keeping your head dry

In the winter, cross country skiers tend to generate a lot of heat while they are moving, so heads can get very sweaty if their hats are too warm. Of course, if a cold wind is blowing, you will want the warm hat. For me, I wear a baseball cap to act as the minimum headgear, and then I pull on a warm fleece beanie if I stop for a long time or need the warmth. In either situation, I nearly always have a hooded parka shell, so it is there to keep rain off. If it gets seriously cold, then I cinch up the parka shell where it fits the face, and the warm fleece is under it.

If you get incredibly overheated, then you take off all headgear and expose your sweaty hair to the cold for a minute.

Another purpose for two hats is something that happened on Mount Washington in winter. I had an external antenna on my GPS receiver, and the receiver was in my parka's inside chest pocket. The antenna cable ran up my neck and to the antenna which was between the two hat layers. That way, no matter which way I was moving, my head would be upward so that the antenna would have a good view of the sky.

–B.G.–

for skiing and cooler weather hiking I find a earband thingy, fleece or knit, good for managing temperature. Keeps my ears warm w/out letting the rest of my head overheat.

I use a fleece ear band or light fleece cap. My head gets very sweaty quickly. When it starts to feel cold or annoy me, I take it off and slap it against my knee a few times. It's instantly nearly dry.

Edit: And I wonder why I get so many headaches. ;-)