Physiology and Risk Management of Cold Exposure

When combined with extreme environmental conditions extreme sport challenges and often pushes physiological capacities to their regulatory limit, impairing performance and increasing the risk of serious medical conditions. Cold environmental temperatures associated with water and air exposure are of particular concern as hypothermia and cold injury can occur rapidly and without warning. Despite controlled endothermy that utilises several integrated thermoregulatory mechanisms, human body temperature is constrained by environmental biophysics. In cold environments rapid heat exchange can occur if metabolic heat production is insufficient to maintain thermal balance, or because of limited protection from extreme conditions. Declining body temperatures are associated with reduced dexterity, shivering, poor muscle co-ordination and force production, amnesia and cardiovascular strain that might challenge human survival let alone performance. The occurrence of cold injury can be alleviated with the implementation of risk management strategies that are designed to assess environmental conditions, location, protection and metabolic heat production of the event. The aim of this chapter is to highlight the risks associated with cold environments by presenting pertinent research, physiological responses and applied practice relevant to sport medics, athletes and coaches challenges