In the scorching summer heat, when I can't stand it anymore, I think I’d rather freeze to death than die of heat. Dying from heat turns you into a mummy, but freezing at least keeps you fresh;

So here's the question,
what temperature do you think can freeze a person to death?
A. Above 10°C;
B. Above 5°C;
C. 0°C;
D. Below 5°C
E. Below 10°C;
Actually, there’s no definitive answer to this question, because everyone’s physical condition, environment, duration of exposure, and current state of health are different... All these varying factors lead to different outcomes.
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But one thing is certain—at certain times, even above zero, above 10°C, or even higher, it’s absolutely not out of the question for someone to freeze to death!
What is hypothermia?
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To most people, hypothermia may not seem like a big deal—it’s just being cold, right? Just wear more clothes, or thicker ones, and the problem is solved. But is it really that simple?
Let’s first clarify what hypothermia means:
It is a medical condition where the body loses heat faster than it can produce it, causing the core body temperature to drop and leading to symptoms such as shivering and heart and lung failure, which may ultimately result in death.
Core area:Refers to the essential life organs including the brain and heart and lungs—not the limbs or skin surface. Frostbite on fingers or toes, for example, is not hypothermia.
What situations can lead to hypothermia?
Many people think hypothermia is simply about being cold, caused by low temperatures.That’s correct—low temperatures are indeed a major cause of hypothermia, but not the only one.
The human body’s normal temperature is 37°C, making it a heat source in itself. Therefore, it also engages in heat exchange with the outside world. Wind causes convective heat loss, swimming leads to conductive heat transfer between the body and water, and even when stationary, the body still loses heat through radiation.
Based on these three methods of heat transfer: temperature, humidity, and wind force,these three factors are the most common direct causes of hypothermia. If any two of these elements go wrong, problems can arise.

Here are a few examples
In the hypothermia example mentioned above, the temperature wasn’t actually that low—around 10°C at least. Based on common experience, it’s hard to imagine hypothermia occurring at such a temperature. But among the three factors of temperature, humidity, and wind, it was the moisture and wind that played a role: being completely soaked and facing strong mountain winds led to severe hypothermia even in late summer.
According to investigations, in the short period after the Titanic sank, a significant number of people were still alive, but most of them did not die from drowning. Instead, they froze to death in the icy seawater, where temperature and humidity were the key factors.
In the winter of 2012, three outdoor enthusiasts tragically lost their lives while crossing Mount Ao. The mountaintop climate in winter is extremely harsh, with temperatures routinely below -20°C. Additionally, as it lies on China’s geographical boundary between north and south, the mountain experiences particularly fierce winds. These three victims succumbed under the double assault of low temperatures and strong winds.

What are the symptoms of hypothermia?
Hypothermia occurs when body temperature falls below 35°C. It must be treated immediately, or the patient may die.
Mild hypothermia (body temperature between 32°C–35°C)
The body feels cold, with uncontrollable shivering. However, the shivering is still manageable. Hands and feet may feel stiff and numb, making it difficult to perform fine manual tasks.
Moderate hypothermia (body temperature between 35°C–33°C)
The body feels intense cold, with violent shivering that cannot be voluntarily controlled. There’s a strong sense of fatigue, sleepiness, and reduced responsiveness. Hand function declines—you may struggle with basic tasks, walk unsteadily, and speech becomes slurred and unclear.
Severe hypothermia (body temperature between 33°C–30°C)
Consciousness becomes confused. Paradoxically, sensitivity to cold diminishes—you might not feel cold at all. Mobility deteriorates progressively until you lose the ability to move. Standing and walking become difficult. Speech becomes partially or completely impaired. Shivering, initially violent, turns intermittent, with longer gaps between episodes until it stops altogether.
Fatal stage (body temperature below 30°C)
The body is essentially at the brink of death. Muscles become rigid and contorted. Pulse and breathing are faint and hard to detect. Consciousness is lost, leading to coma. Even slight external shocks can cause fatal cardiac arrhythmia. The final outcome at this stage is death.
In Mild hypothermia → Moderate hypothermiastage, patients with low body temperature can still improve by generating their own body heat. But if the first two stages are overlooked and the condition progresses to severe hypothermia, the patient can no longer produce enough heat to sustain life on their own. Without proper treatment, this can lead to death!

