Extreme cold prompts ski resort closures and safety warnings

Weather's wide-ranging impact From roads to schools to parks, the weather over the next few days will affect most everything.

Extreme cold temperatures this week are forcing some ski resorts to temporarily close.

WinSport and Nakiska will be closed Thursday and Friday.

Sunshine Village will be closed Thursday but acknowledges Friday looks even colder there.

Kicking Horse Resort in Golden, B.C., will be closed Friday but said in a statement the mountain should reopen for the weekend with slightly warmer temperatures.

A Calgary ER doctor says the danger to exposed skin is real, and without a place to warm up, there is a risk to fingers and toes in these temperatures.

"In the most severe cases, the frostbite sets in and involves the fingers and the toes, and if not addressed in a timely manner, will lead to amputations," says Dr. Eddy Lang, emergency room physician and professor with U of C's Cumming School of Medicine.

"When frostbite is severe ... the skin and the underlying tissues die."

He says there have been new treatments in recent years that give doctors a better chance to save frozen digits or limit the damage.

He says extreme frostbite is a major risk for socially vulnerable people who may not be able to realize when they need urgent help.

There is still a danger with frost-nip, the discolouration of badly chilled skin, most commonly in the nose and face.

Lang says it should resolve within an hour or so in a warm place.

The most common cause of cold-related injuries seen in emergency rooms is the slip-and-fall.