High Sierra Topix

Monday evening last week I was coming down from New Army Pass as it started snowing. The temperature was about 15°F, with a strong, gusty wind.

I noticed that my beard seemed stuck in the rain jacket zipper. It gets caught in a zipper sometimes. I opened the zipper a bit with some struggle and freed the beard.

A couple of hours later it stopped snowing and the wind stopped. The Moon emerged from behind the clouds. About 10 cm of fresh snow covered everything.

I found there was a chunk of ice in my beard. I couldn't remove it. I took a blurry selfie in the moonlight to see what was going on. Eventually, after I got in the car and drove for a while, I was able to remove the ice.

How can one prevent ice from forming in the beard? Perhaps put the beard under some clothing. But if it freezes to a jacket that would be trouble. Less trouble if it freezes to a buff, a balaclava, or other small piece of clothing.

If ice forms in beard, how can it be removed in camp? It would be bad if the ice melts during sleep and makes a cold, wet mess. I don't carry a stove. I guess one could put the beard under come clothing to warm it up, and then remove the ice.

Note that I felt warm and safe at that time. I was wearing warm layers, including down pants. In case of trouble I could hunker down.

The best thing to do is to shave it. Grow it back after cold-weather season.

This is a thinly veiled brag about how epic your beard is, and I will not stand for it.

Yours Truly,

A man with thin & patchy facial hair.

Where's the selfie shot, Tomba?

I had ice in a mustache many long years ago. I don't recall any real problem with it, so it must have melted out enough to come off before I went to sleep. I suppose a buff over your beard might work, should keep the blowing snow out of it. If your beard is bushy enough and you were out in the weather long enough, you could get enough ice in there to have issues getting it out before bedtime. So I think I'd try the buff idea.

Mostly a couple of irregular icicles.

Perhaps one could use some rocks to crush some of the ice to reduce the amount of ice to deal with before sleep.

If ice forms in beard, how can it be removed in camp? It would be bad if the ice melts during sleep and makes a cold, wet mess. I don't carry a stove. I guess one could put the beard under come clothing to warm it up, and then remove the ice.

Maybe use a bag (ziplock), place your beard in it, and use something to break up the larger chunks of ice; cover it with some warm clothing and let it melt—quite a dilemma to have to deal with, Tomba.

tomba asks:

How can one prevent ice from forming in the beard? Perhaps put the beard under some clothing. But if it freezes to a jacket that would be trouble. Less trouble if it freezes to a buff, a balaclava, or other small piece of clothing.

Trim your beard Tomas, and stop that drooling-- no matter how beautiful the scenery.

Great to imagine you out in the weather on New Army Pass... freezing your beard, but not yer bollocks.
Congratulations on your snowy trip; we imagine that the grove of Foxtail Pines must've been lovely with new snow. Cheers, Ian and Lizzie.

p.s. I am dead keen to get back out there too!

Other than cutting off the beard, the only solution is probably a balaclava hat, pulled down over the beard. The really fun effect of skiing < ~25F is also frozen snot. Here's Ostrander hutkeeper Howard Weamer getting into the hut late. As the caption says, he did, in fact, have a 25lb frozen turkey in the pack to roast for Christmas and, as a result, little survival gear. He got lost in a whiteout (in itself kinda amazing -- I've done it twice heading into the hut -- but totally understandable). Finally found the route and someone took his picture just coming in the door.

From Howard's book on the history of Ostrander: The Perfect Art: The Ostrander Hut & Ski Touring in Yosemite