How to avoid hypothermia?
As the saying goes, prevention is the best way to avoid risks. We should not only learn how to handle hypothermia properly once it occurs, but more importantly, understand how to prevent it from happening in the first place. That is the most scientific and rational approach.
Many outdoor travelers focus mainly on rain and snow protection, prioritizing warmth while neglecting the risk of hypothermia caused by heavy sweating. They also overlook the selection and preparation of base layers. During outdoor activities in cold weather, keeping your body dry is crucial—if you get wet, change into dry clothes immediately!
Tips: Choose quick-drying, moisture-wicking underwear. Avoid cotton. Cotton absorbs sweat and retains it, which can lead to hypothermia.
Pay attention to adding or removing clothing. Many hikers wear too many layers out of fear of getting cold, only to sweat heavily after a short distance—greatly increasing the risk of hypothermia.
Tips: When hiking in frigid areas, pack warm clothing in a carry-on bag before setting off. Wear a thin, quick-drying T-shirt or a breathable outer layer to start. Though it might feel a bit cool at first, you won’t sweat. At each rest stop, immediately put on the warm layers to avoid catching a chill or getting hypothermic. Once you resume activity, remove them again. This keeps your base layer dry throughout the hike—and you won’t feel too cold either.
If traveling in cold weather, take proper windproof measures. Don’t expose yourself to cold winds. Essential items for windy, freezing conditions include warm hats, gloves, scarves, windproof jackets, thick socks, face masks, and even goggles. The more exposed skin and the higher the wind speed, the faster body heat will be lost.
Avoid physical exhaustion, prevent dehydration, and minimize excessive sweating and fatigue. Regular intake of food and hot drinks to replenish body heat is also a highly effective method for hypothermia prevention.

How to treat hypothermia?
What if, unfortunately, all preventive measures fail and you or your companion has hypothermia? What should we do?
If you encounter hypothermia, here’s what to do:
Move the hypothermic person out of the wind and away from wet, cold environments. Isolate them from the cold air.
This includes:Moving the person to a dry, sheltered area to avoid exposure to dampness and wind. Ensure they’re not lying directly on cold ground. Remove any wet base layers. Take measures to protect the head and keep it warm.
Mild and moderate hypothermia stages:
1. Just change into dry clothes and shield from wind and cold;
2. If the patient can eat, they should have some liquid food as soon as possible, followed by something sugary;
3. Wrap a hot water bottle in a glove or sock, then place it on the patient’s armpits, neck, and groin;
4. If these measures still don’t help raise the patient’s body temperature, a warm teammate should use direct body contact in a sleeping bag or other dry insulating material to help the patient gradually recover warmth.
Severe hypothermia stage:
The body can hardly produce heat on its own and requires more external assistance. In addition to the above methods, CPR may be necessary in critical cases.
But it must be emphasized:The heart of a severely hypothermic patient beats very slowly and faintly, and is extremely sensitive to external intervention. Even moving the patient too roughly can cause cardiac arrest and death. Therefore, CPR — especially chest compressions — must only be performed when pulse and heartbeat have truly ceased; otherwise, it could worsen the situation. Of course, breathing warm air into the patient’s mouth is also a way to provide heat.
Moreover, rewarming a severely hypothermic patient should not be done too quickly, as a rush of cold blood returning to the heart can cause arrhythmia. Rapid rewarming may lead to shock, which is very dangerous. No matter how bad the patient looks, if their body hasn’t yet warmed up, it means they’re not dead — don’t give up on them. “A person is not dead unless their body is warm and dead.”
Avoid:
Giving alcohol to a hypothermic patient — this is absolutely not allowed. Many people think drinking alcohol will make them feel warmer, but that’s a misconception. Alcohol doesn’t actually provide much heat to the body; instead, it dilates blood vessels, increases circulation, and creates a subjective feeling of warmth. In reality, it just speeds up heat loss. Using alcohol to warm up is like drinking poison to quench thirst.
Applying external heat sources to the limbs rather than the core and head is wrong. Some people, upon touching the icy limbs of a hypothermic patient, immediately try to warm them with a hot water bottle. But doing so causes the warm blood from the core to rush to the extremities, taking heat away and accelerating the loss of core body heat.
Using scalding-hot heat sources is also not advisable. The ideal temperature for a heat source is close to the human body’s normal temperature. Overly hot sources can cause burns.

Repost: A Case Study on Hypothermia Treatment
A team of seven — four men and three women — was trekking through the E’erzuo’e area near Xichang. Aside from one female member who was new to outdoor activities, the rest were seasoned veterans. We hired two experienced local Yi guides and started from behind Lingshan Temple. Although we initially thought the presence of two guides and experienced members would ensure a smooth trip, it rained on the first day, and thick fog set in at higher altitudes. On the second day, as we began crossing from the Black Sea Camp at 3,700 meters, rain and fog continued, making it hard to discern directions. The area was densely forested with azaleas, and after several hours of climbing near 4,000 meters, even the guides got lost. They asked us to wait while they went ahead to scout the route.
The waiting spot was only 1.8 kilometers from the planned campsite, but the cliffs were steep and there were no paths through the surrounding virgin forest. So we had no choice but to wait for the guides. During this time, the female member began to struggle: drenched from rain and sweat, she shivered violently in the biting wind, her face pale and drawn. Having experienced hypothermia myself in the Qinling Mountains the previous year, I immediately decided we should all descend. Though some team members were reluctant — after all, the campsite was only 1.8 km away as the crow flies — the rugged, pathless terrain made continuing dangerous, and we couldn’t risk her collapsing further. So I insisted we call the guides back and start descending.
As we descended, although the altitude decreased, the woman’s condition worsened. When we were just a few hundred meters from the planned Black Sea Camp, she completely broke down, unable to walk any further. We gave her backpack to a guide to carry back to camp, had the other members move ahead and set up the tent early, and I stayed behind with her, walking slowly. In the final stretch, she was nearly unconscious, collapsing repeatedly. Supporting and carrying her, we managed the last hundred meters or so. By then, the team had pitched the tent and inflated the sleeping mat. We placed her inside, and the other female members helped her out of her wet clothes and into dry ones, then into a 1000-gram down sleeping bag, with an additional one from a teammate. Even so, she remained semi-conscious, lying there with no signs of warming for half an hour. We kept holding her, using our own body heat to help. Eventually, one of the guides who had returned earlier brought hot water mixed with brown sugar for her to drink. He also filled a water pouch, wrapped it in thick clothing, and placed it on her left armpit and chest. After an hour and a half to two hours, she finally began to revive. Her hypothermia was very severe; by the time we returned to camp, she was teetering on the edge between moderate and severe hypothermia.
Looking back, we feel very fortunate:
1. I’m grateful to have had a terrifying personal experience with hypothermia and to possess basic outdoor survival skills;
2. I’m glad I made the wise decision to descend immediately when I noticed the early signs of hypothermia in a teammate — even though some were reluctant. Continuing in such conditions, or delaying the decision, could have ended in tragedy;
3. I’m thankful I handled the situation correctly: moving the patient to a safe place (the tent), changing her into dry clothes, using body heat to help her warm up, giving her warm brown sugar water, and applying gentle heat sources... Even though the hypothermia was severe, we successfully pulled her through.

Hypothermia is terrifying and is something people often overlook.
Once you notice any signs of hypothermia outdoors, you must take it very seriously — there's no room for carelessness or underestimation. Of course, there’s no need to panic excessively; just focus on prevention and know how to respond properly if it happens.
When we venture outdoors, we should enjoy the adventure but also stay constantly alert to the risks.
I hope everyone can build up safety awareness and master outdoor skills. I believe this is the true essence of outdoor life — going to the most beautiful places, with your best friends.