Are: It's downright frigid, so get used to it

ARE, Sweden — Even the Herminator looked cold. Hermann Maier —  the man of steel, ski racing’s former bricklayer —  had just completed his training run on the downhill course Wednesday morning, clocking the fourth-fastest time. He was semi-circled by a chilly gaggle of reporters straining through their frozen faces to ask him what he thought of the course and of his chances on Friday.

ARE, Sweden — Even the Herminator looked cold.
    Hermann Maier —  the man of steel, ski racing’s former bricklayer — had just completed his training run on the downhill course Wednesday morning, clocking the fourth-fastest time. He was semi-circled by a chilly gaggle of reporters straining through their frozen faces to ask him what he thought of the course and of his chances on Friday.
    Snug in his Austrian team coat with a red hood covering his head, he talked about the fierce wind as steam billowed from his mouth and tiny ice crystals danced in the air above his head.
    Both the men and women racers took to the hill Wednesday morning in a backdrop of minus-7 degrees Farenheit.
    It was cold.
    No, it was frigid.
    U.S. speedster Steven Nyman stopped mid-sentence during an interview Wednesday to hop up and down — “Man, my ankles are freezing.” He was still in his race suit, but had changed out of his boots into tennis shoes. The lanky 24-year-old from Utah bent down to rub life back into his legs.
    “I feel very healthy. I feel very comfortable on my skis right now … if my feet aren’t frozen,” he deadpanned.
    Lindsey Kildow, fresh off a Tuesday silver medal in the women’s super G, said she and other racers had to wait for a long time in the bitter coldness during training Wednesday morning because of problems with the course.
    “I’m happy now to be done with the first training run. I can’t wait to go back to my room and have a hot chocolate,” she said.
     It’s not going to get much warmer any time soon. Forecasters say cold air has settled into the valley in Are and temperatures will be an average of zero to minus-10 degrees Fahrenheit through Sunday. 
    People walked around town Wednesday bundled in feather down jackets and shin-length windcoats. Cheeks were flush red and many bounced back and forth from right leg to left leg, wildly shaking their hands hoping to force feeling back into the numbness.
    Only the Swedish youth seemed oblivious to the stark cold. They danced and played, sometimes losing a glove on the ice-coated sidewalks.
    When you ask a northern Swede if this weather “is really cold” they typically shrug and say, “ya!”
    Translated, that means “we just deal.”
    And they do.
    Several parking areas throughout the village have electrical boxes stationed in front of spaces so you can plug in your car’s engine to stay toasty. Warm reindeer pelts and reindeer fur clothing can be found in just about every outdoor and specialty store.
    The main hotel in Are, the Holiday Club, has a dedicated area to “warming up.” The pool and sauna area in the hotel is a virtual Disney World of warm baths, waterfalls, six different saunas and a huge slide. For giggles, the pool area even has an ice sauna that reaches a balmy minus-4 degrees Fahrenheit.
    Don’t be surprised, according to Norwegian all-rounder Aksel Lund Svindal, ice baths are downright good for you.
     “I’m really looking to this super combined,” he said. “Today [Wednesday] we have been freezing, but in Finland they stay in the sauna, and go outside, make a hole in the ice and jump in the water. It’s supposed to be healthy. So for us [ski racers], it’s the same.”
    A security guard patrolling the square around the medal ceremony stage Wednesday evening was nearly covered head to toe in a green Gore-Tex uniform. Tommy, who didn’t want to give his last name because he was in “security,” confirmed he was indeed cold, but quickly followed, “that’s only because I live in Stockholm now and it’s much warmer there. I’ve lost my resistance to the cold.”
    Indeed.
    Tommy explained that he grew up in northern Sweden and the cold weather we’re experiencing in Are is in fact “normal.”
    “You just get used to it,” he said.
    Just two days ago, everyone at the World Championships — from athletes to coaches to journalists — were complaining about the snowy weather.
    You can’t have it both ways. At least now races are taking place and the sun is shining.
    You’ve got to “just deal,” and that’s exactly what racers such as U.S. star Julia Mancuso did during training Wednesday.
    "I went straight from our lodge to the race, so I didn’t suffer too much from the cold,” she said. “Maybe I wasn’t that focused, but at least I wasn’t like inside an ice cube!”