Explorer Mikael Strandberg

Siberian temperatures in Minneapolis.....

The heating just died, we are dressed up inside like we would be outdoors, I could hardly get the door to our room open a few minutes ago, it had frozen solid to the frame and when I did finally get it open, I got hit by a mean cold air I haven´t  felt since Siberia. It is -35 degrees Celsius below zero here in Minneapolis and a wind over the prairie that chills the bones worryingly. It seems like a cold wave have hit the northern most countries of the World. It is cold in Siberia, Northern Europe, North Asia and North America. And since I have endured a freezing cold far worse than this, well, I guess this temperature would be considered a heat wave in Siberia, I thought I´d would leave 5 solid tips to those of you who fear the cold and still want to stay outdoors!

1. A good hat is more important than anything! 75% of the body heat goes through your head. So basically, you use the head cover to regulate your body heat. And it should be a head cover which also covers the ears and the neck. But if you heed tip number two, that will be done by a hood….

2. The layer system of dressing. Instead of putting on one big, thick jacket, build up a system of layers. Like the layers of an onion. Next to your body, a thin line of underwear, followed by a thin layer of trousers and shirt and than depending on the cold, add on either a gore tex jacket/fleece jacket and if very cold and you are not doing any serious exercise, a down jacket. And as an accessory on the jacket, there should be a hood, which works as an extra cover for your head and will protect neck and ears.

The layering system and a good hat makes a major difference in handling the cold!

3. Boots/footwear. A mistake many people do is to believe that one needs a full covered boot not to freeze, but even here in the existing cold of Minnesota, mainly due to that I don´t have any winter gear, I just wear trainers with thick soles. It is the thickness of the sole which regulate the main heat of the foot and isolates from the cold. I don´t feel cold at all. That is, if I don´t stand still, which I never do, and nobody should in extreme cold.

4. Move around, don´t stand still! The idea is not to sweat nor freeze, so one just have to find a level which is comfortable. Because if you are working out to hard, sweating, this is as dangerous as not moving at all. Once you stop, which one eventually has to do, you will freeze solid.

5. Fill yourself with lots of carbohydrates and fat! This is the most positive thing when dealing with the cold, you just need a lot of body energy and heat and fat food and carbohydrates will give you this! So even if you are only staying outdoors for a few hours, eat a really fat breakfast dominated by good carbohydrates!

A good hamburger at the House of Coates will make such a difference when it comes to getting enough energy to keep extreme cold at bay!

For me, an Expedition is a challenge for at least 8 months, otherwise I see it as an adventure. A walkabout. To do a proper analysis, both when it comes to making an assesment of the area you are exploring and your inner self, you need time. The same applies when getting prepared physically for a real expedition. It takes time. I normally need two years getting into shape. I´ve used all kinds of techniques. But when I was preparing for my first real Expedition, the one on a bicycle from the southernmost tip of South-America to the Northernmost tip of Northamerica, a two year trip, I prepared myself physically by building muscular mass in a gym. It has helped me really throughout all these years of hard Expeditions, because what you do in a gym, if you do it properly, you build up and strengthen every muscle on your body. More or less. So, since I still don´t know where I will end up on my next Expedition, I have once again started going regurlarly to the gym again. And I love it. I think I love this type of training more than any. Most likely because it knackers every single muscle and it feels like I take a good beating. I seem to like, punishing myself…I go to the gym three times a week, train an hour and on Mondays I work on my chest, shoulders and triceps, on Wednesday on my legs and calfs and on Friday, my back and biceps. I work the stomach every time. And after working out regurlarly since March, I am actually in a better shape than I´ve been since 1986, when I set off on that trip! See the photo on the horse, it is taken in March 1986. Northwest of Santiago de Chile in the Andes. On top of the physical training, to gain any results at all, one has to eat properly, a low fat, high protein diet, and that makes you even feel better. But I don´t overdo the training and overexert myself, since I know by experience that this is what you do most of the time on an expedition, so one needs to recover and rest in between the expeditions. Especially when you are 46 years of age as I am. But, having muscles as a male is of great importance in other ways as well. I will tell you more in the next report.