Simply beautiful: Stand-up paddling in winter - how to do it without catching a cold
At the Eibsee car park A few tourists walk past and don't know whether to shake their heads, laugh, roll their eyes, pointedly ignore me, take a selfie with me or ask me lots of curious questions as I try to scrape off the frozen drops of water on my SUP. An inflatable like this is also difficult to roll up when a layer of water has frozen on it! But I don't care about any of that. The last three and a half hours on the water were worth it. A dream of Winter Wonderland from a perspective that many people will never experience. Just take a look at the pictures below - they speak for themselves.
The right equipment for winter SUPing... I have to say: on such winter SUP days, the car looks as if you've packed for a holiday lasting several weeks. But what the heck - it's really worth it.
The right outfit on the board for this weather (1 degree air temperature and approx. 5 degrees water temperature) is a dry suit with ski underwear, waterproof socks, thick neoprene boots, gloves, scarf and hat.
...and the almost-right equipment This time I had to improvise because my drysuit hadn't arrived yet. My improvised solution looked like this: waterproof socks and thick neoprene boots (you really can't make any compromises with your feet, otherwise you'll freeze through). I had thick socks and another 7mm neoprene booties on - that was perfect. I also wore my wetsuit (3/2mm) - surf leggings underneath and a fleece jumper and hoodie on top. And of course a hat and scarf. I was very sure I wouldn't fall into the water (no wind, no waves) and would have been able to get to the shore and the car quickly in an emergency - otherwise I probably wouldn't have done it. On the board, however, this outfit worked really well and I didn't freeze a bit. But what was really quite disgusting afterwards was peeling out of the sweaty neoprene in the car park (then in the shade) at -2 degrees and getting dry. Brrrrr!!! I survived without catching a cold, but I'm still really looking forward to my drysuit.
By the way: more on safety precautions SUPing in autumn and winter can be found on the blog. Of course, I wasn't travelling alone, but with my mum.
I would like to clarify this once again:the text about my outfit is NOT my recommendation to you. As I wrote above, the right outfit is a dry suit.
Every (winter/water) athlete should also know their limits. If you fall into the water, you should quickly make it back onto the board and then ashore. If you still go swimming regularly, you should also practise another round in summer. Winter SUPing is clearly not for beginners!
Editor's note: In winter, a board leash (connecting line between paddler and board) is virtually mandatory on non-flowing waters. You should not paddle longer distances over larger bodies of water alone. It is advisable to have a waterproof mobile phone with you.
