How to Protect Your Skin While Exercising Outside in Winter
If anyone know how to protect skin while exercising outside in winter, Gus Kenworthy does. As he should—he spends most of his time in the clouds. If the Olympic silver medalist and seven-time world champion skier isn’t training at high altitudes in Telluride, then he’s a mile into the sky flying from one competition to the next.
Color me awestruck by his accomplishments, duh, but also seriously curious about his skincare regimen. If he spends all this time at high altitudes in the cold with direct exposure to the sun, and the rest of it on bone-dry airplanes, then he must have a dedicated regimen that prevents dehydration and preserves moisture to his face, lips, scalp, hands, and feet.
I spoke with Kenworthy just after he qualified for the PyeongChang games in slopestyle skiing—he took a break from his training schedule to answer my questions about his regimen. He's what he does to maintain his high-speed, high-altitude life without dehydrating his skin. This is how to protect your skin while exercising outside in winter.
Shield Your Face: “Wind burn is a serious problem,” Kenworthy says. “Plus, when it’s cold at those high altitudes, your skin wants to crack and peel and it’s completely awful.” His primary, non-topical defense is a balaclava, which covers his face kind of like a scarf. Even then, his skin is at risk of dehydration and burn, since he’s outside the whole day but not always on a downhill run. “Every morning in the winter I use Kiehl’s Facial Fuel Moisturizer with SPF 15,” he says. “It’s a great base layer of moisture and sun protection in the morning. If I’m out in the sun without the balaclava, though, I’ll use a higher SPF product—COOLA’s SPF 30 Unscented Moisturizer.”
But a skincare regimen is incomplete if it doesn’t include overnight recovery, and Kenworthy chuckles at his high-end product of choice: “I use La Mer’s Soft Crème night moisturizer when I sleep, particularly in the winter or when I’m training. It’s necessary, especially with all the flights I take, which also dehydrate the skin.”
Seal Your Lips: “Like anyone, I just started using Burt’s Bees one day, and I still do.” He applies it frequently—the lips are, after all, more susceptible to moisture loss that the rest of the face. Kenworthy’s lip balm flavor of choice? Pomegranate.
Soothe Your Scalp: “Dandruff is even more common at high elevations, since the skin on the scalp can dry out much easier, too. I like the classic Head and Shoulders to prevent or treat it. They have an Old Spice-scented one, which of course smells incredible.”
Keep Your Hands from Cracking: “I keep a supply of Aesop’s Hand Balm—their 2.5-oz. Resurrection tube. I also like to stock it at home, because it makes me feel bougie. It looks so good on the bathroom sink.”
Don't Forget Your Feet: “My feet get super beat up and callused and cracked,” Kenworthy says. “Instead of carrying a product, I’m an advocate of getting pedicures. More guys should try them: You get your nails trimmed, you get rid of all the dead skin, you get a foot massage, and you leave with your feet feeling soft. It’s like having a new foot. There’s nothing I want to do for my own feet, so a pedicure is a relaxing solution.”
Take a Bath Soak: “A bath soak doesn’t just relax the muscles and senses, but can rehydrate the skin,” Kenworthy says. “If I’m not doing a full Epsom salt soak to focus on the muscles, I’ll do something more aromatic that also minimizes stress. I like Lush’s bath bombs. Their various scents work like aromatherapy, but the bombs also dissolve to help soothe aching muscles and refresh the skin.”
Hydrate! “You have to drink more water at higher elevations and in the cold,” Kenworthy says. “It’s the cure-all for everything, and is the most important things you can do for yourself—not just your skin.” He adds that alcohol works faster to dry the skin at these elevations, too, so be careful of that when you head to Colorado next.
Adam Hurly has been covering men's grooming since 2013 (and for GQ since 2016). He is also a travel writer. In Fall 2024, Adam is launching Blue Print by Adam Hurly, a men's grooming platform. Adam resides in Lisbon (previously Berlin, NYC, and San Francisco). He is a Sioux Falls, SD, native... Read moreWriterInstagramRelated Stories for GQOlympicsSkincare