At Fort Lewis College, there are students from various environments in Arizona to Alaska, and Michigan to California.
Durango winters can be harsh, and in this cold, being prepared is vital, Dr. Cathleen Hartney, a senior lecturer within the biology department said.
“Should I carry these extra clothes? Should I carry some extra fuel? Should I carry extra calories with me, more than I would in Phoenix?” Harney said.
Yes, as these calories and layers can mean heat and safety if you get stuck in a cold environment, she said.
Everybody has an internal temperature balance to keep its temperature within normal range, Dr. Cathleen Hartney, a senior lecturer within the biology department said.
This temperature is noted through temperature sensors on both the surface of the skin, as well as on the inside of our body, on our internal organs, Hartney said.
As the season grows colder and temperatures get lower, if we are underdressed or ill-prepared, these sensors will react, she said.
“When we expose ourselves to a situation in which either we go below that or above that, a whole bunch of mechanisms kick in to try to keep you within that range,” Hartney said.
Not only will your body feel cold, but your body reacts to conserve heat and keep your body in a safe range, Hartney said.
These mechanisms include symptoms such as shivering, which is the repetitive and rapid involuntary contraction of large skeletal muscles that work to warm you up, Hartney said.
Another mechanism is the redirection of blood flow away from your skin's surface and towards your core, which can result in cold and pale extremities, she said.
If there is less blood circulation near the surface of your skin, where heat loss often occurs through radiation, blood being brought in towards your core is able to be kept warmer, Hartney said.
This drawing of blood away from your extremities can cause them to pale and feel numb, Hartney said.
This feeling is most frequently evident in your fingers, toes, ears, nose and chin, Aaron Ball, the operations coordinator and a senior lecturer in the adventure education department said.
This cold can also be apparent in the loss of dexterity in your hands, Ball said.
When the cold gets extremely harsh, you might run the risk of dangers such as frostbite, where ice crystals form within the tissue of your body, most commonly in these extremities with less blood, Harney said.
Severe frostbite can cause tissue death or gangrene, Harney said.
When these symptoms start to appear, it’s important to be attentive as this means it is time to take action, Hartney said.
There are four ways that your body loses heat or can experience “cold challenges,” Ball said.
These are radiation, conduction, convection and evaporation, Ball said.
To limit heat loss through radiation, the first step is wearing warm clothes to trap the heat in, close to your body, Ball said.
The best materials to wear are synthetic or wool, Ball said. There is a common saying that “cotton kills,” because it doesn’t dry quickly, however, there’s nothing wrong with a hoodie if it stays dry, Ball said.
Conduction occurs when your body is touching something colder than you or your clothing and heat from your body is pulled away from you, Ball said.
To combat this, it’s best to avoid sitting in cold snow, or on cold things, and instead, to seek shelter that is warmer if possible, Ball said.
Convection is when heat is pulled away from your body by other forces like air or liquid, such as the wind, Ball said. To avoid this, wearing wind resistant clothing and finding shelter away from the wind is best, he said.
Convection also occurs when your body touches something that is cold and wet, Ball said. This is another reason why it’s best to always try to stay dry, he said.
To limit heat loss through evaporation, staying dry, again, is key, Ball said. Wearing synthetic clothing that dries quickly and easily is often an important part of this.
Stay dry, and if you get wet, get out of your wet clothes and get dry, Ball said.
Besides these external needs, your body also uses energy from your food to keep you warm, Ball said.
Shivering is efficient for heating the body, but also uses lots of energy which needs to be replaced through calorie intake, Harney said.
Ball describes the human body as a metaphorical fire that you need to keep burning, fueled by tinder, kindling, and logs, he said.
Ball said that the tinder on the fire are simple sugars that are easy to start and burn, but they burn fast.
The kindling on the fire would be carbohydrates like breads and pasta, which burn well and last a bit longer, he said.
Then, the logs on the fire are the fats and proteins in your diet which last a lot longer than the other two, he said.
In preparation for an adventure, stock up with good fuels including proteins and fats, Ball said.
However, if someone is in an emergency where they are dangerously cold, it’s best to feed them quick burning sources, such as sugar in candy, where the energy can be easily extracted, Ball said.
If you’re looking for gear to stay safe on adventures and while recreating outdoors, Outdoor Pursuits is an option with a variety of gear donated by Stio, Kate Macklin, the operations coordinator of OP said.
This gear is available to borrow for free, from OP at no additional cost for FLC students, as it is covered through a $5.80 per credit hour student fee that OP shares with Intramurals at FLC, Macklin said in an email.
The clothing available includes synthetic layers, fleeces, waterproof shells and waterproof top and bottom layers that can be useful to stay dry and warm, Macklin said.