Test your hypothermia awareness with this quiz-based journey through a winter’s day on the hill, devised by the experts at Mountaineering Scotland.
Hypothermia kicks in when your body loses more heat than it can produce. It causes shivering, pale skin, slow breathing and confusion – in very serious cases, it can even be fatal. Mountain Rescue teams see dozens of cases every year. Between 2019 and 2021, 4% of all casualties assessed by Mountain Rescue England and Wales were chalked up as hypothermic. With good knowledge and planning, however, you can dramatically slash your risk of being one of them. Knowing how to avoid hypothermia can save your life and that of others around you in the mountains.
Main image: An adaptable layering system can mean life or death on challenging mountain days | Credit: Shutterstock
So, how much do you really know about avoiding hypothermia? This quiz takes you on a journey through a pitfall-packed winter day. Can you emerge toasty and triumphant?
QUIZ: How much do you really know about how to avoid hypothermia?
1. You’re planning a big winter day out in Scotland and it’s a toss-up between two equally brilliant locations. The night before, you check the mountain forecast for both places and get two very different results. Which forecast could leave you more vulnerable to hypothermia?
a) -5°C, clear and calm
b) 4°C, windy and wet
Walking in the Grey Corries. Credit: Jessie Leong
2. It’s cold out there – the kind of weather that could leave you vulnerable to hypothermia if you don’t head out properly prepared. But which of the following could increase your risk?
a) A bad night’s sleep
b) Skipping supper or breakfast
c) Poor fitness levels
d) Some medications
e) Being in the follicular phase of your menstrual cycle
3. Breakfast time! What should you eat to stave off the cold?
a) Porridge, muesli or granola
b) High-sugar cereal for energy
c) Nothing
The Fairfield Horseshoe rises above Windermere. Credit: Shutterstock
4. You shoulder your backpack. But wait – have you got everything you need to stay warm in winter conditions? Which of these are must-pack items?
a) Waterproof layers
b) Group shelter
c) Hat and gloves
d) High-energy food
e) Hot drink
f) Extra fluids
g) Warm layers
Layering for winter is an art form. Credit: David Lintern
5. You park your car in the valley, which is roughly at sea level, and check the temperature – it’s 4°C. The mountain you’re walking up is 900m high. If conditions remain the same, what temperature can you expect it to be on the summit?
a) -5°C
b) -0.5°C
c) It depends on whether it’s wet or dry
6. You’ve summited and you’re getting hungry, but it’s freezing up here! What can you do to stay warm while refuelling?
a) Descend 20 metres to the leeside of the mountain and find a protective rock to eat behind
b) Put on as many layers as you can, including a hat and gloves
d) Sit on something insulative
d) Don’t linger – only stay long enough to eat and check your descent route
The trig point atop Pen-y-Ghent. Credit: Shutterstock
7. Well done – you’ve successfully negotiated a winter day on the hill without getting hypothermic. But on the way down, you encounter a pair of walkers who weren’t so well prepared. They are sitting huddled together on a windy ridge, about 30 minutes’ walk from the car park. One of them is shivering, the other isn’t. When you speak to the second walker, they seem confused. You’re concerned they have hypothermia. Which of the following are NOT appropriate responses?
a) Protect them from the elements. Get them off the ridge and behind a boulder or in a group shelter, then make sure they have waterproof layers and something to sit on
b) If possible, get both casualties up and moving down the hill towards the car park
c) Put the hypothermic casualty in the recovery position
d) Maintain the heat they already have with extra layers
e) Give them high-energy food
f) Rub their arms and legs to get the circulation going.
g) Call Mountain Rescue, if only to give them a heads-up about the situation
h) Offer them a wee dram from your hip flask
A Patterdale MRT winter rescue. Credit: www.patterdalemrt.co.uk
Now check your answers
- Question 1: You’re planning a big winter day out in Scotland and it’s a toss-up between two equally brilliant locations. The night before, you check the mountain forecast for both places and get two very different results. Which forecast could leave you more vulnerable to hypothermia?
Answer: B
Explainer: Wet skin loses heat 25 times faster than dry skin, so a rainy forecast could put you at greater risk of hypothermia. Don’t under-estimate the impact of windchill – specialist forecasts will take this into account with a ‘feels like’ temperature.
- Question 2: It’s cold out there – the kind of weather that could leave you vulnerable to hypothermia if you don’t head out properly prepared. But which of the following could increase your risk?
Answer: All of the above
Explainer: Tiredness, low energy reserves, poor fitness levels, taking medication and even where you are in your menstrual cycle can all affect your body’s ability to thermoregulate.
- Question 3: Breakfast time! What should you eat to stave off the cold?
Answer: A
Explainer: The complex carbohydrates in oat-based breakfasts provide sustained energy, helping your body keep warm over time. Sugary cereal will give you an energy rush, but leave you feeling colder when your blood sugar levels crash. Skipping breakfast altogether makes it harder for your body to generate heat.
- Question 4: You shoulder your backpack. But wait – have you got everything you need to stay warm in winter conditions? Which of these are must-pack items?
Answer: All of them
Explainer: Staying warm, waterproof, hydrated and well-fuelled will reduce your risk of hypothermia. And in an emergency, having a hot drink to warm you from the inside and a group shelter to protect you from the elements will give you extra protection.
- Question 5: You park your car in the valley, which is roughly at sea level, and check the temperature – it’s 4°C. The mountain you’re walking up is 900m high. If conditions remain the same, what temperature can you expect it to be on the summit?
Answer: C
Explainer: In dry conditions – such as you’ll often experience on the east coast of Scotland – you can expect the temperature to drop by around 1°C for every 100 metres you climb. In wet conditions (think west coast), that rate slows to between 0.5°C and 0.7°C per 100m.
- Question 6: You’ve summited and you’re getting hungry, but it’s freezing up here! What can you do to stay warm while refuelling?
Answer: All of these actions can help you stave off hypothermia
- Question 7: Well done – you’ve successfully negotiated a winter day on the hill without getting hypothermic. But on the way down, you encounter a pair of walkers who weren’t so well prepared. They are sitting huddled together on a windy ridge, about 30 minutes’ walk from the car park. One of them is shivering, the other isn’t. When you speak to the second walker, they seem confused. You’re concerned they have hypothermia. Which of the following are NOT appropriate responses?
Answer: C, F, H
Explainer: Putting them in the recovery position on the snow will quickly drain whatever remaining heat they have, while rubbing their limbs can cause cold blood from the extremities to rush dangerously back to their core. Alcohol might cheer them up, but it also lowers core body temperature.
Mountaineering Scotland is the representative organisation for hill walkers, climbers, mountaineers and ski tourers in Scotland. Get more skills and safety tips for hillwalking, climbing and snowsports touring in Scotland at www.mountaineering.scot.
LEARN MORE: How to layer for winter in the hills and mountains
