The sun had set and a frigid night wind blew across the mountains as Brad Wilson attempted to explain himself. Puffs of condensation from his breath settled on his eyelashes, freezing instantly.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely been cold-cold,鈥� he said.
The Montana native knows something about inclement weather. He arrived in China last week with a decade鈥檚 worth of experience as an elite moguls skier, competing in some of the chilliest places on the planet.
Which made it surprising that, during his first few days at the Beijing Olympics, Wilson managed to catch a touch of frostbite.
鈥淭he very last part of the chairlift is the coldest part,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he wind just kind of hits your face and it got my nose a little bit.鈥�
Much has been made of the dry winters in Yanqing and Zhangjiakou, the areas northwest of Beijing where ski and snowboard events are being held. Olympic organizers have needed to blow artificial snow day and night to compensate for a lack of the real stuff.
But temperatures in the teens? Bone-chilling gusts? The Beijing Games have no shortage of those.
鈥淲e鈥檙e putting on as many layers as we can but still everything is freezing,鈥� biathlete Hanna Sola of Belarus said. 鈥淵ou can see everyone waving their hands, jumping on the spot.鈥�
With temperatures dipping toward zero and winds gusting to 40 mph at some venues, the art of keeping warm has been a popular topic of discussion. That might seem like no big deal for winter athletes, but it is.
Climate change has rendered their seasons steadily shorter and more temperate. Fake snow and a sunny sky have become more common than not on the World Cup circuit.
鈥淎 lot of our races in Central Europe have been quite warm,鈥� U.S. biathlete Deedra Irwin said. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 had that many races below 15 degrees in the past two or three years.鈥�
Though the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, four years ago were near frozen, previous host cities have felt downright balmy. The coastal resort of Sochi had its share of short-sleeve afternoons in 2014 and Vancouver wasn鈥檛 much chillier in 2010.
Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou is a different story, with midday temperatures rising no higher than 6 degrees.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the coldest places I鈥檝e ever been on Earth,鈥� said American skier Aaron Blunck, who has competed there before. 鈥淚t makes your body get stiff.鈥�
Dressing in layers 鈥� the standard approach to staying comfortable 鈥� doesn鈥檛 always go far enough on brutal days when the wind cuts through even the best technical gear.
Some veteran skiers and snowboarders add heated socks and hand warmers to their outfits. For the women鈥檚 15-kilometer skiathlon at the National Cross-Country Skiing Center on Saturday, racers wore neck gaiters stretched over their chins and head coverings tugged down tight against the 12-degree afternoon.
Warmups have become essential as a way of raising body temperature before competition. Moguls skier Jaelin Kauf, who is Wilson鈥檚 girlfriend, planned to stay moving throughout her competition.
鈥淛ust rub around to keep the muscles warm or just do a little running in place or jumps,鈥� she said. 鈥淟ittle things like that, just to keep everything from stiffening up.鈥�
Lips can dry and crack. Exposed cheekbones and noses need protection too. Zinc works for both ultraviolet rays and icy winds but some athletes prefer specialized products such as Dermatone, a pomade that comes in round tins like shoe polish and promises to deter frostbite.
鈥淚 used to live in Fairbanks, [Alaska],鈥� Paralympic skier Grace Miller said. 鈥淲e used to put Vaseline on our cheeks so they wouldn鈥檛 get really cold and freeze.鈥�
If that isn鈥檛 enough, special cloth tape can be plastered across bare skin. Therese Johaug of Norway won Beijing鈥檚 first gold medal in that skiathlon race with strips of fluorescent pink on her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, saying: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot of wind.鈥�
The cold has affected athletes in other ways.
Mountain venues near Beijing have looked almost alien, with swaths of fake snow cutting through acres of brown, barren mountainside.
Artificial surfaces work well for some events, such as alpine races, because of their consistency from top to bottom. Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway praised the downhill run, calling it 鈥渆xtremely grippy and aggressive.鈥�
But on the cross-country course, skiers had to adjust on the fly, moving between sections of deep snow and others that ran thin. Moguls were treacherous for another reason.
鈥淲hen the snow is very, very cold, it gets sticky because your edges kind of freeze to the snow,鈥� said Wilson, who was making his third trip to the Olympics. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of like skiing on Styrofoam where it doesn鈥檛 slide very well.鈥�
A hard surface can make for painful crashes.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to hurt and not be very forgiving, which definitely is good incentive to keep you on your feet,鈥� Kauf said.
The women鈥檚 slopestyle final in Zhangjiakou on Sunday caught a break when winds calmed down but, at the national alpine venue in Yanqing, about 40 miles away, unpredictable gusts kept changing direction and forced postponement of the men鈥檚 downhill. A jump that left skiers vulnerable in midair was of particular concern.
Freezing weather on the biathlon course had some competitors fumbling with their rifles, taking extra time to aim at distant targets. And local forecasts predicted the chill will continue through next week.
Wilson learned his lesson during those first practice runs, saying: 鈥淲e have some stuff we can put on 鈥� you鈥檇 think I would know it by now, but I don鈥檛.鈥�
Though a snow-block wall shields the moguls run, those 20 feet of exposed chairlift got him. He figured to be better prepared by Sunday but still failed to make the finals, finishing 25th in men鈥檚 moguls.
At least he could enjoy the clear, black sky that comes with this merciless season in China.
鈥淪o it鈥檚 really pretty,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut, yeah, it鈥檚 really cold.鈥�
