"Once your hair has become pure white... ring the bell"

November 9, 2021 6:01 PM

The Takhini Hot Springs Hair Freezing Contest is an annual winter contest. They have a fun gallery.
posted by jessamyn (26 comments total)

Hah! That is so great. ( ... although a FEW of the people in the gallery do not appear to have much ice in their hair. Hmph. Heh.)

Plus, donations to good causes! Noodles to the food bank!

(Do click through to see the winners - Best Group is pretty awesome.)

This is quite delightful and is a lovely thing to see at the end of the day. Thank you for posting it, jessamyn!
posted by kristi at 6:12 PM on November 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

Needs a CW warning for Munchausen's Frostbite by Proxy.
posted by y2karl at 6:23 PM on November 9, 2021 [3 favorites]

It cracks me up that the only thing I can think of to say is "horrifying."
posted by rhizome at 7:10 PM on November 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

Be patient- all wet hair will eventually freeze, this includes eyebrows and even eyelashes.

Also: nose hairs!

Judging by some of the more hirstute competitors, this is the winter sport for which bears were made.

"horrifying"

Winter surfing on Lake Superior in winter will yield similar results, but in open water:

The Ice Beard Surfers of Lake Superior
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:45 PM on November 9, 2021 [3 favorites]

I thought frozen hair could....break off?
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:03 PM on November 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

The guy with thumbs up and then a hand stuck in his hair with a thumbs up wins for me
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 8:24 PM on November 9, 2021 [2 favorites]

I think frozen hair could potentially break off but in my experience (as someone who used to swim and shower at a local pool and then walk out to my car in 0° weather) it usually doesn't.
posted by jessamyn at 8:48 PM on November 9, 2021 [2 favorites]

Though it sadly appears the place is permanently closed, and the new owners' vision doesn't seem too popular with the locals.
posted by tavella at 12:53 AM on November 10, 2021

Years ago, a coworker, a large man with fair reddish-blond hair and beard, was late to work. He walked to work, and the sleet storm that morning made going hard, so he ran as best he could. When he burst through the door, a few moments late, his beard and eyebrows were timed with ice and his hair was frozen behind him in a cloud. When I say him I cried “Behold! Ymir, King of the Frost Giants, come to bring Fimbulwinter and the Doom of the Gods!”

It was that sort of workplace.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:01 AM on November 10, 2021 [14 favorites]

I can see why Nongshim Noodles is a sponsor, but Tim Horton's?
posted by chavenet at 3:30 AM on November 10, 2021

Walrus Mo guy wins it for my cursory inspection - with Mega-eyelash woman a close second.

This looks like fun, but -20 is just not something I'm ever going to deal with. I'd probably just drown myself in the warm water to avoid it.
posted by pompomtom at 4:52 AM on November 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

Tim Horton's?

Because after that you will need a hot beverage. To dunk your head in.
posted by Mogur at 4:56 AM on November 10, 2021 [2 favorites]

I can see why Nongshim Noodles is a sponsor, but Tim Horton's?

I thought exactly the opposite. I can see why Tim Horton's is a sponsor -- they'll have local locations that will sponsor local things -- but a major international food products company?
posted by jacquilynne at 6:01 AM on November 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

but -20 is just not something I'm ever going to deal with
Having lived in places where its gotten to -40. Its really not that bad. At those temperatures there is so little moisture thay you just throw on a fleece and a shell and cover up all exposed skin and you are fine. Your eyelashes freezing shut from your condensed breath gets a little old, but you can defrost them with your fingers pretty quick.

Now -5c on a coastal city.. That chills you to the bones, I put on every jacket I owned and I was still feeezing.
posted by Pink Fuzzy Bunny at 6:12 AM on November 10, 2021 [5 favorites]

-20 doesn't feel that much different from -5 or -30, you just kind of get used to it. Dress right and you're fine. Eventually it's just an extra few minutes when you exit and enter a building.
posted by Ferreous at 7:04 AM on November 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

All I can think of is my grandmother saying, don't go out with your hair wet! You'll catch a cold!
posted by Splunge at 7:43 AM on November 10, 2021

I'm having a flashback to being a teenager waiting at the bus stop at 7am in Minnesota winter after having decided that clean hair is necessary but hairdryers are a Tool of the Patriarchy. My hair froze pretty often but it didn't seem like a big deal and never seemed to do any damage.

This looks like so much fun!
posted by beandip at 7:55 AM on November 10, 2021 [3 favorites]

Okay, fabulous.
posted by rmd1023 at 8:30 AM on November 10, 2021

Hah. We do that at the outdoor hot pools at the spa near Ottawa when we've gone in -20°C. It's fun! The only time you notice the cold is when you are walking between the pools and the saunas.
posted by fimbulvetr at 9:01 AM on November 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

I could so do this, with my crazy hair.
posted by Melismata at 9:31 AM on November 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

Metafilter: your eyelashes freezing shut from your condensed breath.
posted by datawrangler at 10:53 AM on November 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

As someone who accidentally froze their hair as a child I expected this to be horrifying. The addition of a hot spring to the experience seems to make it much more pleasant!

PS. Remember kids, if you are 1) in Illinois, and 2) in February, dry your hair before leaving the house for the bus stop.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:41 AM on November 10, 2021

It cracks me up that the only thing I can think of to say is "horrifying."

Hair-raising, surely?
posted by babelfish at 12:26 PM on November 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

I'm having a flashback to being a teenager waiting at the bus stop at 7am in Minnesota winter after having decided that clean hair is necessary but hairdryers are a Tool of the Patriarchy. My hair froze pretty often but it didn't seem like a big deal and never seemed to do any damage.

I think hairdryer are loud, buzzy and too hot, so I don't have one. But I've found that putting wet hair under a nice winter hat still dries it fine and also it ends up with a really nice texture, like it was gently steamed dry by the head heat.
posted by jb at 12:28 PM on November 10, 2021

Nice video of same.
posted by BWA at 2:49 PM on November 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

Ohhhhhhh, they just do the hot spring thing and it just so happens to be cold enough right above the water. That's much less horrifying! I was imagining something like a cold plunge to be involved, or a polar bear event. Only problem is if you're in the spring, you can't not do it.
posted by rhizome at 12:46 AM on November 11, 2021