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This page explains what governing bodies, standards bodies and safety bodies publish. It is not a substitute for lessons from a qualified instructor, avalanche training or medical advice.
These need medical care
Hypothermia, frostbite and altitude sickness need care from a qualified medical professional, and the NHS says hypothermia needs treating in hospital. This page names the conditions only. It contains no first aid, warming, descent or treatment steps.
Hypothermia
The NHS describes hypothermia as a dangerous drop in body temperature below 35C, against a normal temperature of around 37C, and says it needs to be treated in hospital (NHS page reviewed 9 June 2023).
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publishes winter-weather pages on frostbite and hypothermia and, according to a search summary, gives 95F (35C) as the body temperature at which to get medical attention immediately. That page was not opened, so the CDC wording is unconfirmed here; the threshold matches the NHS figure.
Frostbite
The NHS says frostbite happens when skin freezes after time in very cold temperatures, and that it most often affects the fingers, toes, nose and ears. It tells people to get medical help if they think someone has frostbite, and notes that frostbite can come with hypothermia (NHS page reviewed 9 June 2025).
Altitude sickness
NHS 111 Wales says altitude sickness usually occurs above 2,500 metres, and that it can sometimes be life-threatening and need treatment. A peer-reviewed meta-analysis, seen only as a search-result excerpt and so unconfirmed here, describes acute mountain sickness as caused by acute hypoxia after ascending above 2,500 metres in a short time.
Whether any given ski area reaches that height is a matter of its own published elevations, which this site does not list.
Heart attacks in the ski-area counts
Three of the 13 deaths recorded on Colorado ski slopes in 2025-26 were heart attacks, according to the Colorado Sun's survey of county coroners (11 May 2026). The National Ski Areas Association does not count medical events in its national tally of ski-area deaths, so heart attacks appear in the Colorado coroner count but not in NSAA's. The difference is explained on deaths at ski areas.
What the competition rules say about cold-weather kit
Competition rules name some items that bear on cold. They are rules for racers at those events, with no claim that any item prevents a cold injury.
| Body and document | Discipline | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| FIS, alpine equipment specifications 2026/27, section 3.8 | Alpine skiing | Gloves are "urgently recommended", may not reach past the elbow and may not be coated or reshaped for aerodynamics |
| FIS, snowboard, freestyle, freeski and ski cross specifications 2026/27 | Freestyle and ski cross; snowboard | Gloves strongly recommended in freestyle and ski cross; snowboarders may wear nothing on their hands except gloves (C.5) |
| FIS, cross-country, ski jumping and Nordic combined specifications 2026/27, C.12 (read from a marked-up copy: needs confirming against a clean copy) | Ski jumping | Gloves compulsory; the sleeve may not be fixed around the glove |
| ISMF Rules and Guidelines 2025-26, compulsory equipment table and 31.1 | Ski mountaineering races | A long-sleeved suit or layer to the wrist is compulsory, with optional base and windbreaker layers as the Technical Jury decides; gloves are on the compulsory list for team and individual races; a survival blanket of at least 1.80 square metres where the table requires it |
Ski mountaineering races are governed by the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF), not FIS, and the rules of one discipline do not apply to another. Clothing in general is on clothing named.
What this page leaves out
No figures for cold injuries or altitude sickness among skiers were found in the research, and no ski-specific guidance from a medical body. Signs, symptoms and what to do are matters for a doctor or the emergency services, and are not described here.
Sources
- NHS, Hypothermia (reviewed 9 June 2023)
- NHS, Frostbite (reviewed 9 June 2025)
- CDC, Winter weather: preventing hypothermia and frostbite (seen in a search-result summary only)
- NHS 111 Wales, Health A-Z: Altitude sickness
- Meta-analysis on acute mountain sickness, PMC5946480 (seen in a search-result excerpt only)
- The Colorado Sun, coroner survey of ski-area deaths, republished by the Durango Herald (11 May 2026)
- FIS, Specifications for Alpine Competition Equipment, Edition 2026/2027 (July 2026)
- FIS, Specifications for Competition Equipment: Snowboard, Freestyle, Freeski and Ski Cross, Edition 2026/2027 (June 2026)
- FIS, Specifications for Competition Equipment: Cross-Country, Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined, Edition 2026/2027 (marked-up copy)
- International Ski Mountaineering Federation, Rules and Guidelines 2025-26 (in force 30 October 2025; copy hosted by the Deutscher Alpenverein)