I thought I would keep with last week’s theme of staying warm.

There are always a few desperate souls trying to ring every last drop out of the season. Unless you head south for the winter, you’ll join rest of us in the northern latitudes in the struggle to keep our hands warm as fall comes to a close and winter sets in.

There are all kinds of methods for keeping your hands warm on cold climbing days:

1. Put your hands in the pockets of those new puffy pants you just purchased. (This is a no brainer.) Whoever invented pockets is a genius. Whoever invented puffy pants—double genius! And pockets in puffy pants … well, I’m speechless.

2. Wear gloves. I’ve never been a huge fan of wearing belay gloves, but for hanging out between goes I use fleece gloves. However, I would advise against belaying with fleece gloves (especially lowering someone), since the friction could melt your gloves.

3. Work a south-facing project. True this only works if the sun comes out, but a boy can dream, right? If you select and time your projects well, there is a chance you could see some sun on cold days—not a bad idea when planning your attack for the year.

4. Bring a stove. Feel the heat as you warm your hands by the fire. It’s a nice touch if you don’t mind hauling in the extra weight. In places with no approach, like Rifle, CO, locals can lug in a 5-gallon tank of propane with the heater mount. They know how to do it in style. Needless to say, I was an instant fan.

5. Hot rocks! We were out one cold day when my buddy from South Dakota showed me what they do back home. He put a couple of rounded limestone river rocks over his stove to heat them up.  Once they cooled off enough to grab he dropped them in his chalk bag and played with them at the rests. They retain enough heat to keep your hands warm for duration of the pitch.

6. Hand warmers. I got a bunch of hand warmers one year for Christmas and finally started breaking them out on cold climbing days. I leave them in the pockets of my jacket to warm my hands between goes. Sometimes I stick them in my chalk bag, but this only works occasionally. When it did it was great. Other times, the chalk reacted with the warmers, and they lost their heat.

7. Stick your hands down your pants. If you numb out and can’t feel your fingers (either climbing, or just hanging out) stick your hands wherever it’s warm: back of your neck, armpit, your crotch, under your shirt, down your pants. This could save your fingers.

8. Numb out. On days when you know you are going to numb out, just do it. Go to the third or fourth bolt, climbing until you can’t feel your fingers, then lower down. Take a few minutes to shake the blood back into your fingers. Once you get past the incredibly uncomfortable stabbing-needle pain and get feeling again, you’re good to go for the duration of the pitch.

9. There are a few other small things you could do like bring a warm beverage (or boil one up on the stove you hauled up), or do jumping jacks, or swing your arms in circles like a windmill. Or you could stay home and get some much-needed rest. Or you could start that new training regimen at the gym where the temperature is a little more regulated.

Where there is a will to climb, there is a way to keep your hands warm. I wish you luck.