Top 4 Ice Skating and Sledding Safety Tips This Winter
AcuRite has the tools you need to keep the kids healthy and active this winter by staying safe and prepared for the brisk winter weather. Find the best sledding weather and best ice skating conditions for your family!
4 Ice Skating and Sledding Safety Tips
While the slippery conditions typical of winter weather may pose a variety of safety risks, there are just as many ways to prevent ice and snow related accidents. As the kids head out to the sledding hill or ice skating rink, let us help you encourage winter fun while still keeping safety at the forefront of your mind. Parents, please try to join your kids outside! It’s a safe way for the entire family to get some fresh air and exercise, both of which are great for our mood and wellbeing throughout the winter months, while also creating some great memories and family bonding time! You can even incorporate some snowmobile safety tips into your kids winter safety plans. Enjoy the winter weather with these ice skating and winter sledding tips:
1. Dress in Layers
When bundling up for the great outdoors, it’s essential to remember to dress in layers. Since our bodies have to work hard to hike back up the sledding hill or push us around the rink, we can easily get overheated under all those layers. To cool ourselves from our own body heat often requires removing jackets or sweaters. But as soon as we stop to catch our breath, or a strong wind picks up, we might just need those discarded layers again! This is why people living in all types of climates recommend to dress in layers. It works for the dead of northern winter and even the mild coastal climates -- better to be prepared than to be stuck in the cold!
2. Check the Weather!
Always check with the local experts from the National Weather Service on the current weather conditions and near-term weather forecast. Since our winter weather activities heavily depend on the best types of snow for the skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling, remember to freshen up on the ideal conditions for your favorite winter activities – such as downhill skiing and snowboarding.
Also remember to check for safe sledding conditions from your backyard weather station with the My AcuRite® app. Whether you have an stand-alone outdoor temperature sensor or a full weather station like the AcuRite Atlas® or the AcuRite Iris®, you're conveniently able to check the temperatures before you go and even while you’re out!
3. Pack Hand Warmers
In addition to dressing in layers and packing extra hats and mittens, we recommend to pack hand warmers to provide extra warmth when things really get cold. In the event that you end up outside for longer than expected, or even in emergency situations where you become isolated or separated from your group, having backup sources of warmth can come in especially handy. Packing an emergency kit is essential, but even simply throwing extra hand warmers in your pockets might give you that needed boost to keep you moving when headed back to safety.
4. Bring Portable Weather Devices
Parents, it’s a good idea to bring the portable anemometer to get real-time weather information when you are out with the kids – these devices so small they fit in your jacket pockets! Sledding on a big hill? Ice skating on an isolated pond? The local weather conditions in these environments are likely not the same as the information you pull up on your weather app – which is usually the official weather data from the nearby airport. Be the weather guru at the sledding hill by taking your own measurements and getting the kids inside before it gets too windy or cold! The same applies for snowmobiling weather and staying prepared with snowmobiling safety tips.
Share Your Winter Activities and Family Adventures!
Whether you were blasted with cold arctic air when you least expected it, or you melted from too many layers on a bright sunny winter day, monitor conditions with a home weather station and share your winter weather stories below!
Bundle up and have fun out there!
