Important - Wear Sunscreen When on the Slopes!

The sun is might powerful. In fact, there is enough energy in the sunlight hitting the Earth in one day to fuel all our power needs for an entire year if we could just figure out how to harness it. Given this power, how do you think your skin will hold up to the onslaught of the rays of the sun?

Everybody knows the warning during the summer. Whenever you are outside, make sure you wear sunscreen to protect you from the sun. Skin cancer is a serious health problem and many people die from the melanoma form of it. Used properly, sunscreen can help prevent that from happening.

Once the colder months roll around, many people forget the warnings associated with skin damage from the sun. Subversive logic tends to be the reason for this. Most people associated the rays of the sun with heat. Since the winter is a period of cold, many just naturally assume that the risk of skin cancer isn’t as high and is nothing really to worry about. Nothing could be farther from the truth, particularly when you are on the slopes.

The sun is powerful through and through. The seasons of the year really don’t matter. If you don’t believe me, just consider how harsh a sun burn you can pick up when you are out on the slopes. There are a couple reasons it can often be worse than one you pick up in the summer.

First, you aren’t expecting problems with the sun. When packing your stuff to go skiing, do you really think about sun protection very often? You might think of lip balm to keep your lips from drying out and cracking, but sun protection often is left off the list of things to take. Once up on the slopes, your skin loses sensitivity because of the cold. This means you can get very red before you realize it and take action.

The second reason you can get fried while on the slopes has to do with the nature of snow. Snow is white. This means it reflects a significant amount of the sunlight hitting it. This creates an environment where anything on the slopes is receiving sunlight directly from the sun and on the rebound from the snow. From a practical perspective, this is why many people find the edges of their nostrils very sensitive after skiing all day. They are sun burned!

When you get ready to hit the slopes this season, make sure to protect your body. Lip balm is great, but don’t forget that sunscreen as well.

John Grimes is with http://www.allterrainco.com - making natural products for outdoor enthusiasts.