Frostbite and Mountaineering - Pics and Story

[Austin]

Hey everyone, I thought I'd remind everyone to watch out for cold-injuries. Two years ago (nearly to the day) Dave Schultz (he's on here as well) and I attempted the Gib Ledges on Rainier. Things were chilly, and the wind didn't help. I had never climbed that high in the winter, and as an 18 year-old college student I didn't have the bucks for the best gloves. My snowshoes didn't help either; although MSR's "lightning ascent" shoes are marketed as the ultimate shoe for mountaineering, they are FAR from it. The rubber straps do not stay secure as wind blows powdery snow in-between my plastic boots and the straps themselves. The dinky, bent piece of metal that goes through the holes in the straps sucks too. As a result, I had to stop repeatedly to re-tighten straps, which usually required me to remove my glove to get it as tight as possible.

 

As a result of these shortcomings, along with my lack of knowledge pertaining to frostbite, I got a pretty serious case of it on my hands.

 

It took over 3 months to heal completely. Today I contend with easily-chilled fingers (to the point of pain) and sensitive, thinly-skinned finger pads. Not to mention a 50% reduction in sensitivity in most places, even worse in others. I can still play the piano though, so I guess I can't complain too much.

 

Now its time for pictures!

 

24 Hours after exposure, blistering starting on ring-finger:

 

48 Hours post-exposure, blisters forming nicely...

 

One-month later:

 

These were taken roughly 1.5-2 months after. I'm too lazy to figure out exactly when, but they are in chronological order:

 

Once the dead flesh came off, it took weeks for the nails to fall off and then grow back.

 

Lessons learned:

 

- If your fingers are becoming white AND waxy. FROSTBITE IS NEAR. You probably have frostnip already, which is gross too (I'll dig up some pics of my left hand with inches of dead skin peeling off in thick chunks).

- Nobody is man-enough to beat this stuff. If your hands are getting cold even though you are exerting yourself (like, say, whilst climbing a mountain...) you need warmer gloves, don't try to "tough it out" like I did. If you are already wearing your warmest gear and are still getting cold, you should probably turn around.

 

I hope someone can learn from this. I was very lucky to keep my fingers, don't take the cold lightly.

Edited December 30, 2014 by Austin

[Austin]

Some more pics!

 

Left hand after about a month:

 

...then a little later, only my thumb was photo-worthy:

 

...then the rest!

 

My left-thumbnail finally letting go:

 

Two years later, my right-thumb is the only one with visible scars:

 

Although everything looks ok (except for some calluses from splitting wood), my ring finger and thumb are extremely sensitive to cold now:

Edited December 30, 2014 by Austin

[dave schultz]

Austin, interesting you chose to share this with everyone, but thank you - it should be a good reminder.

 

I think it's important to point out a few other things of interest and note:

 

1) If I remember correct, these also ONLY occured on the right hand which we also attributed to the hand that Austin was primarily carrying his ice axe in. I didn't know or had forgotten about the constant removal of gloves to adjust the slowshoes, but those two in combination would have made it hard to keep good circulation through the hand/fingers.

 

2) We spent two nights, this happened on the second day, and had debated getting out early enough after bailed on the second day to make it out of the gate in time. Austin chose to sleep in the Miur Hut that night while I slept in the tent. If I had gotten a chance to see his fingers we would have broken camp and left immediately, and then dealt with the gate situation. The point of this is that it's also the partners duty to check for conditions of frostbite and be proactive about it. In the right conditions, since this trip, I make an effort to ensure my partner's digits are doing fine.

 

Could have been worse, I'm glad you can still play the Piano.

 

What do you do now in the winter, bigger/better gloves or do you still struggle to keep the cold out?

 

Stay safe out there

 

Dave

[JBo6]

Austin thanks for the reminder. Out of idle curiosity do you remember the type of gloves and have a guess on what temperatures were like?

 

I'm glad I opened this link up post breakfast, I'm shocked how shitty your fingers looked and how well they were visibly able to heal, even though you are dealing with some other long term issues.

 

What did you have to do with your fingers while you were waiting for them to completely molt? Keep 'em bandaged or just be careful to not pop a blister? Sorry for all the questions, my frostbite treatment knowledge is based upon reading Himalayan mountaineering stories where they either lopped the finger off or waited for it to fall off.

 

I'm glad you kept your fingers and can still use them.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[ScaredSilly]

Grim but a good reminder. I have frost nipped toes several times. As a result I get boots that are bigger than what most people with my size of foot would wear so I have lots of toe wiggle room. Plus I swap out the foot beds with good ones as well as wear nice thick dachstein socks with a liner.

 

 

One thing I often see people do in the winter when they need to remove their gloves is set them on their pack. I rarely do that - instead I shove them into my jacket to help them stay warm. Small things like that often help a lot.

[Austin]

Dave - To keep the cold out I layer what I put on my hands. For skiing, I wear a pair of military surplus arctic gloves with wool liners. They are big enough to allow me to wear a normal glove inside. Unfortunately, if its below 5-ish I have a hard time keeping things warm enough to be comfortable.

 

For what its worth, I had no idea that I had frostbite until I got home and had a chance to research it (one of those "no time like the present" moments). On the mountain/in the shelter, seemed like my hands were just really cold. I went to sleep expecting them to be back to normal in the morning. I don't blame anyone but myself, it was my fault for not recognizing the symptoms.

 

JB06 - I think the temp was about -10F (maybe Dave has a better idea?) and the winds varied from 15-20mph or so (again, its been awhile. Dave might remember what they were more precisely). According to the NWS chart, that would put the windchill at about -33ish. I was wearing the kind of gloves you'd wear skiing. I was used to cold hands from skiing and such, and had no knowledge about what frostbite looks/feels like which is why this injury occurred. When my hands got cold I thought, "No big deal, they'll warm up once we get back".

 

ScaredSilly - Yep, I do the same thing. My climbing boots are sized a little big for the same reason. I was wearing Koflach Degre boots with generic wool socks. My feet stayed warm the entire time.

[telemarker]

Wow you've healed remarkably, though I'm sure the pain is ever present, like whenever you accidentally hit your fingertips against the rock. Or like you said it starts to get cold out. Your affected fingers are the first to tell you it's cold out.

 

I got minor frostbite a couple years back (pic below). The recovery was long and painful even though it was just a small area of my finger. I couldn't even imagine the pain you must have gone through over the past couple years. There were times I'd hit my fingertip against something and I'd want to pass out from pain.

 

It's not surprising at all you didn't notice it. Frostbite is an insidious condition. Comes on without your noticing, but takes years to recover, though the recovery is never 100%, as I'm learning.

 

 

Edited January 1, 2015 by telemarker

[TwoFortyJeff]

I am also amazed you were able to recover so well. Of course the worst part is that you will always have a decreased tolerance to cold.

 

I frostnipped my finger tips years ago but the decreased tolerance to cold will never go away. My friends can ski in liner gloves while I have to have thick mittens with chemical handwarmer packs. I buy a few boxes of the handwarmers every year.

 

Altimittens have insulation in both the shell and the liner. You can leave the liner at home and use a light glove instead. That way if you need to do something that requires more dexterity, you can remove the shell but still have a little insulation for a few minutes. Little things add up.

 

ScaredSilly, what footbeds do you use? Do they make a difference in warmth?

 

[ScaredSilly]

I have been using the SuperFeet RedHots. BITD I used thick felt wool liners. I think the bigger difference is the sock - dachstein socks are great. It also helps to dry your feet and socks each night. I often take two pairs of socks so to be able to put a dry pair on once into camp.