>>2420914How to speedrun hypothermia
You might be fine the first crossing with warm legs, but this method has a high toll.
flowing water stays liquid as low as -9C. Factor in windchill, ambient temp and evaporative cooling on top of this, and the accelerated flow rate of the water.
your ankles and thighs have a lot of large veins.
If you expose them you'll supercool your body and risk dropping your core temp.
You'll rush across the river and likely make a mistake like tripping, slipping, scraping legs on sharp rocks or twisting an ankle.
It will numb your feet so you're likely to misstep and fall in or have a hard time climbing the bank, and reduce control in your hands so "drying off" and putting your clothes back on will be very hard with claw fingers.
Not to mention which king-sized egyptian cotton bath towel are you packing that will adequately dry ice water in time to protect your legs from windchill and falling snow/slush/sleet/freezing rain? How are you drying this heavy wet towel in cold dark winter?
If you don't get hypothermic after the first crossing or two you'll burn lots of energy keeping your core temp stable and your extremities will be sacrificed as you lose circulation. Your mind will be clouded and decisions will be harder. If you have multiple river crossings like this, the process will get harder each time, your body will respond worse, and there's a chance night will fall or weather will worsen each time.
For very cold rivers: cross slowly using a tripod stance with a pole, take every care not to fall, wear protection against water exposure on your legs (waterproof trousers at the minimum), put on your microspikes if it's slippy.
