[Micky Connor]

Having been sent home from Scunny because the site was snowbound, I woke up on Thursday morning and thought I would get out, but it was about -4 and blowing a hooly too. So I bothered my finger rung and pull up beam instead.

I'm pretty sure this was too cold, but how cold can you go? How cold is too cold?

[benpritch]

i suspect minus 4 with high wind might be too cold unless you have all sorts of high tech mountaineering clothes to wear. also rock tends to get a wee bit glassy below a certain point. your skin seems too dry sometimes. spitting on your tips then drying them and chalking up may help.

[nodder]

Out of the wind that would have been fine.  When we got it all wrong and went to maltatal it was between -2 and -20.  The locals were impresed by the weirdos living in the ditch and hanging out at the boulders, some ice climber guy even took enough pity on us to offer a bed for the night.  I lost my coat somewhere in town one night and thought i was going to die walking back in a t shirt, fortunately the pub had a whip round and i stood in the middle of the road till a taxi came and took me to the hostel turned out i was about 5 kilometers out of town.  Moral - when a man is foaming at the nose avoid him dont get involved, and hot rum with brown sugar is lovely.

[Micky Connor]

Nodder

What tactics do you use to cope with such low temperatures?

Apart from knowing where your coat is at all times, or did you lose it gambling?

[dave]

Pretty much the worst nick I've ever had in font was at -3 to -7ish.

[Doylo]

Nodder

What tactics do you use to cope with such low temperatures?

Its called alcohol

[nodder]

A- Warm up at home.
B- Baggy boots.
C- Stay out of the wind.
D- Woolly Jumpers 

[iain_cbr]

Been out when it was 1 degree, but with no wind. I'm a mard arse in the cold, but it's fine once you get going. That and the 5 layers kind of helps...

[Micky Connor]

Yes, around zero has been the coldest I have tried, but the snowballing thread, and working with a grit monster made me wonder if I could go colder.

This cold spell seems likely to give me the opportunity to try it out!

[tomtom]

WTF? Is this UKC in disguise? 

SCIENCE says that you CANT get colder than this...



Dont forget to 'Rock the Mic like a vandal' kids...  Logpile please waiter...

[iain_cbr]

SCIENCE says that you CANT get colder than this...

The daily mail says you can. AND it cures cancer.

[Micky Connor]

WTF? Is this UKC in disguise? 

Nope, you would have got Mr Van Winkle sooner over there.

[Micky Connor]

Mmm...supercooled.

[jowgli]

that thing looks almost as cold as a session i remember at secret garden last winter, about -9 in the wind... now that was too cold!

[iain_cbr]

about -9 in the wind... now that was too cold!

Mard arse!

[jwi]

Northern Sweden, -6°C, after sunset.

[dobbin]

I believe 4 - 7 degrees to be optimum. The coldest I can remember is -6 at burbage north.

[mrjonathanr]

Some bleausard told me once that 4-8C was the optimum providing a good temperature gradient overnight ie that it had been about freezing but not below -4C.
Now that's knowing what you want.

[andy_e]

Temperature doesn't matter, it's the humidity shirley.

[jwi]

Temperature doesn't matter, it's the humidity shirley.

Yeah, below -40 water vapor cannot be suspended at all* at sea level pressure = Infinite stick

---
*well...

[mrjonathanr]

Temperature doesn't matter, it's the humidity shirley.

Sandstone has pores and in Fontainebleau is glazed with pof so I think temperature might affect the frictional properties of the rock a fair bit.
Hence the importance of temp gradient over previous 24hrs.
 All I know is my fingers are cold and I'm not strong enough.

[krolis]

-7 in font recently the only problem was a lot of snow landing on holds from the trees and melting under my tender touch, also my wife limited my session to 1.30 min due to temperatures otherwise i would have kept going, but i am polish and we do not have central heating - the Romans never bothered to go that far east. What are the conditions in peak now, planning to do on saturday but only if the roads are not too bad
 

[andy_e]

Shit, sandstone has pores? Does gritstone not?

[daprince]

About minus a few at Shipley Glen this New Years Day. out of the wind and in the sun. Ok if you kept moving, couldn't finish anything ice on the top.

[boulderingbacon]

its never too cold just depends on how much moisture is in the air, in england thats always loads. go to somewhere like canada and its minus twenty but still ok because its a dry cold. doesnt make your joints ache either.