs to work. I had bought a Fjäll Räven Eskimo shortly after we arrived into Sweden, and it's stood up well. Pretty much still looks like new, really. I've been very impressed with it. It's a little too warm to wear unless the temperature is around -10 degrees or colder. So I had to also buy a slightly lighter jacket. Especially this winter when it hasn't been so cold, relatively speaking. But the Eskimo is great right now. It's a slightly longer jacket, so all the important bits keep nice and warm. It's also got a lovely and snuggly insulated hood. Jackets hoods are often an afterthought, but this one is great. They aren't cheap, but you do need proper gear that's going to work correctly om man ska bo här uppe.

I've resisted the urge to haul out my thermal boots. They are excellent for warmth, having a supposed insulation against a -25 deg ground temperature. And they are warm, I'll give them that. However, despite having what looks like a great sole, they are terrible for grip. Again, they weren't cheap, so I'm a bit miffed about them. We bought them at the same time as the jacket, I think they are Sorel brand. Anyway, I'm still perservering with my Asics walking shoes which I bought a couple of years ago for 400 SEK. They have done the trick well and I haven't really felt like I was going to slip over. Actually, in the past 2 winters I'm only come a propper once. I was out jogging and slipped on a downhill slope whilst going past the main truck entrance into the town heating plant. The trucks going in and out had packed the snow down virtually to ice. It was like a rink. I didn't see it coming and ended up flat on my back. Not exactly dignified. But apart from that.

I'm a bit of a winter walking thermometer. At -10 deg, I feel my cheeks stiffen up a little. At -15 deg, my nose hairs start to freeze. Feels like you've sniffed up a blowfly. At -18 deg I can feel my eyelashes freezing. Like clockwork