‘Layers, layers, layers’: Letter carrier braces extreme cold

Extreme cold continues to send a chill through most of Saskatchewan.

But while most people cozy up in their homes, one man bundles up to go to work.

Marko Jopp, a letter carrier with Canada Post, said, he’s used to the chilly weather.

“Well you grow up in Saskatchewan and it’s not a surprise when you get this weather,” he said. “You just have to make sure you dress for it. The most important thing is layers, layers, layers.”

Jopp prefers multiple thin layers to avoid feeling too bulky.

“For layers on my legs, it’s long johns and then I have snowboard pants,” he said.

“My top layer is a long john shirt and then I have my work t-shirt because it’s got our company colours when I’m at the depot. And then I have a bunny hug over top of that and then a zip-up sweater and then my rain jacket over this.”

Read more:

• Extreme cold to last at least another week in Sask.: Environment Canada
• Mail flowing again in Sask. with Canada Post workers back on the job
• What not to wear in winter

Jopp said frostbite is his biggest challenge. He wears two sets of gloves and sometimes throws in a heat warmer.

But he finds that heat warmers drain the blood from his fingertips.

The best way to keep warm is to keep moving, he said.

“Your first loop is your coldest,” he said. “Once your body starts adjusting and you’re walking it gets better because you’re always moving so your body heat maintains a decent temperature.”

He said it’s important to take warm-ups on extremely cold days but then it’s harder for the body to adjust to the cold again.

“The more warm-ups you take, the more warm-ups you end up taking because your body keeps changing from the heat to the cold all the time,” Jopp said.

Jopp tries to take as few warm-up breaks in his van as possible. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

Jopp said there are very few weather conditions mail carriers don’t go out in. The depot might send workers home during whiteout conditions or when its around -45 C.

On days like that, he said things like neighbourhood mail, flyers, parcels and other items like that are the priority.

On average, Jopp can spend up to four hours outside delivering mail on his route in Regent Park, walking up to 20 kilometre.

Walking those long distances becomes a challenge after a fresh snowfall.

“Trudging through the fresh snow definitely slows you down,” Jobb said. “It is so much harder on your hips and knees, trudging through the snow and tripping over things that you can’t see because it’s buried in the snow.”

He applauds other workers who also have to brave extreme weather, like construction workers.

“I’ve been seeing them out here every day, playing in the muck, cleaning water lines up,” he said. “That’s probably not a fun job.”

He said the cold weather also gets him thinking about those living on the streets. He hopes homeless people are kept safe this winter.