I've been on top of kala pattar at five in the morning and I can tell you being in the freezer with the fans on is just the same.
Working in a freezer your body temperature can rise and fall dramatically. Especially when doing things like lifting and stacking crates. I get a bit of a sweat on sometimes which never feels nice.
To be honest the fans are turned off when I am spending long periods in there but sometimes I'm in there for fifteen minutes with the fans on. You just get used to it.
There was a time when I did it in just shorts. Though I always have a couple of tops on. The only thing I notice getting cold is mainly my hands and my nose a little. I like to wear a pair of polypropylene gloves I have a heavy pair of gloves over the top but when I am doing stock take the are too bulky.
In the fridge when I first started I found it really cold and would get a runny nose. Now I don't notice it at all. you adapt.
I think the major difference between my work environment and the outdoors is control and panic.
When faced with these conditions outdoors one loses control over your environment and then panic can happen leading to poor decision making.
This post has been edited by the author on 11 December 2016 at 09:43.
A skinny person can adapt to a limited amount by eating a large amount of high energy high output food. Even then they have to get used to it. A chubby person is already partly adapted. I come into the second group.
Its often the fit person that surcomes first but often they are the experts and trip leaders so suddenly you have a party of less experienced people at the edge of hypothermia trying to cope with a fully hypothermic leader. Often it doesnt end well.
Better it understand what you may be heading into and prepare for the worst
