Winter weather may be a delight to some Iowans who like to spend time outdoors, but a poorly planned outfit may make outdoor recreation less desirable and threaten one’s health.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources Training Specialist Anne Riordan says she loves wintertime activities like cross country skiing, and she recommends to those spending time outdoors that they wear plenty of water resistant layers, “Wearing a pair of cotton jeans and a cotton sweatshirt would be one of the worst choices that you could make, so you want to have lots of layers so that you can bundle up. But if you start getting warm start taking some of those off, you don’t want to sweat and that’s going to be a way to get too cold later on. So layers are good, having something that keeps your feet and your hands and your head warm is super important.”

Any exposed skin is put at the risk of getting frostbite, and Riordan stresses for people to know the signs of frostbite and hypothermia, which is an abnormally low body temperature. Before you head outside, Riordan says it’s important to check the weather forecast for wind chill conditions, which can make exercising outdoors unsafe.