1. Dress in layers. It's important to understand that dressing for
the snow is a process. It's not just a matter of buying a pair of ski
pants and a ski jacket, and you're good to go. You need to consider the
under layers that you use as much as the outer layers. Get good quality
thermal underlayers and a great synthetic fleece to go under that ski
jacket and pants, and you'll be set to be out on the snow on the coldest
of days. Ignore the underlayers and you may not.
2. Avoid natural
fibers, especially next to your skin. There are some wonderful fibers
like cotton and wool, and they have been in use in cold and wet climates
for many years. This is because they were the best available years ago.
But now there are much better synthetic fabrics available, which do a
better job of keeping you both warm and dry.
Cotton and wool
attract damp. Cotton next to your skin will absorb your sweat and so
leave you feeling chilled and damp. A high quality synthetic fabric is
designed to wick moisture away from your skin and encourage the moisture
to travel to the next layer. This is what is known as "breathing". The
fabric allows the moisture generated by sweat and exercise to pass
through the fabric, and the fabric doesn't trap the moisture and become
damp. A natural fabric such as cotton doesn't do this satisfactorily,
and will get damp over time. Whilst cotton and wool will retain heat
well in some circumstances, such as when you are continuing moving, they
make you cold and damp very quickly when you stop and your body cools,
and so should be avoided.
3. Use high quality synthetic fabrics.
There are some excellent high quality synthetic fabrics available,
Polarfleece and Gore Tex are 2 that you have probably heard about
already, primarily because they are very good. High quality fabrics are
of course more expensive. However if you factor in the cost of the
higher quality ski wear over the life of the ski clothing you'll find
that the extra cost is not so much.
That's because the high
quality fabrics will usually last much longer than lower quality copies,
so although you are paying more initially you are buying skiwear that
will outlive the cheaper ski clothing, and will pay for itself in the
long run. There are many fabrics that are copies of the high quality
fabrics, but don't perform as well or last as long. A good quality ski
jacket, for example, should have you skiing and comfortable when you may
well be back in the apartment if you were wearing a poor quality
jacket.
4. Buy a known brand name. There are some very well known
brand names in the ski clothing industry. Names that are well known
amongst skiers for the quality of their ski gear, and with a solid
reputation to protect. Names such as North Face and Patagonia. And there
is a stack of ski clothing with brand names that you would never have
heard of, usually cheaper. It can be a false economy to buy a cheap
unknown brand. Stick to those that are known to produce high quality
long lasting ski clothing.
5. Don't forget the accessories. It
wouldn't be the first time that someone had all the best ski clothing,
but cheap gloves, and ended up back in the apartment because their hands
were frozen. Or bought poor goggles, and couldn't ski because they
fogged up all the time. Don't spend all your money on your ski clothing
and skimp on the accessories. Good quality gloves and goggles are
important.
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