Tips to Stay Warm at SLU:
It’s that time of the year again in Canton, New York, where you take one step outside of your dorm room and question whether or not you can afford another absence from your class across campus. While there’s no sugarcoating the harsh winters here in the North Country, there are a few steps you can take to make negative twenty feel like a balmy ten degrees above zero.
1: Invest in several warm pairs of gloves and hats
Wearing a hat is scientifically proven to stop 5-10% of your body heat from escaping, and in NoCo winters, you need all of the body warmth you can get! So pile on the beanies, ski hats, and even your parka’s hood on top. With that, invest in a warm pair of gloves, preferably those with touch-screen friendly fingertips, because peeling your glove on and off to reply to a text in below zero temps is never a fun time.
2: Buy Hand Warmers
While I have personally never resorted to this, aside from at the ski mountain, seriously cold days can be easily improved with a $2 pack of hand warmers. Give them a shake and place them in your coat pockets or inside your gloves and you’ll have toasty hands for the whole day.
3: Invest in a long coat
Come late November, campus seems to transform into a sea of long puffy jackets, and for good reason! Since you will most likely wear a winter coat for the better half of the school year, getting a quality jacket is well worth the investment. While down filling is often the warmest option, synthetic fills can be just as effective. Online ratings can be helpful, but SLU students know through experience which brands will hold up the best in North Country winters, which is why rugged outdoor brands such as Patagonia, The North Face, L.L. Bean, and Canada Goose are most frequently seen on campus.
4: LAYERS
Layers are not only a winter staple, but a major necessity for living in Canton. Whether it’s a long sleeve thermal underneath a turtleneck or even leggings under jeans on extra cold nights out, subtle layers can make a huge difference for your level of warmth.
5: Hot Pub drinks
The Pub is the perfect place to run for cover from the cold while in between classes on freezing or snowy days on campus, plus it also offers a wide variety of hot beverages that are perfect for dreary winter days. From hot apple cider to gourmet hot chocolates with a multitude of toppings, the Pub offers a solution to the cold that you’ll definitely look forward to.
6: The Fracket
The “fracket,” a.k.a frat jacket, is a term coined for a cheap jacket you can throw on to go to crowded parties and not care about staining or losing. Since temperatures dip to their lowest during prime party hours, a cheaper, yet warm, jacket is definitely necessary for night owls at SLU. While your parent’s vintage ski coat could be your favorite option for both a fracket and Titus weekend, consider cheap winter jackets from one of many local thrift stores or Walmart for near-campus convenience.
While you can’t change St. Lawrence’s unfortunate proximity to the North Pole, you can adopt some quick tips for your daily routine to greatly enhance your winter months here in the North Country.