I set a new personal record last week—I was out in -32∫C (-26∫F) stomping around in waist-deep Norwegian snow trying to get Itay’s kite to fly. Mercifully there was no wind, or we’d have had wind chill. The previous coldest I had been in was -20∫C in Moscow in the winter of 1993. Tonight Stockholm is trying to oblige with -22∫C, and I would have been impressed had it not been for my Norwegian initiation into the world of the really cold.

In the world of the really cold, as I am sure Rhian Salmon in the Antarctic can attest, you talk a lot about how cold it is. We compared notes a lot: Itay elucidated at length what clothing material is warmest; Auran and Tonje had long discussions about what type of wax would work best on the cross-country skis (“colder than blue” is the answer); and David Williams, who is British, obliged with a recitation of the temperature every few minutes or so.

Now the interesting thing is that -32∫C is not that cold. At least not for the first few minutes. After a while your boots and socks give up, and your nostril hairs start freezing, and your jacket’s outer shell makes strange crinkely sounds, and it is time to get back into the car. But after this experience, the -20∫C and -12∫C temperatures that previously sounded daunting are now something I am happy to spend a day running around in.

And it makes these 2 Irishmen, who just aborted trying to sled across the Antarctic with kites for lack of wind, a lot more human: They were dealing with temperatures merely as low as -20∫C. I’m up for this next year if you are, Itay and Juno.

[Wed, Jan 08 2003 – 10:09] Tonje I have always hated the “it is all in your mind” school of thought, but am beginning to wonder why San Francisco is freezing at +15 C when -10 to -30 in Norway seemed fine somehow. Actually, it is always warmer in Norway than in San Francisco.

Stefan, if you plan to drag my brother off to certain death in the antarctic, at least you should come up with a new and interesting way to do it. I was not too impressed by this list in the NYT this Sunday, I am sure you all can improve on it (but keep my brother out of it).

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/05/weekinreview/05GORM.html