So the plan is to do some college touring during President’s Week. I know it will be freezing. I’ve done tours in the 30s, but not the 20s and teens. Any advice? Still a good idea? Obviously dressing warm will be helpful…I’m just not used to dressing for extended exposure to said temps. I’m more of an “indoor in the cold” type.
Thanks!!
Wool socks, a hat, scarf and gloves. The hat is a must as people lose 40% of their body heat through their heads.
Tour guides know visitors (especially from warmer climates) aren’t going to be comfortable standing outside for too long, so they’ll do a lot of the talking in building entrances or hallways rather than out in the elements.
I led tours at McGill when temps were in the single digits and once during a heavy snowstorm. Wear layers so that they can be easily peeled off when you enter buildings.
We had one such experience. An unexpected freeze; the tour guide tried very hard to find indoor spaces for his talk - foyers, hallways. But I would have toe warmers in my shoes, just in case.
Get some of those warming things skiers use inside their gloves and boots. Wear warm boots, and good socks. Hat, scarf, and gloves. Warm coat.
Good to make these trips to cold climate schools when it’s cold. Your student will be walking from building to building if accepted…good to see what it’s like in the winter!
Reading these suggestions, I’m starting to whine a little bit inside my head. (“Warrrrming things inside my shoooooes?”)
I expect my student is way more tolerant of cold than I am. Gone are the days that I could sleep on the floor of a train station while backpacking through Europe, etc.
Smartwool socks, or alpaca (my preference), a hat, gloves, and layers, with the exterior layer being windproof.
The worst tours I recall, weather-wise, were 100 degrees and humid. 
Yes, ReadyToRoll, whatever toughness you may have had is long gone.
I think if you have Smartwool or alpaca socks on, you won’t need “warming things.” It’s not like you will be ice fishing in Canada or anything.
are you from a warm climate? 10s and 20s aren’t really that cold if you’re moving and reasonably well dressed. Heck I don’t wear a coat when it’s above the freezing temp. Gloves are reserved for below 20. And I never wear a hat. In any case hat, gloves, warm coat should do it. The excitement should warm you up
I love those “warming things.” I always keep a few around just in case.
Learn to knit, if you don’t already know how. You can knit through the endless info sessions, and every time you finish a project, you can put it on. Say you start at Colby, with a scarf; by Bates, you’ll have six inches; by Bowdoin, two feet. By the time you get to Dartmouth, you’ll have finished the scarf and started on a hat. Middlebury, the cuff of the hat; Williams, the brim, and you’ll cast off at Smith. (Northampton is the home of WEBS, a great yarn store, so stock up there). By Amherst you’ll be starting your mittens. Harvard, MIT, maybe Tufts, one mitten down; Brown, Wesleyan, Yale, the second mitten and you’ll be finished at the same time.
If you’re freaking out about walking from heated bldg to heated bldg for a short tour, maybe 4 years at this school isn’t the place for u.
Um, @GMTplus7 - I’m not the one actually attending the college. That’s why it’s the parents’ forum.
I highly recommend the toe or hand heat warming packets. They cost ~$1 and can make the difference between being comfortable and miserable. D & I think most tours are longer than we wish they were.
I toured Carleton & macalester two years ago with my son in single digit temps. Somehow, it didn’t seem so bad. The guides brought us indoors a lot. I think the hand and foot warmers suggested above are a good idea but I don’t think it will be as miserable as you think.
Another thought…parents don’t have to go on the tour. If it gets too cold…just bail and go back to the student center.
And be prepared to see all kinds of clothing. My kid went to college in Boston, and in the dead of winter we would see students walking from the dorm to the dining hall in flip flops…no kidding.
@ ready,
I realize u are the parent. But let’s keep the scope of a one hour college tour in perspective. It’s not a Himalaya expedition. It’s just walking briefly on paved paths from heated bldg to heated bldg. No Sherpas or campfires needed.
We did tours in Feb, even to some colder locations, and it was fine. We also did spring break tours in the rain at some colleges. It is all fine. The important thing is to get out and see the schools.
We did one tour last year when it was in the 20s with freezing rain. We just wore a lot of layers and accepted that we would get soaked. It actually was a pretty nice tour.
Merino wool long underwear is good.