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It's weird how we have an inverse relationship weather-wise with the Lower 48.  When there were those polar vortexes, it was pretty warm up here. Last year I don't think we went under 0 degrees. In Anchorage, which is a lot warmer than Fairbanks/North Pole.

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One thing you might not think about if you haven't been exposed to such a climate - the ground literally zaps your body heat away, through your feet. The first time I experienced -40, I was pretty well dressed. Started doing a little work and actually started sweating - had to open a zipper a little and pace myself because sweating is the last thing you want to do. Got things under control for a while, working slow and steady, feeling ok... then after a while I noticed my feet hurting. They never felt cold, but at some point I noticed they just hurt. I was doing calf raises and shit just to keep the blood moving. But nothing took the pain away until I went inside and removed the boots.
They sell inserts to insulate the bottom of your feet.

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My maternal grandfather was an old Alaska hand,  Dad met Mom at Ladd, AFB back in 52.  I came along in 54.

I spent 4 1/2 years in the Airborne Infantry at Ft. Richardson in Anchorage, my two oldest sons were born there.

Coldest I ever say was -70 outside of Elision AFB, living in a 10-man tent warmed by the greatest invention known to man - the Yukon Stove.

That picture of the Sky Crane made me chuckle, we had just jumped one with a people pod outside of Fairbanks.  Temp was right around 0 degrees, a balmy day.  The Crane was also our transport out.  As it came over the edge of the DZ to pick us up, it hovered right over top of me.  That's probably the coldest I've ever been.

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@JustinOK34

So it was an AIM-9M, not an AIM-7 like I thought.  Mar. 19, 1990
https://fighterjetsworld.com/historic-aircraft-and-incident/that-time-f-15-aim-9m-sidewinder-missile-accidentally-hit-another-f-15-fighter-jet/19410/
https://fighterjetsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/F-15-Hit-Another-F-15.jpg

on Mar. 19, 1990 a U.S. Air Force (USAF) Elmendorf Air Force Base (AFB) F-15 Eagle accidentally hit by an AIM-9M Sidewinder missile fired from another USAF F-15.

As can be seen by looking at the photo, the missile caused extensive damage to the tail section of the aircraft and moderate damage to the left-wing and engine exhaust.

The F-15 pilot, Lt. Col. Jimmy L. Harris, said he was sure the accident was going to be counted as a Class A. He
was almost right.

The cost of repairing the aircraft was fixed at $992,058, or $7,942 short of being a Class A.

However, Maj. Gen. Francis C. Gideon Jr., then commander of the Air Force Safety Center at Kirtland Air Force
Base, N.M., said he could not determine if the service calculated the cost of the F-15 tail in the repair cost.

The pilot who 'unintentionally' fired the missile realized what was happening moments after he released the
heat-seeking Sidewinder at Harris and urgently radioed him, then Sgt. David Haulbrook then said.

Harris, in the second F-15, took evasive action but was unable to completely avoid the attack. He was not
injured, but his jet fighter suffered a significant amount of damage.

'It took real good flying to get it back,' Haulbrook said.

The accident took place on the first day of the Arctic Cover air war game exercises 150 miles west of Anchorage over the Stony military operations area. The exercise was cancelled after the mishap.

'It's not normal procedure to call off an exercise, but we did it in the interest of safety,' Haulbrook said.

"Ed," a former USAF weapon loader recalled on the authoritative website F-16.net "I was stationed at Elmendorf AFB in 1991, I walked into the hanger and saw this damaged F-15.

I was told it was shot at by an AIM-9 missile and that the aircrew flew the jet back

'I was a weapons loader in the Air Force and I talked to a lot of people first-hand about what happened. I made TSgt and became the weapons expeditor six months after be assigned to the 54th FS. I later made MSgt and was the Assist NCOIC. I retired in 1997.

The weapons crew chief (Jeff Lang) that loaded the missile told me that there was a training AIM-9 and a live AIM-9 on the jet. The live AIM-9 was being flown to King Salmon (alert post). He said he wrote in the aircraft forms that there was a live missile and a training missile on the jet, he also told the pilot himself. The crew chief for the jet also to the pilot and the people at EOR also told the pilot.

'After the investigation, the weapons crew was blamed for everything. The F-15 weapons T.O. also failed to say that you can't load a training missile and a live missile on the same aircraft. I spent 15 years on the F-4C/E/G and the T.O. stated this in the general safety requirements that you couldn't do this.

'The aircrews for both F-15's were cleared of any wrongdoing and the pilot that fired the missile was promoted later on to Capt. Life as a weapons load was hell, you had to write everything in the aircraft forms. What you had loaded, what station, live or inert.

'Jeff Lang was a good crew chief and one of my go-to guys. We went on a TDY to Luke AFB and Jeff got sick and a few weeks later died of a brain aneurysm. His wife was pregnant and had a baby boy after Jeff had passed.

Photo Credits: U.S. Air Force

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My cabin in Salcha is in frame

https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/351853/Capture_PNG-1234058.JPG

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If it is -40 degrees, it is a full 105 degrees warmer than that in Austin, TX right now. That is nuts.

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Beautiful photos!  I can't even comprehend that level of cold.

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Central Oregon here - we had a cold snap a few years ago where it dipped down to -34 at one point.  I had to go out to get water to the animals in -20 and came to this realization: -20 and +15 feel the exact same . . . except that bare fingers start to turn stiff and go numb after about a minute.  Your brain doesn't automatically think "hey, it's cold enough to kill you", you have to consciously think about how cold it is and what you need to do to protect yourself.

Cool pics, OP!

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When were you at FT Rich?